Every now and then the engine sounds very dry & rough. Othertimes quite smooth & pleasant :) Almost like there was a small hole in the exhaust. (but I discounted that after a quick listen with windows down). It last sounded dry with two adults & pre-teen in the car in rush-hour traffic going up an incline. As soom as they were dropped off, and the traffic died down a bit - it sounded sweet again. Anything to worry about or just driving conditions?
Oil changed a month ago.
Lordy
And last time level checked?
How frequently does/should one check?
Lordy
I tend to check mine whenever I wash the car or before a long trip.
You tend to get an idea of the oil consumption by checking fairly frequently when you first get the car. But if the engine's in good condition and not thrashed - especially when cold - it might well go from one oil change to the next without requiring any added. It might well also have a low oil warning system, although not all have. But even if fitted it's worth checking it actually works at the next oil change time.
Yes that's one habit my father got me into ... before going on a longer than usual trip, check all the fluid levels.
Not sure how necessary it is these days, but certainly doesn't do any harm. If I'm only doing local driving for a while I'll tend to dip the oil every 2 weeks or so.
Just a Shot in the dark, but the fact that the load effected the sound leads me to at least inspect that the exhaust system is not vibrating against something. That very slight bumping that they do sometimes can lead to very concerning noises.
Matt
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