difficulty checking oil

[Guest]

I always thought checking the oil simply meant removing the dipstick, cleaning it, sticking it back in again, and then removing it to ensure the oil level is between the min and max marks on the dipstick (as long as the car is on a level surface).

I was surprised when a mechanic said I had to add more oil since I'd been checking once a week and the dipstick always showed oil above the max level. He showed the dipstick to me, with oil just barely over the min level.

But his comment makes sense because it has a slow oil leak. He says it is losing a litre per week probably.

The dipstick has a red seal at the top. I tried today sticking it down just to the start of the red seal. It showed the oil was low so I added more (GTX3 as recommended by the mechanic).

Should the dipstick be stuck all the way down or just to the top of the red seal?

Does it matter if the oil is filled over the min level?

If it doesn't matter if the oil is a bit over the min then how much can it be over the min before problems are caused and what might these problems be?

[White850Turbo]

The dipstick should be put all the way down and your oil level should be somewhere between the min. and max level. You certainly don't want it below the minimum level. Too much oil in the system isn't really good either, but it's better than not enough. Is this a turbo model? If so, I'd go with Mobil 1 or equivelant over something like GTX.