barca

I owned my 2011 Q5 2.0T for 2 months and now have 1300 miles on it... Yesterday I checked the oil level meter in MMI the first time, and to my surprise, it shows an empty bar... However, there's no indicator light/icon on about the low oil level, etc on the LED.

I searched on the forum, and found that most people have high consumption on the 2.0T engine, so I'm OK to add some oil by myself.

I have never added any oil to my car before (previous using Toyota for 5 years), so I'm not sure if I can use any oil as long as it meets Q5's specification on the manual. I think there must be original oil remained in the engine, and I'm not sure if it's ok to mix that with some random brand of oil that I'll purchase. Does the old oil have to be drained off first to fill in the new one?

Looking forward to your comments. Thaks!

stevedusa

Don't worry, sometimes MMI can be tricky when it comes to oil level indications.

The oil level warning isn't issued by the MMI, but the car itself. As long as you don't get an oil low caution or worse, warning, you should be fine.

I had the same worry when mine was getting close to 5k service, but I learned not to worry about it since the car is smart enough to monitor such critical part itself.

It does burn oil a bit faster but as long as you don't lead foot / floor it all the time, I am sure you can have more than 1/3 or even half left when you hit 5k miles. At least that's what happens to mine a month ago when it hit 5k.

GaryZ

The timing when you check the oil matters, too: I think it should be after you've driven the car for a while, the car is on level ground, the engine is off.

Also expect different oil consumption pattern from your Toyota, because most likely at some point, you'll need to add oil. Although my Q5 just passed first 5k miles, and I did not need to add any, but I fully expect to do so for the next 10k.

Marley's Ghost

Assuming that you have checked in the manner recommended, remember that the bar in the MMI, shows only the first liter of oil. So it is entirely possible for it to be empty and at the same the the oil level is not low enough to trigger a warning light (I'm not sure when that comes on, but I'd want to add oil before it does.

While I'm not a mechanic, I'd think that so long as you use any of the recommended oils for that engine, you would be OK (and most certainly not void the warranty).

JohnBoyToo

MG has it right ...

I freaked too when I saw one bar gone and there were only like 7 bars !!!
until I realized the mmi scale was not full to empty, but full to low oil level....

so 1 or 2 bars mean just a bit....

and my dealer said bring it by, they would top it off.... but I didn't bother after realizing it wasn't a problem...

fyi, sometimes info (instant or otherwise) is too much info and creates concern when there shouldn't be any


As others have done, I plan to get a dipstick too... AFTER break in when it should 'settle in'...

Muray

Of course, buring oil in a new car is not a good sign...from what I've learned on the S4 forum, it can be contributed to soft break-in and pinion rings on the engine not sealing properly. First 1000 miles are critical. The oil burning issue is just as bad on the supercharged 3.0. I've done the hard break-in and have not experienced this issue.

g8tor20

Don't want to hi-jack your thread....but I've been reading up on the carbon issue. I remember reading that it may help if you get a thicker viscosity oil. Can anyone confirm or deny what is a good oil to use to combat the carbon build up in our direct injection engines?

morski

Would not suggest changing the viscosity of the oil due to warranty issues. If you have not used the correct spec oil audi have suggested then you wont have a leg to stand on if your engine fails or you need to claim for excessive oil consumption.

morski

Just add the extra recommended oil and you will be fine. Suggest you buy a dipstick for peace of mind.

barca

Thank you for the suggestion. I'll definitely get a dipstick... sigh... can't trust the electronics at all.