I can see the sump at the back of the engine with a drain plug in the centre, but I can also see an oil pan (?) with a drain plug at the front of the engine (this is where the oil filter is).
Do both have to be drained for an oil change, or does the oil from the front pan drain into the sump when stationary?
There's only one you need to use. The one in the oil pan. Use synthetic oil and change the filter too. Both will last for 30.000 Km. The other one is the gearbox and needs no new oil. Those are factory advises which I think are just fine. On my 2.6 this has worked well for over 10 years now. Many people in this group however change oil weekly or so it seems.
Thanks. The front oil pan looks a little small to be holding 5 litres of oil or whatever the capacity is. There doesn't seem to be a Haynes manual for this engine.
I take your point about synthetic oil, but having only had the car for just over a year and not knowing what was used before, that might be a bit risky. At almost 200K miles, I don't want to end up with oil leaks.
having just oil/filter changed my 2.4 V6 and confirm it is the front plug near the filter. My engine held 6 litres inc oil filter.
I used Castrol Magnatec 5W30 from Halfords. This magnatec states it leaves a oil on surfaces when the vehicle is left standing for a few days. Mine stands from Friday evening to Monday morning so I thought to give it a try.
I am running my A4 2.8 on a similar regime. 19,000 mile oil changes with longlife oil. It has been run like this from new and I am at 94,000miles. I have always been a concerned about it and have worried about engine life servicing this way. Can you elaborate a little the oil you use and mileage etc.
Sorry for going a little off topic to the OP but I am interested in peoples long term experience of extended oil drain intervals.
It maybe a 2.6 12v or a 2.8 12v or 30v, they are all pretty much bullet proof engines, best oil to use is the VAG long life stuff, Castrol SLX is the brand name, look for the VAG markings.
I had a 2.6 12v and sold it a year ago with 170k miles on the clock, and it was still going perfect.
It's horses for courses, the Americans change their oil every 2k miles or so it seems, and we in the UK change it when the handbook tells us, or the car itself lets us know.
I change mine, approx every 10k miles, or 20k depends on my mood, If I use cheap oil etc.
Castrol SLX for long life, Mobil 1, Syntec etc if you change every 10k :)
Remember though, long life is really only beneficial if you do mostly motorway miles, if you potter round town, lots of stop starts, then use a good quality cheaper oil and change it more often.
It's the front ne all right. And the 5 litres (exactly) are not hold in the pan; it's not a dry sump! It's also not true that thinner oil leaks easy. All oil will leak when the seals are gone. The pressure ( 5 Bar) is the same at all oils.
Mine is the 2.8 30v and I do use Castrol SLX Longlife II. The car is setup for AVS so the car tells me when I need an oil change but I always seem to get about 19,000 miles. I don't hammer the car and I do mainly longish journeys.
Its good to hear your engine was ok after 170K miles. I am sure it would have started to show problems by then.
My engine does leak a little oil from one of the cam seal adjuster but this is 'normal' for these engines. I may get it fixed but its hardly a problem at the moment. There is however a lot of valve clatter starting from a cold start (overnight) for the first few minutes but I put this down to hydraulic lifters and an oil change made no difference. I also read a tsb saying it was normal if it disappeared within a few minutes. Other than that the engine seems as smooth and powerful as it ever did.
FWIW my 2002 1.8T quattro is now on 130k and gets serviced on AVS and this equates to 30k mile services, which is unbelievable, that's all motorway miles.
I also have a slight cam seal leak that is common as hell on these cars, but it does not bother me, and I only keep the car untill 150-170k miles, and I expect this one to last just as long, I always buy quattro.
I lose around 5k on my trade-in when I come to change it, which is not bad for 3 years of trouble free motoring, just had another MOT and it flew through, as all my Audis have done :)
All Audis sound like diesels first thing in the morning, don't worry about it, just enjoy driving it hehe
I see what you mean - the oil dipstick is at a point back a bit from the pan.
I've heard that switching to synthetic after using regular dino oil may accelerate seals going south. Perhaps semi-synthetic would be a safer compromise?
Pottering around town is basically all the missus does with this car. It probably hasn't covered more than 1500 miles in the fourteen months we've had it!
Nah, it's the audi standard for AVS servicing, it works out how many miles and how worn the oil is, speed etc, then caculates when the service is due, this can equate to 20-30k miles
It is now over twelve months since Audi introduced its revolutionary Audi Variable Servicing (AVS) programme to the market.
As a follow-up to this industry first, we thought we would review and highlight some key milestones.
· AVS is not an extended service programme, unlike some of our competitors, both oil technology and engine technologies have been re-engineered to deliver genuine savings and environmental benefits.
· Provided correct AVS oil is utilised then driving characteristics typical journey cycles, will impact on vehicle downtime, service costs, fuel savings, environmental emissions and waste oil/filter disposals, AVS produces clear savings in these areas.
· AVS offers customer choice as a customer can choose either the Fixed Service Intervals or AVS option (although we cannot think of any good reason to stay on Fixed Service Intervals, even under shorter urban cycles).
Service intervals are based on the following criteria:
Minimum interval 9000 miles irrespective of time
Petrol engines maximum 19000 miles or two years
Diesel 4 cylinder TDI maximum 30000 miles or two years
Diesel 6 cylinder TDI maximum 22000 miles or two years
Audi has carried out internal survey of all vehicles used by its staff both field based and head office. The summary results of wave one 2000 are shown below, together with further corporate industry, end user independent results and customer comments.
Audi Variable Service Audi UK Staff Fleet Survey (wave 1/2000)
Total Audi Vehicles surveyed (all models): 101
Average Oil consumption (all models) 0.87 Litres
Best mileage to next service due indicated 30,000 miles
Lowest mileage to next service due indicated 13,800 miles
Petrol Diesel
Average mileage to next service due indicated 18,508 miles 22,605 miles
Star performers by model Audi A3/S3 mileage to next service due indicated 19,500 miles
Audi A4 1.8SE mileage to next service due indicated 19,000 miles Audi A6 1.9SE TDI mileage to next service due indicated 30,000 miles
Audi A8 4.2/S8 mileage to next service due indicated 18,500 miles
Predicted saving against fixed service Audi A4 1.8SE Fixed 0 - 60k £808.85
Audi A4 1.8SE AVS 0 - 60k £634.46
Total Saving £174.39
Audi A6 1.9TDI Fixed 0 - 60k £907.95
Audi A6 1.9TDI AVS 0 - 60k £466.64 Total Saving £441.31
Predicted Number of service visit/downtime reduction Audi A4 1.8SE AVS 0 - 60k -3 Services
Audi A6 1.9SE TDI AVS 0 - 60k -4 Services
Predicted number of waste oil filters and waste oil reduction Audi A4 1.8SE AVS 0 - 60k 3 Filters &
10.5 litres of waste oil
Audi A6 1.9SE TDI AVS 0 - 60k 4 Filters & 14.0 litres of waste oil
Based on Retail Labour Rate @ £47.50/Litre
AVS Oil (Recommended Retail Price) @ £9.70/Litre
Fixed Services Multigrade Oil @ £5.50/Litre
Customers Delighted with AVS Performance
As the Audi Variable Servicing programme comes to the end of its first year, customers are beginning to relay back some of the stunning results that the revolutionary system has provided.
AUDI CORPORATE SALES
WHERE BUSINESS IS GOING
01908 601977
Michelin Tyres have taken up the AVS programme on the Audis on their fleet of over 300 cars, run through PHH Vehicle Management, and have seen some remarkable results. Mr John Wadeson of Michelin has been delighted with the AVS programme so far. An example of its success is one of Michelin's Audi A4 TDI (90bhp) which came in for its first service at 25,600 miles at HR Owen Audi, London.
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