Imagine the situation: During a long trip, you checked the oil level and found a low level, or worse, you realized that the dipstick did not touch the oil at all – the situation is almost critical. And if the emergency oil pressure light in the instrument panel starts to flash while driving, you need to take urgent action.
Often you can not find “native” oil on the road … How to act in such a case?
Expert opinion
Alexey Revinexpert “Behind the wheel”:
– To continue the journey alone, first make sure that there is no oil leakage from the engine. Typically, oil can “drive” through the oil filter seal, a crack in the oil pan caused by an obstacle in the road, or an extruded oil seal.
If there is no strong leakage, and the motor runs smoothly and pulls normally, the journey can continue under its own power. And if there is no oil in the trunk to top up, then you should be ready to top up the first oil you come across, but beware (!) Engine oil. Even diesel oil from the reserves of the KAMAZ driver is sufficient. The main rule: no engine oil will do such harm as an insufficient level.
But having reached “civilization”, you still need to find out the reason for the drop in the level and replace the diesel-gasoline cocktail with oil that is allowed according to the instructions for the car.
The ideal option is of course to carry at least a “litre” of the oil filled with the next replacement in the trunk. But pouring even a few liters of oil from another manufacturer with a quality and viscosity not lower than acceptable for your engine is completely safe and you can drive on such a mixture even until the next change. By the way, the same can be done during normal use of the car in the city, when the engine “eats” oil.
Our verdict
There is nothing wrong with mixing oils from different manufacturers with similar or identical properties. On such a cocktail you can drive for a long time. If you had to top up the first oil you came across, it doesn’t matter – it’s much safer than driving with an empty pan looking for your “original” fluid. But such a “bodyagu” should be replaced at the first opportunity with the oil recommended by the manufacturer.