Not "The Usual" Oil Question
 

I checked the oil today while filling up for gas and observed that I was at the bottom dot or hole just above the L. The car was warm, indicating 180 on the oil temp gauge.
How much low am I at this point? 1/2 quart? A whole quart? Should I top it off? I have no way of knowing if the dealer used Ester Oil when they prepped the car with an oil change (I bought it pre-owned with 3800 miles on the clock). Do I need to confirm this and add Ester Oil, or can I add regular dinosaur juice without worry?
Or should I just let it go and wait for the next oil change?

Are you following proper "oil check" procedure? checking the oil while filling up gas, you may not be allowing enough time. I have been seeing many threads where people are getting wrong reading on their dipstick because they aren't allowing enough time for the oil to drain back to the pan or they aren't on level surface. This is straight from the service manual

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...ckoillevel.png

I personally park the car on a level surface the night before. Then in the morning, check it cold first. Then, go for a drive and follow the other instruction (for hot engine). Just my :twocents:

Nissan ester oil IS Dino oil with ester additives. So, you're pretty safe with using regular dinosour oil for topping off :). My suggestion, whenever you're ready, switch to a good synthetic :tup:

10 minutes?!?! That's really gonna piss of the soccer moms at Costco LOL!
Thanks for the tips. I missed that part of the FM, apparently.

Synthetic is on the do-list for the next oil change :-)

If you bought used , I would it done and oil change immediately. You don't know what the other owner or the dealer put in there.

as long as your car is on level ground, being at the 1st dot is still pretty low even if you havent waited 10 min.

Follow the manual procedure and if it still is at the bottom dot, you're about 1 quart off. start with 3/4 and then top off the remaining 1/4 as needed. Make sure not to overfill it. Overfilling can damage the engine.

Good post. Rep worthy :)

check your oil in the morning, cold engine. add as needed.

if you dont know how to check oil level, it's remove yellow dip stick, wipe off oil with paper towel, dip it back, count to 5, pull it out to get the reading.

My parking spots at home and work are "level ground challenged", so I typically use gas stations as my opportunity for a fluid check.
Pull out my stick, wipe it off, slide it back in, count to five, pull it out. Got it.