Illegible dipstick and heavy oil consumption

knirirr

knirirr

Member
Unfortunately it seems from reading this forum that many A2s consume large quantities of oil, and that I've got one of those. It doesn't help that I find it very hard to read the dipstick even though it isn't black. Here's a picture of it looking as if it is full (I think):
CIMG0271.jpg

Around 500 miles after that I got a "minimum oil level" warning. Does anyone have any recommendations for dealing with this problem, either stopping the heavy consumption or reading the dipstick? Thanks.
 
Don't want to tell you how to suck eggs, but the easiest way to read the dipstick is to remove it, give it a wipe so it's clean then re-insert it all the way till it clicks in and then give the ring one turn clockwise.

Remove the dipstick and then read the level. With old oil, it's deald easy to see on the orangne ground. Oh, and the car should be on level surface to get a true reading.

By the way, your end has snapped off - don't worry, it's very common and the end will stay in the sump until the next oil change, as the strainer will prevent it getting up into the engine.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Skipton01 said:
D... the easiest way to read the dipstick is to remove it, give it a wipe so it's clean then re-insert it all the way till it clicks in and then give the ring one turn clockwise...
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That's what it looked like after I had wiped, re-inserted &c. I usually try this 2-3 times and I'm still not sure exactly where the level is. My old car was a diesel ad with a straight metal dipstick, which was much easier.

By the way, your end has snapped off - don't worry, it's very common and the end will stay in the sump until the next oil change, as the strainer will prevent it getting up into the engine.
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That's useful to know - thanks.
 
murdo said:
This car has less than 45k miles according to member profile. Surely it cant need an engine rebuild already :confused:
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That's right - it's a little under 45k at the moment.
My previous car had done nearly 132k and used less oil that this appears to have done.
 
I dont know diddly about engines Im afraid, and I'm a TDi owner that has never had to top up between servicing (fingers crossed that continues) but having to top up every 500 miles with the light coming on seems odd. I'd get your wee ally pal checked out. :D
 
dan_b said:
Could the sensor itself be faulty?
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I wondered about that as I have had some other problems with spurious warning lights (oil, power steering, boot - posts about some elsewhere).
However, after the light went on I saw no oil on the dipstick. I put a litre in and saw some start to appear on the hatched area, then drove home (about 40 miles). When checking it at home later the dipstick looked a bit like the photo above (taken a couple of weeks ago).
 
Silly question: you don't have an external leak do you? Any signs of oil under the car after it's been parked up?

Cheers,

Mike
 
theres an oil sensor for sale in selling part of forum.

not sure if its for a tdi or not.


I keep the oil inthe hatched part of the dipstick,someone tell me if Im wrong!

a new dipstick is under £6
 
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So even if there's a duff sensor in there, the oil is being used up somehow!

Any funny coloured exhaust smoke, especially from cold?

Cheers,

Mike
 
if it's a petrol, then this is uncommon but known and the cure really is piston rings. No, it's not cheap, but then again it wasn't *that* expensive either, being around €1500. I will check, there's a couple of threads, including one with lots of piccies, over on the German site.

A litre over 500miles is a hell of a lot, though... 45k = ca. 70k kms, so it's no spring chicken, either.

Bret
 
bretti_kivi said:
if it's a petrol, then this is uncommon but known and the cure really is piston rings. No, it's not cheap, but then again it wasn't *that* expensive either, being around €1500. I will check, there's a couple of threads, including one with lots of piccies, over on the German site.
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Thanks, that would be useful to see.
I checked for blue smoke this morning and I couldn't see any smoke at all either cold or warm. So, perhaps it is a dodgy sensor coupled with my inability to judge the level.
 
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