[jim996]

Hi

How does the oil sensor work in the MMI? I'm trying to check the level and I just keep getting the message "oil level will be available in approx 2 minutes" this doesn't seem to change regardless of how long i sit there?

Whatever was wrong with dipsticks?

 

[rapidcool]

Hi

How does the oil sensor work in the MMI? I'm trying to check the level and I just keep getting the message "oil level will be available in approx 2 minutes" this doesn't seem to change regardless of how long i sit there?

Whatever was wrong with dipsticks?

hi Jim,
have read somewhere (cant remember where but will try) that you need to open the bonnet and then this resets the dipstick level and then shows it.hopefully someone can back this up or tell me that im totally wrong.

Rich

 

[shunter]

Yes not the best feature Audi has come up with.
You need to make sure the engine is at working tempurature and the car needs to be on level ground. Not good if you need to check the oil level before a long jouney.

I have found mine varies between full and 1/3 full. So I no longer regard it as a usefull indicator.

 

[jim996]

Yes not the best feature Audi has come up with.
You need to make sure the engine is at working tempurature and the car needs to be on level ground. Not good if you need to check the oil level before a long jouney.

I have found mine varies between full and 1/3 full. So I no longer regard it as a usefull indicator.

Agreed....i find a lot of the technology on this car to be either useless or counterproductive. I still couldn't get the oil level to work this afternoon. Everyone in the world knows how a dipstick works for god's sake. I used to have a 911 with an electronic oil level but that came on and showed you the level visually every time you started the car, it was great........

The less said about the satnav the better......"Partial Postcode" system? What the hell is that about.....I can buy a ?40 system from Halfords that takes me right to the door by putting in the full postcode but with my ?2000 Audi system I always end up playing "Audi guess" at the end of the journey......even when I know the streetname the system rarely has it on the database anyway and it's an absolute nightmare in industrial estates, rarely getting me to within a mile of where I want to go.

A good car let down by a lot of poorly thought through technology.

 

[robbo]

Agreed....i find a lot of the technology on this car to be either useless or counterproductive. I still couldn't get the oil level to work this afternoon. Everyone in the world knows how a dipstick works for god's sake. I used to have a 911 with an electronic oil level but that came on and showed you the level visually every time you started the car, it was great........

The less said about the satnav the better......"Partial Postcode" system? What the hell is that about.....I can buy a ?40 system from Halfords that takes me right to the door by putting in the full postcode but with my ?2000 Audi system I always end up playing "Audi guess" at the end of the journey......even when I know the streetname the system rarely has it on the database anyway and it's an absolute nightmare in industrial estates, rarely getting me to within a mile of where I want to go.

A good car let down by a lot of poorly thought through technology.

Off subject slightly, but my mother in laws Q5 2.0T FSI in my opinion seems to be using alot of oil - 6k miles and has needed a good top up 2 or 3 times - almost used a 2l of oil already. Is this normal as I'm hoping mine doesn't use all that when mine comes.

Also, I agree, the computer told me to add more oil the other day, I gingerly added more and more until it said it was full, now it says there's too much in there and to reduce the level! I agree, a dipstick was far better and more trustworthy!!

 

[Rog]

So how do you reduce the level then

 

[Hoggy]

So how do you reduce the level then

A long straw and suck!

Hoggy

 

[Hoggy]

So how do you reduce the level then

A long straw and suck!

Hoggy

 

[Davethedetailer]

On a long drive last weekend I was told to fill up with oil - no more than 1 litre, so i added 0.5 litre as suggested. When checking it then said reduce oil level, I didn't. 50 miles later it tells me to add more oil, I didn't.

The damn thing is all over the place 'add' then 'reduce' - perhaps a faulty sensor, Audi can look at the weekend!

Agree that the old fashioned dipstick would be a useful failsafe!

 

[Rog]

Even the one on the Vauxhall van works better than that.

Dave, it would be usefull to hear what your garage says about it.

I'd expect the diesels to use some oil in the first month as the block soaks it up. After that it shouldn't be too bad, unless you are ragging the engine constantly. So it's clearly a quirk that we need to adapt to pdq.

Too much oil is not good for the engine either.

 

[Steppes]

Good afternoon,

I have another problem.

After around 20000 kilometers I checked the Oil level again.
Oil level showed zero....
No warning, no warning light.
Filled up with a liter of oil, now showing 3/4 full.

Before I had the same engine in a VW Touareg, besides the normal oil changes I only ever topped up a total of 1 Liter
in a total of 140000 Kilometers...

Also this morning I lost, without any warning all my coolant fluid.. car is at Audi Dealer...

... I thought Audi is a premium brand??

Cheers Stephan

 

[CrustyNoodle]

steppes, from your descriptions I'm guessing you have a V6 (quite a few V6 owners have experienced water pump failure - as have you by the sounds of it). Do you have the petrol or the diesel?

 

[Q5dude]

Hello!

We have since 3 weeks our TDI-2.0 Diesel 170HP.

This weekend (after +/- 1000 miles) during a trip the car wants us to add 1 liter of oil.
We stopped and added 0.5 liter.
next hour again the car wants us to add 1 liter of oil.
Filled it up again with 0.5 liter,and start the car again.
Then the MMI is saying we need to reduce the oil level.
The day after,after 80 miles the car again wants oil.
So very confusing,because when we check the oil level on the MMI,it shows reduce oil level.
We did not add extra oil.

Anyone expierence the same?? any solution?
How much oil did you add the first 1000 / 2000 miles???

Thanx!

 

[MagicaTi]

On a long drive last weekend I was told to fill up with oil - no more than 1 litre, so i added 0.5 litre as suggested. When checking it then said reduce oil level, I didn't. 50 miles later it tells me to add more oil, I didn't.

The damn thing is all over the place 'add' then 'reduce' - perhaps a faulty sensor, Audi can look at the weekend!

Agree that the old fashioned dipstick would be a useful failsafe!

Same experience got new Q5 2.0 TDI 140cv thursday afternoon, drove 50 km and then off for the w-e; after other 150 km the "low engine oil level" lit up, suggesting I ad no more than 1 liter of oil but, thankfully, I could nevertheless continue my journey.As I was in a mountain motorway I called the salesman over the phone and he suggested me to relay to a Audi Service Center: mission impossible on saturdays, at least in Italy.
Upon arrival I opened the bonnet to see if enything was wrong, closed it and after a while started again the engine alarm disappeared!!
On sunday evening coming back and after 150 Km the thing happened again; Audi Service Center checked and found everything OK.
I'll keep under control; for sure good ol' dipstick.....

 

[rapidcool]

Hello!

We have since 3 weeks our TDI-2.0 Diesel 170HP.

This weekend (after +/- 1000 miles) during a trip the car wants us to add 1 liter of oil.
We stopped and added 0.5 liter.
next hour again the car wants us to add 1 liter of oil.
Filled it up again with 0.5 liter,and start the car again.
Then the MMI is saying we need to reduce the oil level.
The day after,after 80 miles the car again wants oil.
So very confusing,because when we check the oil level on the MMI,it shows reduce oil level.
We did not add extra oil.

Anyone expierence the same?? any solution?
How much oil did you add the first 1000 / 2000 miles???

Thanx!

Hi Q5,
done nearly 7000 miles no alarms or warnings from mmi and oil level still looking fine,it hasnt moved.

Rich

 

[MagicaTi]

UPDATE

Went for a second check at the Service cCenter.
Apparently the problem is of "too high oil level", which the sensor and system and software are unable to cope with; there seems to be a technical note on the topic from AUDI AG. Apparently problem fixed.
They took a quarter of liter of oil out and told me problem fixed; in spring perhaps new SW release to update the system. I'll keep You informed

 

[jrthomas_uk]

Hi Guys,

Does anyone have any updates on this issue?

I picked up my new Q5 on Saturday, and about 100 miles into my drive home, I got the DIS telling me to add 1ltr oil (but safe to carry on) and the level through the MMI was saying to reduce oil. Left it for about 15 mins and it was ok and I now get a 3/4 full reading from the MMI. Think I'll drop it into the local dealer to be on the safe side.

Thanks, James

 

[jrthomas_uk]

Car back from the dealer.

Nothing wrong with it - just reset something, and told me to keep an eye on it.

They did say the MMI Oil Level Check was quite iffy - sounds like an understatement.

Anyway, nothing wrong with the oil sender unit as originally thought.

 

[Qfiver]

Hiya, my wife has a 2.0 TFSI (petrol 2010 model) and amongst other problems, has also suffered with this 'oil problem'. The car has done 8,000 miles and has so far had 2 litres of 'extra' oil and is now demanding more. I rang the dealership today and their cool response (infact the woman found the whole subject highly ammusing) was that Audi do NOT see it as a problem, infact they only treat an Audi requiring more oil as a problem if it is using more than half a litre every 600 miles! So i asked her if i were using a litre of oil every 1,500 miles, Audi wouldn't see anything abnormal about this? 'Not at all Sir' she replied. I told her i'll bear this in mind when choosing it's replacement!

 

[mirekmal]

I think the major problem is how do you check the oil level. When engine is running it is quite obvious that oil gets distributed all over the internals of the engine and its level at the sensor position decreases. Also driving versus keeping car still makes difference. So I think it is the matter of exactly following instruction in the manual to get proper reading, otherwise measurements get screwed - this might be case of some of you checking level on the road.
Well this is just my few cents, as personally I do not have experience with electronic sensor yet

On the other hand; lets check this article: http://www.audienthusiasts.com/Articles_OilDipstick.html. While it is for A4, Q5 is sharing lots of components so it might apply. Seems there might be easy and relatively inexpensive way to add standard dipstick.