At what point should the oil level sensor warning come on?

i don't know for sure but i'd assume it'd come on when the level gets to the middle or bottom of the part on the dipstick that the hand book refers to as the 'top up as required' area. Most cars seems to work that the dipstick min to max is a litre and judging by the marks on mine i'd guess that the top area the handbook says not to worry about topping up must accound for around 200-250 mls, then the main area referred to as 'top up as required' must be around 500-600 mls and the bottom 'level too low' part must be another 200-250mls worth, so the light would come on somewhere around the 500mls (middle or dipstick) or 750/800 mls (bottom of 'top up as required' area) mark.

right, i thought i'd keep this up to date, i've just checked the oil level and it took the best part of a litre, the level was just at the boundary between the main 'top up' region and the lower 'oil level too low' region of the dip stick. So in total, since the last oil service just over 8000 miles ago its used just under 3 litres of oil. although its worth remembering i didnt check the level after the service, just assumed it would be correct.

 

Anyway, this got me thinking about the other issue i'm having with the car beeping and flashing a spanner symbol at me everytime i start it up. I've had a chat with the local dealer but they can't help unless they service it and reset the light themselves, i think this is what i'll end up doing as in a weeks time i'll be near on 8500 miles in and i'd have it serviced at 10000miles anyway.

 

I'm really at a loss with ideas as to why the spanner is flashing, from what i can gather its not a clever system, just a fixed time/distance thing possibly with a sensor to detect poor oil quality and maybe some way of knowing if its been driven hard. One thing that did cross my mind is, on start up, should i see an amber oil level low symbol, or is it the same symbol as the red 'oil pressure low' light but lit amber when required? I've attached the picture below, i get the red light on start up (in the amber ring) but is there an amber light that should be lit somewhere else, like the area marked with the blue ring? (this isnt my actual car, just a picture i found on t'web)

 

 

Cheers

I can't see how the dealer changing the oil & filter (a service) will aid in diagnosis.

 

If the vehicle is using oil at the rate you say it will either be PCV related (either the PCV or the labrynth glued to the rocker cover),  rings / valve stems. or the turbo seal.  I'd put money on PCV - it's a fairly common problem.  They should be able to diagnose without doing a service

i think they just said that as their 'company line' is that most likely reason for the spanner symbol flashing and beeping on start up is that it wasn't correctly reset by the independent garage I used for the service, and they can't reset the service indicator without servicing it, so they have to service it and reset the indicator, then if it comes back on I can pay them more money to look into it like I said at the outset. No consideration has been given to the fact i don't get any mileage or days countdown with the symbol and beep, nor that i did a number of handbook resets which only lasted a few days. And when i asked how that service indicator decides on what to present to the driver in the shape of when it needs a service (i.e. what sensors if any that system uses, and so in turn what can it actually measure and so in turn again, what could be screwing it up vs what data is fixed programmed data) well, i might as well have asked my cat. Given the prices the dealers charge i find it very annoying that they won't discuss things logically but just repeat meaningless sales patter and seemingly follow a crib sheet without actually listening to what you're saying.

 

Unfortunately i suspect that despite the factory badged clothing, over 90% of the staff in any dealer, irrespective of brand, really have no idea about the product they're selling, or indeed cars at all. Every time i get off the phone i just feel no confidence in them, if i have an issue i look into it myself and try to learn what i can, i then ring the dealer to discuss and get prices and it just feels worryingly like i know more than they do (which given how little I know, really is worrying). By contrast i call up either of the well regarded independent garages in the area and feel like i'm in safe hands. With issues around programming and making sure i've got the latest revisions of parts, I just felt that having the dealer work on it would be more sensible and put my mind at ease.

Did nearly 150k miles in a BKD equipped Octy II pre FL.

Purchased with about 11k on it and oil was changed at dealer every 18.5k miles and via pella every 9-10k between those services for the first 60-80k miles.

After that it was every 10k or once a year (whichever sooner) on the pella.

Used genuine filters or mann filter and the mobil 1 esp for most of those changes.

No probelm and when I moved it on, the engine was in great nick,

Had an oil change done yesterday as t 56000 miles. This will give me the opportunity to monitor the oil usage on the car. Will report back. Must admit to never having had a car before that likes to drink oil quite so much!

Interesting thread this.

 

I've done some searching because I just had the red stop oil pressure fault flash up for a split second after a very hard braking and cornering session.

 

I remember having this fault from oil slosh is it?( where its all at one end of the sump away from sensor) on my fab 1.9 and wondered if that what caused it on my 2.0 tfsi

 

I will check oil level for the next few weeks and monitor it.

 

Cheers for all the top info on this thread though everybody.