Oil - safe to rely on the warning light?

[orangezorki]

Hello all,

I've had my 170 TDi over a month now, so decided to have a look under the bonnet! Firstly, I was very impressed with how the bonnet held itself up, but then not so impressed with the dipstick. I know it's been talked about before, but what (ahem) dipstick designed this part. Firstly, the black oil is almost impossible to read on the black stick, and then there are so many bobbles on it, that without a dealer showing me, I read the wrong bit and thought that the engine was haemorraging oil!

Looking again yesterday, I think I'm alright for oil at the moment, but still not confident I can read the dipstick properly. Just to be sure, I've bought 1L of the correct oil (VW 507 00), and put it in the boot.

So, my question is - am I safe to wait for the oil light to come on - if it ever does - then immediately pour a litre in?

David.

(Thanks for any replies)

[Santana]

...am I safe to wait for the oil light to come on - if it ever does - then immediately pour a litre in?

Well, that's what I do. The oil consumption on my 140 is so abysmal (2600 miles/litre!) that it's the only way I can keep a proper check on it, given that the dipstick is almost impossible to read. Whether running it this low is a good idea is another matter of course.

And, yes, I carry a litre container in the car. I have discovered one of the little cubby holes in the boot (of the estate) is just the right size!

[Stuart W]

So, my question is - am I safe to wait for the oil light to come on - if it ever does - then immediately pour a litre in?

David.



Well I suspect that the idea of the light is to warn you before the level gets low enough to cause any engine damage, so you should be OK, but of course that presupposes that your warning light is working properly, so perhaps it's best not to rely on it totally.

Although it is difficult to read the dipstick accurately, on the other hand you can get an idea of how the oil level is reducing, so to that extent you can top it up before the warning light comes on.

If I remember correctly when the oil is on the top bulbous bit you shouldn't put any in, but when it's in the slim middle bit - which is the easiest bit to read - you can put some in if you want, but it's not critical. When it gets down to the lower bulbous bit then you must top it up. The problem for me here is that this is the level where it gets difficult to read, so it's easy to leave it because you can't accurately read it, and before you know it the warning light is on.

If you have plenty of dosh I would fill it when it's halfway down and easy to read, but since I'm not awash with money I tend to leave it a bit longer, and don't want to stick a tenner's worth of oil in when the service light might come on any day.

Coincidentally, my low oil light came on today, and further coincidentally my the service indicator came on at the same time as well. So I'll probably just stick in a quarter litre (I normally put in a half litre) and hope that lasts the thousand miles or so till the service.

[james_tiger_woo]

I'm pretty bad and I do the same - My oil consumption is pretty good.

Question though - when the oil's at the lower marker - is one litre enough?

[dean warren]

Hi all, one point you may have missed is the oil light is oil pressure not oil level, so if the oil light is coming on the oil pressure is low, so you are running the risk of early engine failure due to wear.

[Quatrelle]

I'm pretty bad and I do the same - My oil consumption is pretty good.

Question though - when the oil's at the lower marker - is one litre enough?Without going and getting my handbook, don't VW say to add one litre at that point? Apologies if I'm wrong.

I find that the best way to read the useless dipstick is to wipe it, return it, withdraw it carefully, and press it on a folded-up piece of kitchen roll. The impression it leaves should make it just that little bit easier to read....

Edit: the only time I remember to check my oil is when one of these threads comes up.

[james_tiger_woo]

Edit: the only time I remember to check my oil is when one of these threads comes up.


**slinks out to check his oil**

[Stuart W]

Without going and getting my handbook, don't VW say to add one litre at that point? Apologies if I'm wrong.



I think you're right - isn't it one litre from the bottom bulbous part and half a litre from the middle part?

That seems to be the idea of the dipstick - to make it easier to know when to put oil in and how much to put in. Of course, the problem is that few seem to read the handbook to know this, and no one can read the dipstick properly anyway:Blush2:

[Stuart W]

Hi all, one point you may have missed is the oil light is oil pressure not oil level, so if the oil light is coming on the oil pressure is low, so you are running the risk of early engine failure due to wear.

The Passat has both oil pressure and level warning lights.

The oil level warning light is orange and a message is displayed telling you to check your oil level.

The pressure warning light is the usual red. Don't know how low the oil level has to go before it's displayed, but I suspect it also provides a displayed warning which is a good deal more urgent than the "check your oil level" one :approve:

[Stuart W]

Just to clarify what I said earlier, in case anyone hasn't read the manual.

The slimmest part of the dipstick is where the oil should normally be, and you can top up with up to half a litre.

There's a slightly thicker bit below that, and at this point you can top up with up to a litre.

Above the slimmest bit is a slightly thicker bit, and if the oil is at this level then you shouldn't add any more.

The bulbous bits I referred to earlier are in fact above and below the slightly thicker bits, thus you shouldn't be in these areas at all - I think the oil level warning light comes on when the level is moving from the slightly thicker lower bit to the lower bulbous bit.:1zhelp:

Of course, that's the SP on my model; others may be different.

Might have been easier if they'd just supplied a standard dipstick with marks for the maximum and minimum levels :approve:

[henley_regatta]

Since the posters here seem to actually have checked their oil regularly(ish), a supplementary question: How critical is the car being level to the measured oil level?

Our drive is a slight (under 5 degrees) slope, and I hate to have to move the car before checking these things. Except the manual does say "on the flat". I just wondered if anyone had any observations to make on the subject?

Ta,

[twvw]

I had a bmw318i petrol engine for 10 years. I never once had to put oil in between services.

I have had my 07 Passat 2.0 140ps for 4 months and have just had to put .75litres in.

Do diesels use more oil or is this a sign of something wrong?

By the way I fully agree that the dipstick is a ridiculous design...

[james_tiger_woo]

Since the posters here seem to actually have checked their oil regularly(ish), a supplementary question: How critical is the car being level to the measured oil level?

Our drive is a slight (under 5 degrees) slope, and I hate to have to move the car before checking these things. Except the manual does say "on the flat". I just wondered if anyone had any observations to make on the subject?

Ta,

It's very important to monitor the oil level - if there's no oil, then the engine has no lubrication which can lead to engine seizing and an expensive repair.

The car needs to be level to check this properly otherwise you'll get a false reading. You'll have to move it I'm afraid... Can't you park across your own drive one day/evening?

Don't forget to ensure the engine's cold when you check it....

[Hillsy]

I always find the rule of thumb is to add a litre when the warning light comes on.
I've recently switched to a petrol V6 from a diesel and have had to top up oil after 11k. This was about the same as and Audi A4 2.4 I had that wanted a drink every 10k. When I asked about this they said it was normal. The diesel was very good on oil in comparison

[henley_regatta]

...
The car needs to be level to check this properly otherwise you'll get a false reading. You'll have to move it I'm afraid... Can't you park across your own drive one day/evening?

Don't forget to ensure the engine's cold when you check it....

If I park across the drive, then the engine's now tilted left/right instead of fore/aft, which isn't going to help get a level reading either....

I think what I ought to do is park it level somewhere, check the oil, then re-check ASAP on the drive. At least that'll let me get some idea of the degree of difference in readings.....

[naturally I'll have to do both checks after leaving the car to cool down for a while....]

[Stuart W]

The problem might be that because of the difficulty of reading the dipstick then you might find it difficult to discern much of a difference anyway.

My car sits on a fair slope, so I never check it there, and instead I wait until I'm in a supermarket car park or suchlike.

By the time I come back out the oil has usually settled sufficiently to get an accurate reading, dipstick permitting :o

[Quatrelle]

If I park across the drive, then the engine's now tilted left/right instead of fore/aft, which isn't going to help get a level reading either....

I think what I ought to do is park it level somewhere, check the oil, then re-check ASAP on the drive. At least that'll let me get some idea of the degree of difference in readings.....

[naturally I'll have to do both checks after leaving the car to cool down for a while....]
I reckon the dipstick goes down to the front of the sump so nose up it should under-read a little, and I suppose you could check it by driving straight onto your drive one day and reverse it on the next, and take an average of the two, or at least get an idea of the difference.

Having said that, I've just remembered my garage floor slopes slightly......

[andrewp1974]

NO!!!! It is not safe to rely on this light. I have a company Passat 1.9tdi that has always been quite oil-thirsty.

I've always carried around a bottle of oil and topped up whenever the oil message came on.

Yesterday however, after no warning light, my engine blew and was found to contain no oil.

VW dealer has quoted £5000 for a new engine and turbo, though our local mechanic has said it may just be the turbo - still a dear do at about £500 fitted...

Also, get this, my dealer told me that you should add 1 litre of oil EVERY 700 MILES. Having a laff, surely? I do about 30000 miles a year - thats 42l of oil a year!

So beware...

[Quatrelle]

NO!!!! It is not safe to rely on this light. I have a company Passat 1.9tdi that has always been quite oil-thirsty.

I've always carried around a bottle of oil and topped up whenever the oil message came on.

Yesterday however, after no warning light, my engine blew and was found to contain no oil.

VW dealer has quoted £5000 for a new engine and turbo, though our local mechanic has said it may just be the turbo - still a dear do at about £500 fitted...

Also, get this, my dealer told me that you should add 1 litre of oil EVERY 700 MILES. Having a laff, surely? I do about 30000 miles a year - thats 42l of oil a year!

So beware...You sure it's not a 2-stroke?

I seem to recall that VW say that 1 ltr every 700 miles is acceptable. Unbelievable!

[andrewp1974]

OK, so an update on the oil light + mashed up engine scenario.

Turns out my local dealer is either totally incompetent or was trying to scam us out of £5K.

After their quote for 5 grand for a new engine and turbo which they said had knackered through there being no oil in the engine, we sent the car to an independant garage for a second opinion.

Guess what? The engine is completely undamaged. The car didn't run out of oil at all. What happened was that the turbo collapsed (after about 80k miles; don't know if that's good, bad or normal...) and proceeded to spray the engine oil out everywhere so it looked as if the engine had no oil.

All in all it's a massive relief but I have of course had to tear the Dealer a new one!
And so yes, maybe you can trust your warning lamp after all!:biglaugh::beerchug: