Oil - What to do?

[Kef9]

Hi guys

Right to cut a long story short I got a variable service done by audi but they didnt reset the service indicator to variabe so its on fixed (I have now done 10000 miles since service and its beeping at me). My oil is very low and so something needs to be done. Audi are being arsey so here are my options.

1) Buy 1 litre of Castrol Edge 0w-30 vw503.01 oil and top up. I dont however have any idea of how long till I need a service. Cost £14.

2) Drop the current oil and replace with Castrol Edge 0w-30 vw503.01 oil. This oil is specified in the manual for use in long life servicing. Run the car for another 9000 miles and then get a normal long life service. Cost £80 (£55 oil and £25 for garage to do oil change and provide a new filter).

3) Drop the current oil and replace with Castrol GTX Magnatec 10w-40 vw500.00 oil. This oil is ok according to the handbook for fixed servicing. Run the car for another 9000 miles and then get a normal long life service. Cost £25 (for the garage to do the oil change and provide a new filter) as I have a 4.5l bottle of magnatec spare at home.

What would you do if you were me? If Audi had reset the clocks right I wouldnt have this problem. I can reset the service indicator with VAG.com

 

[Clach]

What Oil did Audi use - longlife or a 'fixed' 10k type? I am assuming Longlife. In that case, go to Audi buy some longlife Oil and top the level up. They have three options, but don't buy the £17 rip off type. Longlife Oil is good for 15-20k depending on the type of driving you do. Some people go for much shorter oil change intervals of 3-5k. My question is why are you burning so much oil??? Is it really low? Is there a leak?

 

[jesters3]

You can rest in VAG.com: http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/cars/audi_sri.html

In your case as the car has done 10k I would top her up and then at about 12/14k get a service done for peace of mind.

Like Clach says if you are having to regularly top it up there must be something else afoot...

 

[Kef9]

Well I havent topped it up since the service which was 10k miles ago and there arnt any leaks. I wouldnt call that excessive oil consumption.

They did a longlife service so I assume they put the correct oil in.

 

[jesters3]

Well I havent topped it up since the service which was 10k miles ago and there arnt any leaks. I wouldnt call that excessive oil consumption.

Try not to get it too low that it starts beeping at you, have a look once a month.

They did a longlife service so I assume they put the correct oil in.

You would like to hope so! Though with them not resetting the indicator you have to wonder....

 

[Kef9]

Well I was maintaining my wife car which I do quite a lot and I decided to have a look at mine. Ooops, I stupidly thought that because it was an audi it would be impervious to oil problems.

What I think has happened is that the people who had the car before me had a fixed interval service. This has meant that when the audi sevice people reset the clock it was still on fixed servicing. They must of assumed that it had a variable service last time and so not bothered to reset the clocks properly to the variable service regime. Does that make sense?

The paperwork and service book says they carried out a longlife service.

 

[Clach]

Check your receipt, it should say on their. At least, what the oil cost you. I suspect Audi would go for the £17 stuff. That is the best you can hope for, failing that check the slickness of the oil with your finger...And, not topping up the Oil after 10k is a good sign.

 

[jesters3]

My S3 drank oil like anything to start with but settled down still have to top it up every now and again.

Yeah that makes sense. Sounds like the S3 driver before you reguarly changed the oil which sounds like they cared for it.

If the PPW and SB says that then you have to take it as read....

For the oil you can get it from www.opieoils.com or ebay I got 5 x 1Lt bottles for £30 which was a bonus. Other than that Halfrauds

 

[Kef9]

Well the car has done 54,000 miles.

So are all you guys suggesting I just top up my existing oil and go for a service at say 17k since the last.

 

[jesters3]

I would top it up and run it for a few 1000 there after. At that mileage you'll be looking to do the cambelt (unless you've already had this done) soon, so best is to tie it in with that so @ 60k

 

[simch]

I think longlife servicing is nuts!

At the best indy delaers, you can get an oilchange for about £50! IMO you should be changing it every 5-10k regardless of what the stupid computer tells you. The only thing between your motor and vertain destruction of about 5k worth of bits (motor) is the oil! Why risk going 18-20k and 18 months between services like some people report!?

When I got my s3 it was 3.5yrs old and had had two longlife services, at 18k and 37k, the car had done 45k. I dropped the oil immediately and replaced it, out the car on 10k servicing (and do an interim oil service too). I found that I could not remove the wheels, they were seized on the hubs, I suspect tey ahd never been off the car..... that is Audi FSH for you.

Take a tip, forget your local dealer, find a proper reputable independant, save yourself 50 and hour in labour costs, and go there more often. Your car will thank you for it.

 

[jesters3]

Have to agree with simch; changing the oil regularly is the way forward. After reading and seeing how it is done, i finally have my new jack and tool set to unleash me on my car, coupled with the cheap oil I picked up I'll be doing this on the 10k intervals. As I have VAG.COM I can reset the indicator as well. I was drawn into the 'AVS' cloud but after seeing the light i'll be changing the oil regularly!

On the final tip, again spot on. Sod the stealers if you car is OOW and find a local indy. My local Audi is £99+vat per hour, compared with my local indy at £40+vat per hour. Quite frankly you get more time for your money!

 

[Kef9]

Okay guys, ive listened to what you have said but have a few points.

Surely if the longlife oil wasnt good for 20,000miles then why would audi specify it?

At the moment im thinking that I will just top up the oil and run it to 60,000 to coincide with a cambelt change.

 

[SimonP]

Surely if the longlife oil wasnt good for 20,000miles then why would audi specify it?

I only get about 17k out of a variable service before it moans, so don't expect 20k unless you do lots of long runs on the motorway and never any town/country roads.

I priced up the fixed versus variable options and I don't think there's much in it, as on fixed you get one cheap 10k and then one expensive service 20k. With the variable you get a very expensive service at about 16-17k, plus it gets out of synch with things like the haldex oil change interval. Over a long ownership of the car I don't think there's much in it, plus there's peace of mind.

I'm strongly considering swapping from variable to fixed now the car's coming up to 60k - my thinking is that it's a good round number to do that and the car is getting older and more likely to appreciate more regular oil updates. In fact I regret not going fixed from the start.

I reckon Audi did the variable servicing to appease fleet customers, who will dispose of the car before it does high mileage, and probably with at most two services. It's at the high mileage, that any wear will beging to show its face. The only other thing Audi would care about is the warranty and that's up at 60k, so again probably before any problems show up. I wouldn't think they particularly care whether the car does 120k or 180k, they'd prefer to sell you a new one.

At the moment im thinking that I will just top up the oil and run it to 60,000 to coincide with a cambelt change.

As you've paid the premium for long life oil at the last service that would seem sensible to me.

Note that Audi have just changed the spec for the long life oil and they give out a different rating now, I can't remember what it was though.

 

[simch]

Audi dealers do FAPP ALL at a service, they dont even remove the wheels!

They know 90% of their work is while warranty is on, a new audi will run to 50k miles on the original oil but the motor wont be happy, it will do it though!! The Vary servicing is a big "selling point" to fleets etc, but its a rip!

Just find a proper reputable local independant, and have your car in there every 6 months if necessary. With turbo motors, maybe mapped ones chucking out lots of hp, CLEAN HIGH QUALITY OIL AT THE RIGHT LEVEL is your friend! People get conned into vary servicing, never check their oil, then it runs low and motor is knacked!
Beware second hand cars that have been on vary servicing. Like I said, mine was FASH, and I have to used a sldgehammer to get the wheels off......!>!>You reckon I would have had that problem if APS, Jabba, JBS, Awesome, VAgtech etc had been servicing it from new.......?!?!?!

 

[Kef9]

Well I just decided to top up with the right long life oil. I put the whole 1 litre in and it still wasnt full. I must of been driving around with 3 litres of oil in the car, ooops.

 

[simch]

........that is the problem with long life servicing.

Bite the bullet, spend £50 on preservign your car and change the oild for fresh, right now! Think about it, if you have been over a litre down and the car carries 4.5 litres, there is about 23% concentration crap int eh oil prior to toping up.....whihc is wearing your motor 23% more than it should..

Longlife servicing is a bad thing for this very reason!