Got tricked by my own car

Gazzmonkey

The car is a 2008 B8 A4 2.0TDI 143 SE

I was on my way home and just before I arrived my min oil level indicator came on which I thought was very odd. I knew it was a 5 litre sump so I put two litres in and went for short drive as the car only shows the oil level when warmed up via MMI (no dipstick) which I thought was also odd.

When I got back after my 15 minute spin I was able to check the oil level and it said "overfilled, drain off oil" which surprised me, it seems the car mistakenly told me that my oil level was at minimum!!

so I'm now overfilled by no more than two litres, how serious a situation have I got myself into?

wotzgoingon

Gazzmonkey wrote: »

The car is a 2008 B8 A4 2.0TDI 143 SE

I was on my way home and just before I arrived my min oil level indicator came on which I thought was very odd. I knew it was a 5 litre sump so I put two litres in and went for short drive as the car only shows the oil level when warmed up via MMI (no dipstick) which I thought was also odd.

When I got back after my 15 minute spin I was able to check the oil level and it said "overfilled, drain off oil" which surprised me, it seems the car mistakenly told me that my oil level was at minimum!!

so I'm now overfilled by no more than two litres, how serious a situation have I got myself into?

I was just about to say check with dipstick and then I re-read it and you said it has no dipstick. As good as technology is it will always go wrong. Not all the time but it can be wrong as seen by you today in your car. I would also not recommending driving your car untill you drain the oil.

mickdw

According to the manual with my Audi, 08, A5 petrol, the oil level warning will come on when you can safely top up with 1L.
Id say the car was possibly giving you a correct warning but you overfilled by adding too much oil - twice what you should have.

Sleeper12

God I love having a basic motor with a dipstick. (^_-)

Nino Brown

mickdw wrote: »

According to the manual with my Audi, 08, A5 petrol, the oil level warning will come on when you can safely top up with 1L.
Id say the car was possibly giving you a correct warning but you overfilled by adding too much oil - twice what you should have.

Yeah that's it alright, I have the same engine, and there's very little between min and max, 2L's is overkill

Gazzmonkey

mickdw wrote: »

According to the manual with my Audi, 08, A5 petrol, the oil level warning will come on when you can safely top up with 1L.
Id say the car was possibly giving you a correct warning but you overfilled by adding too much oil - twice what you should have.

I never noticed, I only seen the "oil level at minimum" warning, would it really say that if I was only one litre short in five litre sump?

Anyway, if you are correct then I would be less overfilled than I thought.

djimi

Even a litre overfill is serious. If it were my car Id be draining it or getting it towed to a mechanic before I started that engine again.

Max to min on most cars is about a litre from my experience. If in doubt in future, put a little in and continue to do so until the level is correct.

mickdw

Gazzmonkey wrote: »

I never noticed, I only seen the "oil level at minimum" warning, would it really say that if I was only one litre short in five litre sump?

Anyway, if you are correct then I would be less overfilled than I thought.

Yes, it would say oil level at minimum if 1L down. There would only be 1L typically between min and max on an old style dipstick.
The car was just telling you to top up. 2L was too much. Id let out 1L and go from there.

Yawns

wow OP.

Best thing is to drain it all and change it. At least you'll know what's in it then. Don't drive it anywhere at all. Don't even start it. Hopefully no damage has been done, but there could be. Drain it, refill to correct level and pray.

nungesser

you want to drain that oil to the correct amount, probably easiest at this point to drain all the oil and start from the beginning. Then your sure of the amount your putting in. The dangers with overfilling with oil is you increasing the pressure in the crankcase which can result in blown seals, which would be rubber seals that seal off outlets on the engine or separate different parts of the engine these can develop a leak due to the increased pressure.

corktina

putting 2 litres is far too much, usually the difference from Max to min is about a litre

GTE

It is a ruddy scare finding out that the engine is overfilled.

A mechanic overfilled my engine by a litre or so a few years back, they told me "you would only complain that we underfilled it when it burns off in a few months".

Handily, I had a Sealy oil extractor, I would be interested if that would work on the OPs engine? It is how I do my oil changes (for better or worse).

corktina

bbk wrote: »

It is a ruddy scare finding out that the engine is overfilled.

A mechanic overfilled my engine by a litre or so a few years back, they told me "you would only complain that we underfilled it when it burns off in a few months".

Handily, I had a Sealy oil extractor, I would be interested if that would work on the OPs engine? It is how I do my oil changes (for better or worse).

is that the yoke that sucks the oil up the dip-stick hole? I see a flaw in this....

GTE

corktina wrote: »

is that the yoke that sucks the oil up the dip-stick hole? I see a flaw in this....

Of course you do, he has no dip stick. :P

I am wondering is there a safe way to get the hose into that particular engine via the new oil inlet, for want of a better term.

R.O.R

There is a hole for a dipstick......

Take off the large piece of black plastic that covers the engine, and pry the small yellow cap underneath, off with a small flat blade screwdriver.

dr.fuzzenstein

R.O.R wrote: »

There is a hole for a dipstick......

Take off the large piece of black plastic that covers the engine, and pry the small yellow cap underneath, off with a small flat blade screwdriver.

And maybe see if there's a dipstick that can be retrofitted.

Slattsy

Similar enough thing happened myself a few weeks back, also an Audi.

Warning light had not yet come on but i noticed it was extremely low. Put a litre in which i thought would bring the reading level up a bit, maybe to halfway but it showed as being filled to the max. Seemed odd..(to me)

Anyway im just glad i didnt put any more than 1ltr in

mickdw

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

And maybe see if there's a dipstick that can be retrofitted.

Mine has the full dipstick tube just capped off. There is a dipstick available if I chose to buy it.

GTE

Would a dipstick retrofit foul the cover of this particular engine?

mickdw

bbk wrote: »

Would a dipstick retrofit foul the cover of this particular engine?

Not sure how the ops car is but on mine the dipstick tube is to the front of the cover and a dipstick can be fitted perfectly leaving it directly accessible one bonnet is opened.

commited

Wow, 2L is a lot. It's a real pity that they don't have a dipstick - I can see this being a more frequent occurance. Well at least you didn't fill the car up to the rocker cover like a mate of mine....

corktina

I'd trust a dipstick over an electrickery gadget any day

BreadnBuddha

How much does it say about the average motorists basic ability to maintain their cars today that manufacturers don't even bother fitting a dipstick on an engine?

Jaysus.

tossy

In fairness, the majority of people i know who drive have never opened their bonnet so a 'diptick' on the dash display might actually save them a few quid in the long run, i know more than one person who has suffered oil starvation and ruined their engine.

OP, as pointed out here the difference between the min and max on your average dipstick is a litre, so you've put in 1 litre too much - over filling is not ideal esp on a diesel.

My advice is bring it in for a service as i'd say it's been a long time since an oil change if it's burnt enough oil to reach the minimum level.

corktina

I used to drive a Hiace for work which had a level check button on the dash. Every morning when I filled it the old guy on the pump (our own pump) used to insist I checked the dip stick! In the dark at 6 am under the passenger seat. God I hated that guy.... he wouldn't pump the diesel until you checked.... in the end, I got the guy in the stores to lend me his key and filled it myself in the afternoon ...

Now don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have relied on the switch alone, but dipping it once a week would have been plenty of checking.

georgefalls

There's a reason that "top up" bottles of oil are sold in 1 litre variants, it seems:D

Gazzmonkey

Thanks for advice all,

Got car drained by just over a litre and the MMI is showing an oil level of 10% below max so it was entirely my misunderstanding that caused the issue, I’ve been looking for somewhere that a dip stick might go and I’ve found what looks like a dip stick hole with a black cap on it, I’m going to find out if I can get a dip stick for this engine.

Regards,

Nino Brown

Gazzmonkey wrote: »

Thanks for advice all,

Got car drained by just over a litre and the MMI is showing an oil level of 10% below max so it was entirely my misunderstanding that caused the issue, I’ve been looking for somewhere that a dip stick might go and I’ve found what looks like a dip stick hole with a black cap on it, I’m going to find out if I can get a dip stick for this engine.

Regards,

That's a challenge in itself. Audi won't give you a part number,they say there isn't one, but there is because plenty of people have them.
There's a part number being thrown around on several sites, but some people complain that that dipstick is too long, I could never get a definitive part number.

bazz26

That same engine is in my Passat CC afaik and it has a standard dipstick so a dipstick from VW may well fit your A4.