Acura Check Engine Oil Level & Add Oil

Checking the engine oil level on any ACURA vehicle is easy and takes only five minutes. On newer Acura vehicles, you can check the oil level via the instrument cluster.

Symptoms

• Check Engine Oil Level Light
• Red oil symbol on the dashboard
• Engine noise or knock
• Engine overheating

What you will need

Acura recommends that you use Genuine Acura Motor Oil. Other synthetic oils that are API certified can also be used. The typical oil used on Acuras is 0W-20 or 5W-20 grade.

• Synthetic 5W-20 Engine Oil

Procedure

Follow these instructions to check the oil level of an Acura.

1. Park the ACURA on a level surface and apply the parking brakes.
2. Turn off the engine and wait at least ten minutes before proceeded to check the engine oil level on your ACURA. This will allow the engine oil to return to the oil pan. 
3. Open the hood of your ACURA by pulling the hood release under the dash.
4. Locate the oil dipstick on your Acura. Above, you can see the location of the oil dipstick at the front of the engine. The oil dipstick has a yellow handle. 
5. Remove the dipstick by pulling it up. Note the minimum and maximum marks before you reinsert the dipstick back into the tube. 
6. Use a clean cloth to wipe off any oil that may still be on the dipstick. 
7. Insert the dipstick into the same tube that you removed it from to check the engine oil level on your ACURA. Remove the dipstick again. The level needs to be between the min and max mark we saw earlier. If the engine oil level is below the min mark, you need to add engine oil. Follow instructions as described in the next step. 
8. Locate the oil filler cap near the front of the engine. 
9. Add 0.5 to 1 quart of oil at a time and recheck the oil level. Don't allow the oil to go over the MAX/FULL mark.  

These steps will help owners of Acura:

• CDX
• CL
• VSX
• EL
• ILX
• Integra
• Legend
• MDX
• NSX
• RDX
• RL RLX
• RSX
• SLX
•  TL TLX
• TSX
• VIGOR
• ZDX