I have a 2016 1.6tdi Superb Estate, Engine type DCXA. Bought 2nd hand in 2020 with full history from previous lease company indicating Skoda main dealer servicing @ 18800, 37900, 53100 & 72000. The Skoda invoices state 'Flexible Oil Servicing'. 

 

Since purchasing the car I have had the servicing carried out by an independent twice per year to cover the 25k miles per annum that I drive.

 

I have noticed that the 'Oil Service Due' message on the dash display is saying that the next oil change is due in 1300 miles. This equates to 6100 miles since the last service.

 

Have the garage screwed around with the oil service distance reminder when resetting it or have they refilled with sh1te oil which is now failing and has been picked up by the oil sensor ( if such a thing exists ).

 

Thanks

Odds are they made a mistake in the reset of the oil change done last time.

 

They maybe changed to a fixed service interval on diagnostic equipment, despite I assume you still being on a long life regime.

So what did it say when you got the car back, 18,000 miles / 24 months,  Variable, or 372 days /9,400 miles fixed. 

 

What did your oil invoice say as your car requires VW504 00 /507 00 5w 30 FS III even if getting fixed oil & filter services. 

 

The person that did the last Oil & Filter service never reset the Service Indicator correctly most likely.  Simple as that.

 

 

 

Thanks for the replies. I'm also erring on the side that the service interval reset was done incorrectly by the garage.

 

Not massively impressed with these johnnies and have now found a VW specialist locally who seems to live & breathe VW ( and by extension Skoda, Seat etc etc ) so will be using him from now on.

 

Presumably I can do a reset myself with my VCDS.

 

Also, is there a Oil Quality monitor built into the ECU somewhere that checks the performance of the oil and decides when it is next due a change?

Edited 11 August, 20223 yr by Gammyleg

You should be able to edit the service interval and set new time/distance values with VCDS.

 

It should be in 17 - Instrument Cluster the adjustments, don't rush and values are in kilometres.

 

I do believe there should be a sensor, but I am sure someone will say for sure.

There’s a parameter in the 17-Instrument ECU that can be either set to ‘poor oil quality ’ or ‘good oil quality’. ´Good’ meaning ´long life´ oil. Bit there’s no sensor for real time oil quality analysis. 😉

Sensor in the sump just measures level and temperature of the oil.

It can probably feed into an algorithm that infers things about probable oil condition using oil temperature, ambient temperature, total run-time since last change and journey durations, I guess.  Probably rather a crude 'guestimate' though.

If the car was set on Variable /Flexible servicing when it went in 2 services back and then just not reset the last lime then the Oil Service warning is likely correct. 

Not reset 6,100 miles ago.

 

If the car is on Fixed Servicing then the owner can reset the Service Interval themselves without plugging anything in. 

Edited 11 August, 20223 yr by roottoot

On 11/08/2022 at 14:51, Breezy_Pete said:

Sensor in the sump just measures level and temperature of the oil.

It can probably feed into an algorithm that infers things about probable oil condition using oil temperature, ambient temperature, total run-time since last change and journey durations, I guess.  Probably rather a crude 'guestimate' though.

Yes, it is a myth that there is any kind of oil quality sensor. If you set it to “flexible servicing” it presumes you put in long life oil and it gives the maximum interval to next service. Then if you drive it in any sub-optimal way as determined by the oil temperature sensor, it decreases the maximum distance accordingly.

 

So for the OP it is nothing to do with what oil was put in, it is to do with the way the service interval was reset. Of course before you change the setting to “flexible” (which is a little bit complicated) you should check what oil was actually put in.

 

If you reset the service indicator now, then of course it will presume you just changed the oil and go back to offering the max interval to next change. Which is OK in terms of getting rid of the annoying warning, but of course it won’t tell you when the service is actually due. Moral for next time you have it serviced, check the mileage remaining at the outset. If it is less than 10k miles, they’ve put it on fixed interval. Or of course the best option is to change the oil yourself, it is really easy to do.

Yes as @Breezy_Pete mentioned, some kind of algorithm.

 

 

Assessing the oil level and oil quality

 

The Flexible Service Interval Display obtains information from the new oil level/oil temperature sender G266 in order to calculate oil level and oil quality.
On diesel engines, the oil quality calculation includes a parameter which indicates the average content of soot particles in the engine oil.  This parameter was calculated in trials and is stored in a map.

 

So on a diesel the DPF soot is also a factor too.

What amazing tech these cars have or so VW spin the story. You would think they were Smart phones.

 

You can take a 2.0 TDI / SCR Euro 6 and it comes with VW507 00 and shows the first Oil change service at 20,000 miles and thrash and abuse that car and the interval will still show as @ 20,000 miles.

 

On a 2016 1.6 TDI VW had just had the crap days of being caught with Defeat Devices and Cheat Software and the car not with enough tech to actually meet the emissions they said when they were Euro 5 let alone into early Euro 6.

 

They went on to introduce the 1.6 TDI's with SCR and that lasted no time as even then they struggled

3 minutes ago, roottoot said:

thrash and abuse

Depends what that thrashing and abuse is, versus what the algorithm gives a damn about. We'll almost certainly never know.

We never have known because we have yet to see someone post that their car that was Set on 9,400 miles / 372 days or 24 months / 20,000 miles has started having the miles to an Oil Service reduce at a greater rate than the miles being driven.

 

There are posts from people that say it happens, but not that it happened to them. 

 

Too often at the PDI the Variable Service interval is reset to Fixed and the 'Inspection Service' is left still at a different time. 

We will never know obviously implies that we don't already know!

Someone will be along eventually with  TSI or TDI that has been on Variable / Flexible servicing and had the miles until the Oil change is due reduced by a great amount of miles than the car has been driven.

Someone that pays attention to their service indicator when hey get a car from a service and daily, weekly or anytime.

 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/441336-variable-service-query/page/3

 

Edited 12 August, 20223 yr by roottoot

Having done my own services on LL, yeah there can be a reduction.  Doesn't drop like a stone the distance remaining.

 

Never really checked distances driven, just serviced when it popped up.

 

Guesstimate is 10-20% reduction (I didn't care for exact distance)

@varooom

What engine is this with and is this on variable servicing on the service indicator?

1 minute ago, roottoot said:

@varooom

What engine is this with and is this on variable servicing on the service indicator?

I've had a few, but Passat 2.0 CR 170ps

CBBB iirc

 

Think it was 30,000km and 730 days max distances/mileage.

 

Oranges to Apples I guess!?

Good to know, 

 

Those that post on here that the Low Oil warning light has come on and why because they had the car serviced and the next one is due shortly really did not need to wait for the Low Oil Light or Message as these 1.5 TSI EVO or what ever should have been reducing the time to the next service as they run about with maybe as much as a quarter low oil quantity and the oil temp likely higher than need have been. 

Edited 12 August, 20223 yr by roottoot

On a personal note/observation.  I have seen oil filters collapsed on variable service, but never on a fixed.

 

I am only a small data set, and VAG don't care as most cars reach end of warranty before issues arise.

 

That's been my own point of view, maybe a topic of another post on fixed Vs variable 🤔

I have seen the indicated mileage between services reduce, 280 tsi. I think it may be less about “thrashing” and more about lots of short journeys when the oil doesn’t get properly hot. However shortly after getting the car I decided to quit variable in favour fixed. The car used to use a bit of oil on variable with the LL oil but now doesn’t. And it is by far the easiest car I’ve owned to change oil on, and the oil from TPS is very cheap, an oil change costs about £40 including filter and plastic sump plug, and the car is a “keeper”, so it makes sense - to me anyway!

This example chart says all we should need to know

 

Red line, short jouneys are bad, like really bad for oil life

 

 

Edited 12 August, 20223 yr by varooom

Hi Varooom, do I assume correctly that the bottom line is kilometres?

2 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

Hi Varooom, do I assume correctly that the bottom line is kilometres?

Yes, VAG talk in km, here is the top part of the picture...

 

 

I still cannot believe that you could get 50,000 km from the oil in a diesel, not sure I would want that myself

9 minutes ago, varooom said:

Yes, VAG talk in km, here is the top part of the picture...

 

 

I still cannot believe that you could get 50,000 km from the oil in a diesel, not sure I would want that myself

I agree, one particular concern would be for the turbocharger bearings.