Check oil light just popped up

[DBT85]

I just popped out to the car to check some phone pairing bits and while the key was turned to position 2 I got a check oil warning pop up on the Maxidot. The car was serviced when I bought it in March and I don't think the 1.8 TSI is supposed to chew through oil that badly.

I popped the bonnet and checked the dipstick and sure enough it needs topping up, but now the check oil light doesn't come on at all.

No signs of anything under the car or anywhere in the engine bay, and no mention of anything on my 20 mile trip to work this morning. Car has been sitting still for about 3 hours since that journey.

Anyway, checked on my dealers site for the oil and their parts site wants £90 for 5l of Longlife III oil. Am I missing something? Is this oil squeezed form the teats of a virgin giraffe born on a Wednesday under a high sun or something?

Even Halfrauds only want £47 for 4l of Castrol Edge.

[Metblackrat]

Most worrying thing is you haven't checked the oil level in 4 months!.

Supermarkets quite often have a deal on the correct oil. Check their websites and see if anywhere local has it on offer.

[m0bov]

Any dealer can sell you a top up bottle, most will leave you one after a service, or try Opie Oils. You should be checking at least once a month, even if an engine does'nt "use oil" you can still get leaks.

[KBPhoto]

If the light is on and you open the bonnet, it assumes you have topped up with oil and won't show the light again for (I believe) 100 miles.

[andyvee]

Do you have a local TPS - Longlife oil is a lot cheaper there than at the dealers

[marks-vrs]

Europarts 30% off oil at moment i paid 26 for castrol edge 4 litre i just keep 1 ltr bottle topped up in boot leave rest in the garage,saves me a fortune than paying 12-14 quid a litre at supermarket or halfords

Cheers mark

[silver1011]

If the light is on and you open the bonnet, it assumes you have topped up with oil and won't show the light again for (I believe) 100 miles.

Eh? What's the point of that. Where'd you get this from?

Surely the sensor that determines if the oil is too low is able to tell if the oil is OK!

[silver1011]

Any dealer can sell you a top up bottle, most will leave you one after a service.

Then you are paying too much for a service!

My local dealer advertises a 1 litre top-up bottle of Castrol for £15.

That's a pretty big chunk of margin to 'give away'.

[Auric Goldfinger]

Eh? What's the point of that. Where'd you get this from?

Surely the sensor that determines if the oil is too low is able to tell if the oil is OK!

and in your case Silver whether it has Diesel in it or not, "How is the Car Silver, OK "

[silver1011]

I've no idea what they did in the end but the oil level is now behaving. It still isn't keen on starting though!

I received some reassuring information from another member about how diesel fuel in the oil isn't as bad as you'd think in terms of component lubrication and engine longevity so I can sleep easier now!

[keith3289]

If the light is on and you open the bonnet, it assumes you have topped up with oil and won't show the light again for (I believe) 100 miles.

Not sure about that - seems like an unnecessary complication and set of checks to build into a system, and one that has no guarantee to be correct. Also, one that is likely to end up with people carrying on driving for 100 miles with not enough oil because they've assumed the light shone by mistake and turning the car off and on again "fixed" it.

Mine recently showed the oil light because it was genuinely low on oil. The light certainly didn't go off when I shut the bonnet and drove to the nearest place I could buy oil (not far - don't panic). I topped up with half a litre, and the oil light stayed on for about 15 seconds after starting the engine (I guess until the oil had got into circulation and the sensor had time to re-read the level).

[silver1011]

It would be annoying if you opened the fuel filler cap to check the tyre pressures and the low fuel warning light went out!

[KBPhoto]

Where'd you get this from?

Personal experience...

And on this forum when I first joined!

[DBT85]

Not sure about that - seems like an unnecessary complication and set of checks to build into a system, and one that has no guarantee to be correct. Also, one that is likely to end up with people carrying on driving for 100 miles with not enough oil because they've assumed the light shone by mistake and turning the car off and on again "fixed" it.

Mine recently showed the oil light because it was genuinely low on oil. The light certainly didn't go off when I shut the bonnet and drove to the nearest place I could buy oil (not far - don't panic). I topped up with half a litre, and the oil light stayed on for about 15 seconds after starting the engine (I guess until the oil had got into circulation and the sensor had time to re-read the level).

The owners manual for my Octavia says on page 35 "The warning light will go out if the bonnet if left open for more than 30 seconds. If no engine oil has been replenished, the warning light will come on again after driving about 100km".

Thanks for the tip on eurocarparts mark-vrs. I had just found them myself and placed an order before coming back here.

8l of Castrol Edge 5w30, 1x air filter and 1x oil filter all for a far more reasonable £68.56.

Filters and some oil are for the wifes Fabia.

I will certainly be checking my oil level on a more regular basis from now on.

[Simon Cobb]

Not sure about that - seems like an unnecessary complication and set of checks to build into a system, and one that has no guarantee to be correct. Also, one that is likely to end up with people carrying on driving for 100 miles with not enough oil because they've assumed the light shone by mistake and turning the car off and on again "fixed" it.

+1. Confirmed that it is in my manual that the light will go out for about 100kms if the bonnet is open for 30 seconds or more. What on earth is the logic behind this behaviour? They don't turn the light off for 100kms if your windscreen washer fluid level is low and you open the bonnet, and you'd think that topping up your oil is ever so slightly more important than your screen wash level.

[DBT85]

Who dropped the lid from the 4l bottle of oil into the engine bay while topping up?

[KBPhoto]

The owners manual for my Octavia says on page 35 "The warning light will go out if the bonnet if left open for more than 30 seconds. If no engine oil has been replenished, the warning light will come on again after driving about 100km".

I had a look but couldn't find it last night when I looked, but apologies will be accepted in writing - thank you!

(Apart from the km / miles thing)...

[marcusthehat]

I nearly refused to belive that such a thing existed as "low oil level" warning symbol, when they were first introduced on run o the mill cars.

It SHOULD NOT BE NEEDED.

Simply cos, old car or new, I periodically check the oil, and also coolant level, generally when I have the bonnet lifted to fill the windscreen washer resovoir.

Iffen on a Continental motoring Holiday................................... every morning.

Simples.

(Especially when in the habit of driving with-out any breakdown cover/get you home holiday insurance)

Now a low oil PRESSURE warning light or even better, a buzzer (1982 1100cc VW Polo anyone?) is justified.

[KBPhoto]

I nearly refused to belive that such a thing existed as "low oil level" warning symbol, when they were first introduced on run o the mill cars.

It SHOULD NOT BE NEEDED.

Neither should the temporary 'reset' upon opening the bonnet, but it is and the more people that know about it the better as it might just be the cause of the disappearing light in the original post and could result (as has been pointed out already) with someone driving 100km with the oil level too low.

[silver1011]

...but apologies will be accepted in writing - thank you!

I apologise.

You learn something new everyday on Briskoda!

[KBPhoto]

Accepted. I learn something everyday - mostly from this forum (but I am not addicted).

While I agree with your comments questioning the point of this feature, the fact that Skoda sought to implement this feature is worth knowing about just so that you don't get tricked into thinking that everything is OK just because you looked under the bonnet. (I did once).