3.2L getting the oil level correct after oil change?

[m4gician]

hi everyone,

did a classic oil change (even though I have a pump, wanted to swap the plug out for a magnetic one) and put the car on ramps, removed bottom panel and drained out the oil.

Now I bought an OEM dipstick (yellow handle) instead of relying on the MMI but changing the oil in my driveway, obviously my driveway isn't level and when I put in the 6L in there, I could barely register a reading on the dipstick so I ended up adding another litre+ or so and got the dipstick right about middle maybe towards max.

The MMI eventually reset itself after a few drives and it said full.

However it bothered me because I know not supposed to overfill this and given that I had the car on ramps and the drain plug towards the front of the oil pan that I:
- may not have gotten all of the oil out
- maybe the incline was impacting the dipstick reading?

I estimated that I probably put in about 7.5L of oil into the engine, and so I decided to pump out roughly 1.5L or just under that to keep me around 6L as all of the capacity in the manual and what I googled showed me that it's 6.2L capacity.

Now here's my problem:

I backed my car into my driveway which of course is at an angle and let it sit overnight and checked the oil and it was a max maybe a tad over, but I thought that was fine given again, car wasn't level and the dipstick measures from the front of the oil pan. So fast forward to just now after taking it for a drive to run some errands and I park forward into the driveway (i.e. uphill) and I check the oil and it's barely registering mid on the dipstick.

So my question is:

- How much oil does this 3.2L supposed to take?

- does parking the car on completely level road to check oil level make that much of a difference?

[a4lownslow]

You’re overthinking it. Oil capacity is around 6.6-6.8 quarts. Good practice is to add 6.5 quarts after oil change and top off as necessary after that.

The mmi system is an accurate way to check the oil but you must do it in a consistent way.

Vehicle needs to be driven until at operating temp. Shut the vehicle off on level ground and pop the hood. The reason we pop the hood is this causes the oil level sensor to reset and give a new current reading. After popping the hood I like to open it all the way and shut it immediately.

From here get back in your car and turn to accessory mode (engine off) then pull up your oil level reading. It should display within two minutes.

If the level is low add a little and repeat process. Pop the hood, close the hood, pull up oil level.

Again this needs to be done in a consistent way and on fairly level ground.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[spijun]

- How much oil does this 3.2L supposed to take?

With filter 6.4 lit

[m4gician]

You’re overthinking it. Oil capacity is around 6.6-6.8 quarts. Good practice is to add 6.5 quarts after oil change and top off as necessary after that.

The mmi system is an accurate way to check the oil but you must do it in a consistent way.

Vehicle needs to be driven until at operating temp. Shut the vehicle off on level ground and pop the hood. The reason we pop the hood is this causes the oil level sensor to reset and give a new current reading. After popping the hood I like to open it all the way and shut it immediately.

From here get back in your car and turn to accessory mode (engine off) then pull up your oil level reading. It should display within two minutes.

If the level is low add a little and repeat process. Pop the hood, close the hood, pull up oil level.

Again this needs to be done in a consistent way and on fairly level ground.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

Yeah I checked it level and it read closer to low after sitting. I moved it back into the driveway and couldn't find anything so I just added more.

[arjun90]

I've seen mechanics only putting 6 liters during the initial fill, followed by running the oil in the engine and rechecking the level and topping off as necessary; whether you drain the oil via the drain plug or suck it out, either way, there will be residual oil especially if the car is not sitting on a leveled surface.

Best practice is to just put 7 liters during the initial fill. Half an extra quart will not hurt the engine and will not necessarily ruin the cats; these motors tends to burn oil overtime

[Valpo A7]

A couple years back I was speaking with an Audi tech and he told me that the extractor will actually remove a bit more oil from the pan than dumping from the plug. The plug area boss extends up slightly into the pan which will leave a slight “puddle” in the pan. If you get the extractor tube down to the bottom you will extract most of that puddle.

Back when we got our 3.0 A7 I went ahead and picked up a dipstick off Amazon and have always used that for a full fill reference. Been doing that for 80,000 miles now with no problems.

In my many decades of changing oil in all our cars I have always made the final fill level checks when back down off the ramps or off the jackstands. Just that slight angle can give 1/4 to 1/2 quart level difference indication.

[m4gician]

I've seen mechanics only putting 6 liters during the initial fill, followed by running the oil in the engine and rechecking the level and topping off as necessary; whether you drain the oil via the drain plug or suck it out, either way, there will be residual oil especially if the car is not sitting on a leveled surface.

Best practice is to just put 7 liters during the initial fill. Half an extra quart will not hurt the engine and will not necessarily ruin the cats; these motors tends to burn oil overtime

Yeah I'm doing 10k km oil changes right now of 0w40. I'll measure what comes out next time and look to put back just a bit less in and adjusting.