Please help oil check when cold

[gencog37]

Hello,

First time here I need your feedback and what measurements you guys are getting when checking the oil first thing in the morning. I usually do 3000 mile intervals using mobil 1 5w30. I have 2011 Buick Lacrosse with 2.4 ecotec engine. FWD. This is the result when i checked this morning before starting the car. It is filled in the first square and half. I have 103,000 miles on the car. How low is this oil? I am a bit worried. Thank you so much guys in advance . I have attached the picture i hope it is visible.

 

[bobby49]

I have a slightly different model, but I gleaned this out of my own Lacrosse owners manual.

I feel that oil level is best checked with the engine cold and not running. If you pull out the dipstick, wipe it off, stick it in, and then pull it out to view it, sometimes you can get ambiguous results if the dipstick picks up oil off the sides of the dipstick tube.

Once about fifty years ago, my uncle gave me some advice about car engines (of that era). He said that he would rather operate the engine with a single quart of oil rather than to operate it with one quart over the full line. That advice may not be very sound now, but it is too easy to do dipstick checks. I let mine fluctuate between full and one pint low. I never let it get to a quart low.

 

[gencog37]

Thank you for your reply. Yeah I totally agree with you on how the dipstick can pick up oil as it is being pulled out. I usually check multiple times and the level is usually there. I found this in the owners manual that best matches my dipstick (2.4). According to the owners manual it may be 1 quart i guess.