Log 14: Polo Down South.
Now that the most important QoL upgrade has been done to the Polo (and I have moved most of the stuff down to Johor in the SUV), the Polo can finally come down to Johor to fulfil its intended purpose of being a university commuter.
As expected from the Polo, it handled the three(-ish if the PDRM is asking) hour cruise from KL down to JB in its stride. Two up with some leftover luggage, it still cruised down without a fuss.
Basically I am trying to drag out a story out of a pretty dull event. The Polo is still an admirable cruiser despite its diminutive size and is able to hold its own against the big boys in the fast lane.
This was supposed to be a comparatively short log because even I can’t drag a three hour non-event into a fulfilling narrative so I was about to let this log to be a really short log (perhaps to compensate for the previous novel-length log) but then the Polo very kindly provided some more story-telling material in the form of an oil level warning light coming on right when I reached my home from home down south.
Damn. The Polo must not like the south very much. (A sentiment that will carry even more weight as time goes on.)
Anyway, back to the oil level warning light (pic above).
Being somewhat car-literate, I had the faintest idea that it had to do with the oil level being low. A further Google search told me that if its lit continuously then you need to top up more oil (Duh!), and if the the warning light is flashing then the oil level sensor is faulty. The problem is that in my case the warning light comes up intermittently. Sometimes when I start the car it shows up, and on other times it doesn’t.
The even more curious thing is that the oil level was fine, which somehow is more frightening than the oil level being low as it means something more expensive than simply topping the car up with engine oil is about to come my way soon, but future readers who have read the title to the next log, the oil level warning light will soon be the least of my worries.
However through this experience I had also learnt another more mundane skill: How to check the engine oil level of a car.
Side note: Before everyone chimes in saying that this is supposed to be/was taught in driving school and is supposed to be/was part of the JPJ driving test, I could not recall for the life of me having ever needed to check the oil level on the dipstick to pass the test. All I remember was vaguely pointing at parts of the engine and saying that the yellow thing was indeed the dipstick. I have no recollection of actually using the dipstick to check the engine oil level. An oversight the JPJ might want to rectify I presume, but then again when does anyone actually lift the bonnet of your car apart from during service intervals?
Car Maintenance 101: How to Check the Engine Oil Level of Your Car.
Step 1: Get yourself either a used rag or kitchen towels (so that you can throw it away later). Don’t use tissue paper as it’ll leave lint on the dipstick!
Step 2: Open the bonnet and identify the dipstick. It's the brightly coloured (yellow) pull tab in the engine bay, you can’t really miss it.
Step 3: Pull out the dipstick and wipe the dipstick along the rag/kitchen towel/cloth.
Step 4: Stuff the dipstick back into the hole you pulled it out from and then pull the dipstick out again.
Step 5: Observe the oil level on the dipstick. The oil level of your engine is fine if it is in between the notch on your dipstick and somewhere in between the dotted section.
Step 6: Stuff the dipstick back in and close the bonnet. Voila, you’ve just checked the oil level of your car
It is to be noted that you should check your engine oil with the engine turned off but the debate out there is whether to check the engine oil when your engine is cold or hot. To be safe, just check it after 5-10 minutes after shutting off your engine.
0 — 100:
Polo now down south, cruise down was good…
… but Polo doesn’t seem to like it down here very much.
Oil warning light came on, sighs.
Car Maintenance 101: How to Check the Engine Oil Level of Your Car. Read it, it ain’t that long.