Max Oil Warning - Audi says to just drive it. Harmful?

[Shadow1019]

2 weeks ago, I had my 55,000 mile service performed on my S5 at a local Audi dealership. Over the weekend, I started getting a max oil warning, telling me to reduce the oil level. I called the dealership and they said to simply "drive the car a couple hundred miles and it will go down."

I have no doubt that will happen. But the warning light and instruction to "reduce oil level" obviously exist for a reason. Is driving until the oil level drops potentially harmful or should I just ignore it?

Thanks in advance.

[crisp74]

if in actuality there is too much oil, it can be harmful in several ways. hhowever, the electronic oil sensor is notoriously inaccurate. you can buy a dipstick or take it back to the dealer to see if in fact there really is too much oil. it is a simple fix to drain whatever needs to be removed.

[Wilbur]

2 weeks ago, I had my 55,000 mile service performed on my S5 at a local Audi dealership. Over the weekend, I started getting a max oil warning, telling me to reduce the oil level. I called the dealership and they said to simply "drive the car a couple hundred miles and it will go down."

I have no doubt that will happen. But the warning light and instruction to "reduce oil level" obviously exist for a reason. Is driving until the oil level drops potentially harmful or should I just ignore it?

Thanks in advance.

If the dealer said its ok its probably ok.

[crisp74]

If the dealer said its ok its probably ok.

right. because if the dealer says it's ok over the phone, they have obviously checked the levels extensively and know exactly how much oil is in op's particular engine and have completely ruled out that some tech poured an extra quart or two in...

op, here is some more info for you: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_happe...in_your_engine
and here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...2105222AAFxA2T

[endless5]

take it back to them, same thing happened to me when i took my s5 for its 5,000 mile service

[Shadow1019]

Thanks everybody. I'll be taking it in.

[rs4-380]

get it checked with a dipstick. Too much oil can kill your catalytic converters as well as exacerbate issues with the crankcase ventilation/carbon buildup issues that are already notorious on these DI engines.

[bknewtype]

happened to me as well. i drove it for a few days and it went away. but better safe than sorry right?

[Audiforumuser]

This happens all the time with the electric sensor. It seems to really depend on when you check it. Best advice is as others said, just buy a dipstick.

[fiveezy]

I took mine into the dealer and they gave me a quick oil change. warning gone. no charge

[sirmium]

Happened to me too on multiple ocasions, i opened the cap, cleaned around it, cleaned the cap, closed. Message went away.

From what i heard, sensor is somewhere at the top and when they fill, oil splashes the sensor and thus inaccurate warning, so after some time it fixes itself.

[a4_bob]

Happened to me w/ a dealership oil change. I went back, they checked and found that they had overfilled. They drained oil but I'm not sure how much. Sorry but this can cause various engine problems if you drive this way.

This is absurd and makes me really doubt the quality of service at dealerships - this is about the simplest and most frequent activity that they do so I can't imagine how they'd do anything else right.

[rico89]

Happened to me too on multiple ocasions, i opened the cap, cleaned around it, cleaned the cap, closed. Message went away.

From what i heard, sensor is somewhere at the top and when they fill, oil splashes the sensor and thus inaccurate warning, so after some time it fixes itself.

Works!

[Avantmaniac]

Works!

Works for me too!

[Ryan_qttro]

Sensor is in the oil pan, it re checks the level once the hood has been opened. Also we see a lot of hood switches going out, when you pop the hood make sure display shows hood open. If it doesn't show good open don't trust oil level MMI shows you.

[jmaitner]

My 2011 S5 Max oil light came on a month ago. Then it went off on its own after a few days. Then it returned. I brought it to the dealer who had just performed the oil change a month earlier. They tried to charge me $40 to remove the excess oil; but after I argued they agreed to not bill. Two weeks later the light is back on.

[HP Hungry S5]

I had the same situation happen and they told me the same and I cleaned around the cap and after a couple days and it never went away I took it into the dealer and they extracted a good amount of oil to get it to go away. Always remember that the dealership is not always right!

[rkfchan]

I have the same situation on my C8 A6. It just came back from the first oil change and the warning came on 2 days after. I did open the cap, clean and close it and the warning is gone. I will take it in again.

[osteohead]

Reincarnating a very old thread because of an issue with my B8 S4 with the 3.0t motor.
The motor recently let go while on a warm up lap at mid-Ohio and I’m trying to understand if perhaps the engine being overfilled with oil could have contributed to the failure.
After the car was towed into the pits, we pulled 8 quarts out of the oil pan. Also the reduce oil level alert was on but the mechanic said it wasn’t anything to be concerned with because the sensors aren’t reliable.
So, my question for anyone that has the knowledge is this... can 8 quarts cause engine failure in the 3.0t motor? And since I haven’t found any direct info on this topic online anywhere, it would be great to know how much oil is too much for this motor.

Thanks!!!

[RockJGC]

Reincarnating a very old thread because of an issue with my B8 S4 with the 3.0t motor.
The motor recently let go while on a warm up lap at mid-Ohio and I’m trying to understand if perhaps the engine being overfilled with oil could have contributed to the failure.
After the car was towed into the pits, we pulled 8 quarts out of the oil pan. Also the reduce oil level alert was on but the mechanic said it wasn’t anything to be concerned with because the sensors aren’t reliable.
So, my question for anyone that has the knowledge is this... can 8 quarts cause engine failure in the 3.0t motor? And since I haven’t found any direct info on this topic online anywhere, it would be great to know how much oil is too much for this motor.

Thanks!!!

Wow, that sucks. I don't have a good answer for you, but I can tell you that severely overfilling the crankcase with oil can lead to aeration of your oil and that of course can lead to poor lubrication throughout the entire engine.