Please reduce oil level
 

Has anyone received this message from the oil monitoring system when the oil is undoubtedly not overfilled? My car has 1500 miles on it and oil has never been added, so I am sure that the oil level is not too high. The weather has been very cold recently, so I wonder if the temperature could be causing a problem with the oil level sensor. It looks like I will be ordering a dipstick in the near future.

wow never seen that one. mine only tells me to add more. how have you only put 1500 miles on your car? haven't you had it for a few months now?

I've had the car for four months, but I live exactly one mile from the parking lot at work, so the commute to and from work results in almost no accumulation in mileage. The oil level indicator worked for the first few months that I had the car, but it has only shown the "Please reduce oil level" message for the past week. I am hoping that the extreme cold is wreaking havoc on the sensor and that it does not need to be replaced.

The extreme cold I also think could be a factor, but getting a dipstick will take the guess work out of this and any future computer readings.

Good Luck!

My Avant just arrived at the dealership today and I had them order a dipstick in last month. Call me old fashioned, but with oil I don't want to rely on a sensor!

Was the message from the DIS or from the MMI when calling up the oil level reading?
Is the car leveled or leaning somewhat (uneven ice on your parking spot)?

I have seen the message once (only one day but repeatable several times).
This was not from the DIS but from the MMI reading and the message showed only when the engine was not running. When I started the engine the message changed to "oil level OK", so I guess the level was on the threshold.

I got a dip stick with my car (european 3.2) and it happend a few days after changing oil and filling to just under the max marking. I think what happened to me was that the car leaned somewhat (to the left side) but was not enough to trigger the "not leveled" detection. My guess is that the car was leaning too much for a correct reading.

Anybody know how much volume there is supposed to be between the "max" level and "please reduce" level ?

The message was from the oil level reading in the MMI. I have received the message while the engine was running and while it had been off for 1-2 minutes. My parking spot has been relatively clean since I checked the oil reading, but there is still a small amount of residual snow and ice, which may make a difference if the sensor is extremely sensitive. Hopefully, the sensor isn't broken, but regardless of its condition, I will be ordering a dipstick today.

It appears that the oil level sensor in the MMI fixed itself tonight; I am guessing that the balmy 31F weather may have something to do with it. I am curious whether it will malfunction again when the weather becomes cold.

Have you reset it by any chance by opening the hood?

Is the coolant level low as it could be coolant leaking into the sump which would raise the oil level and coolant is not a very good lubricant.