Changing my Oil?

goodmum

Help please? My car (opel corsa) is very noisy and the oil light has come on. so I obviously need oil (female here sorry!). My question is can I just go and buy oil in (for example, tesco) and put it in? Or do I need to go to my mechanic? I know when my car has been serviced in the past, my mechanic has always done the oil change, so this is the first time I've had to do it myself. Thanks.

goodmum

Its on.
But I have to drive it because it's at work today and I have to drive home!!!!!!!!!!!!! Will it blow up?

biko

First check the level of oil in the car. This is very easy.

Open bonnet and locate the oil stick.
Pull this up and clean with a napkin.
Then push it fully back down again and pull up.
You can now see the level of oil on the little flat surface on the end of the stick.
This should be somewhere between the minimum and maximum markings.

If level is below the minimum marking use another car to go get oil, buy 2 liters or more if there's no oil at all on the stick.
Usually your type car take 4-5 litres total.

Usually looks like this

Pkiernan

goodmum wrote: »

Its on.
But I have to drive it because it's at work today and I have to drive home!!!!!!!!!!!!! Will it blow up?

Do not drive the car before adding at least 1 litre of oil. Pick up a bottle at any Halfords or petrol station (though it is over priced at petrol stations). Get a bottle of 10W-30 oil, and add it.

Then start the car and see if the light goes off.

Then get an oil change.

If you continue to drive it, you can cause significant engine damage, likely to cost more to repair than the car is worth.

goodmum

I work in dublin city centre - where will i get oil in town?? Sorry bout this, but like I said, it's the first time this had happened and didn't realise how serious it was!!!!

Pkiernan

goodmum wrote: »

I work in dublin city centre - where will i get oil in town?? Sorry bout this, but like I said, it's the first time this had happened and didn't realise how serious it was!!!!

Any petrol station - the one on the quays for example.

A taxi trip there and back will not cost you more than €20 - pittance compared to the cost of repair if necessary.

cantdecide

....then book it for a service. If you aren't servicing a car at least once a year it's only yourself you're fooling.

Drummerboy08

goodmum wrote: »

I know when my car has been serviced in the past, my mechanic has always done the oil change, so this is the first time I've had to do it myself. Thanks.

Remember - your not changing the oil. Your only topping it up. Any autofactors or garage will have oil for you to purchase. Someone in your office may even have some oil in the boot of their car as spare.

Atomic Pineapple

as above any garage, petrol station or car dealership should be able to give you some oil

goodmum

It had a service last august and passed the nct then. This light just came on yesterday when I noticed the noise also.
Thanks so much for info lads - didnt realise how serious this was - am on my way up to that garage on the quays straight away. Thanks again.

Atomic Pineapple

goodmum wrote: »

It had a service last august and passed the nct then. This light just came on yesterday when I noticed the noise also.

Then you have an oil leak somewhere, get it checked out as soon as you can

goodmum

Oh crap! Just what I need now:rolleyes:

cantdecide

goodmum wrote: »

Oh crap! Just what I need now:rolleyes:

You want it to be a leak. A leak is the lesser of 2 evils.

Any chance this is an oil pump prob??

Rovi

What model of Opel Corsa is it?
(year, diesel/petrol, engine size)

Whilst any oil is better than no oil, we might as well try to have you get the correct oil for your particular engine.

We might even be able to find a photo showing exactly where the dipstick is and where the oil goes in.
As can be seen in Magnus' post above, dipsticks are usually yellow these days, and the oil filler cap will probably be yellow too (as likely will be a few others!).

corktina

i dont like the sound of the "very noisy" bit. Something more serious amiss than low oil level. Do you have breakdown cover on your insurance? call them if you do and they'll come to you.

dirtydiesel

corktina wrote: »

i dont like the sound of the "very noisy" bit. Something more serious amiss than low oil level. Do you have breakdown cover on your insurance? call them if you do and they'll come to you.

Reading through the posts I was thinking, is anyone going to mention the noisy engine at all.
This could be serious, can you tell us what kind of noise its making?