We had a B7 A4 2.0T client stop in today as his low oil level warning light illuminated in his dash. We checked his oil level and it was about 2qts low. Is this cause for alarm?
On his car, yes and no. While we do recommend checking your oil level every gas fillup (some cars like Porsche’s and Mercedes’ don’t have an actual dipstick you can manually check the level with, but instead they have an electronic “dipstick” which is checked with the key turned to the auxiliary position/car off), many engines nowadays, especially turbocharged engines, will consume oil. Your engine shouldn’t be running low on oil, but if it is consuming SOME oil throughout your oil change interval (we HIGHLY recommend oil change intervals of 5000mi, not the 10,000 miles many manufacturers and dealers are stating), this is normal and no cause for alarm.
For example, Audi’s top spec/parameter for oil consumption is up to 1qt every 1000miles. This is quite scary as many 1.8T/2.0T engines only hold 4.5-5qts, so throughout a 5000mile oil change interval, an engine could consume 4.5qts and this would still be within Audi’s spec! (While we’re on the topic of it, we did have a TT225 client whose 1.8T engine was consuming considerably over 1qt/1k. Long story short, we found numerous issues including a 2nd oil ring on one of her pistons which had literally broken into over 50 pieces, scoring the cylinder wall. This was fixed and oil consumption is down to a minimal amount).
If you need or would like, always feel free to stop by and ask us to check your oil level. If you need a top off, we’ll be happy to do so.
Happy motoring!
I have a B7 2.0T as well and would frequently encounter the low oil warning light about 7,000 miles after an oil change. I always thought something was wrong, but now I’m sort of miffed that’s within spec.