Oil Change

I just spent the last half hour reading a bunch of posts about oil changes and levels and such. Surprisingly, not one post about the condition in which to check the oil level, as stated in the owner's manual -

at normal operating temperature, wait 5 minutes or more, then check the oil level.

I will be noting how much the oil level changes between a cold check and normal operating temperature check. I am virtually certain the level is slightly lower at normal operating temp than when the engine is cold.

The same thing happens on my motorcycle - when cold, the oil level fills up the check window. When running the engine for several minutes, then waiting 3 minutes, the oil level is halfway up the window.

 

I usually check my oil on every other fuel stop (about once a month). I haven't seen any discernible difference in the level after I fill it up after a oil change or when I check it while adding fuel. I haven't seen the level drop any between changes either. I have 25k miles and I'm using the recommended 5k OCI using either M1 5W30 or for the last two changes, M1 0W30.

 

it's been almost a year ... what did you find?