anonymousmoose

I have a question for the experts.

When the low level warning comes on my dealer said the car has used one litre of oil and there are 3 left. If the low warning comes in and I have 3 liters left, how long could I, in theory, drive for and not cause any damage or risk of damage?

Jeff-AudiUSAParts

The oil pump pickup screen is and always will be placed very low in the oil pan on any engine. This is so the engine won't be starved for oil on corners or hills, as much as possible. Race cars need baffles in place to help create a cavity for the oil so it doesn't slosh away from the pickup during high G corners, and dry sump systems are an entirely different program, Porsche cars come with this system.

Anyway, that's a tough one to answer and more to the point, just keeping an extra quart of oil in the car with you is what you should do.

Things like how you drive the car, and the one thing you know that nobody else does, your engines rate of oil consumption, make yours a question that can't be answered. I can say my daughter has a 2001 Corolla 4 cylinder that holds 4 quarts, and she had to add 2.5 quarts because she heard a ticking from the engine. It's a good thing the pickup screen is deep in the pan is all I can say. That and time for a rebuild since it has been using oil for a while now.

audi8k

I won't try it but according to the handbook, the next step towards a break down should be the red low oil warning that says: "WARNING: Please add oil immediately".