Good Afternoon,
Can anybody claim to read their service flap dipstick swiftly with confidence? Thought not, more likely as clear as mud.
Impressed by the Colour DIS graphics of oil level it struck me why not use VCDS for the same data.
If the membership gets on board and posts data (guidelines in Post 3) for their model and engine code than I am happy to collate and build a reference table for oil level for our A2s, this is the purpose of Post 1. I think this idea has merit - confidence rather than hope your reading of the ridiculously unclear dipstick is correct.
I found oil level in '17 - Instruments', if anybody has better suggestions about anything please post.
For the VCDS novice, run VCDS then
I have used 'Advanced Measuring Values' which allows you to 'cherry pick' just the items of interest. Much better than 'Measurement Blocks', no working out which Groups contain the items of interest and then wading through them and not fitting on one screen to observe. So
You get 2 windows, the main value window and a popup window to select the items of interest. Just 'tick' to select the items you want and their value appear in the main window.
I have selected 2 context items and 3 oil values but there are others I ignored. Note the coolant value is the dash feed from G62 (coolant temperature sensor) and appears to have a default value of 30°C when the engine is cold, it should be on a par with ambient and oil temperatures.
Values for my FSI.
Note the selection list can be saved for reuse whenever required by clicking the VCDS icon in the the selection window, wonderful.
My hot FSI.
The hot oil only increases level value by a few millimetres. The warning threshold goes up as well, a little puzzling.
ALL VERY WELL AND GOOD BUT WHAT DO THESE LEVEL VALUES ACTUALLY MEAN???? - am I in need of oil, too much, half full...???
I have just read the handbook!, it does contain diagrams to use as a basis of discussion.
As best as I can tell from the dipstick my oil level is at the top end of area 'a'. The values shown above are therefore reference values for maximum oil level for the BAD FSI, do any other FSI owners agree or disagree?
What would be good to know is the level value of the boundaries for a, b & c. At some point in the future I will monitor an oil drain to establish a reference values for these boundaries for the FSI. If anybody is draining their oil soon it would be good to to do likewise if convenient and post observation for their engine code, but thinking about the safety aspect really only for a cold engine.
No need to wait for an oil drain, a simple level value related to dipstick for what oil you have in today.
Andy