Oil Top-Up - Does it Matter if it's Different?

[cobraBLACK]

My low oil light came on yesterday.

Before I bought the car it was serviced with expensive oil. I seem to remember Castrol that cost about £80 a fill but cannot remember the make.

Does it matter what I top it up with?

[elmo]

Yes it does matter what you top it up with. It does not necessarily have to be Castrol Brand (probably Castrol Edge), but it has to comply with the Audi recommendation codes.

Look on the back of the oil bottle to see that it complies with VW oil code 504.00. The oil will be a fully synthetic oil of grade 0-30w I think!

[cobraBLACK]

What if the previous owner hadn't put the correct viscosity in?

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Viscosity is NOT a required standard on any modern Audi (or other VAG engines). The ONLY standard you need worry about is that it complies with the specific VW oil standards - the 40 valve V8 was originally specced for VW503.00 or VW503.01 - and these have now been superceeded by the latest VW504.00.

[cobraBLACK]

Viscosity is NOT a required standard on any modern Audi (or other VAG engines). The ONLY standard you need worry about is that it complies with the specific VW oil standards - the 40 valve V8 was originally specced for VW503.00 or VW503.01 - and these have now been superceeded by the latest VW504.00.

I've just looked in my manual and it says 503.01 for variable service. Is this no longer true?

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Viscosity is NOT a required standard on any modern Audi (or other VAG engines). The ONLY standard you need worry about is that it complies with the specific VW oil standards - the 40 valve V8 was originally specced for VW503.00 or VW503.01 - and these have now been superceeded by the latest VW504.00.

I've just looked in my manual and it says 503.01 for variable service. Is this no longer true?

Yes, you can still use 503.01, providing you can get hold of it. This spec was quite rare - really meant for the biturbos in the B5 RS4 and C5 RS6. 'Castrol Edge 0W30' is 503.01 rated, as is 'Castrol Edge Sport 0W40', 'Elf Excellium LDX', 'Fuchs Titan SuperSyn LongLife 5W30'. Probably the best 503.01 is 'Motul 8100 E-Tech 0W40'.

But the latest Volkswagen Group oil (for petrol engines) is VW504.00 - also known as 'LongLife 3' - and this superceedes all other previous VW approvals. The most common 504.00 oils are 'Castrol Edge 5W30' (this is the consumer version of the dealer-only 'Castrol SLX Professional Powerflow LongLife III'), or 'Fuchs Titan GT1 LongLife III', or 'Motul Specific 504.00 507.00', or 'Total Quartz INEO 504-507'.

If you go to a main dealer, they will probably try and sell Quantum oil. Whilst these are made by Castrol for Volkswagen Group UK (note: NOT Volkswagen Group Germany), they are definately NOT as good as the genuine Castrol equivalents. But Quantum are still probably better than North American oils, which will NOT be fully synthetic.

HTH

BTW, for good prices on Castrol, log onto Opie oils website - most forums have a deal with them, often having an additional 'forum discount' too.

[cobraBLACK]

That's great info, thanks.

I'd just planned to get an emergency top-up bottle from Halfords tonight and use Opie oils when the service is due.

[Bigsidavies]

Nip to Audi and buy a 1 litre top up bottle. Will hit you for about 15 quid but you will need the litre to get it to full so wont be wasted. They put shell helix ultra in mine and gave (read included in service cost) me a top up bottle for the boot. I've got a couple since off ebay for cheaper outlay, but you need some asap. However, my uneducated guess would be that a litre of halfords fully sinthetic of similar quality would be better than running with the light on and once diluted in the remaining 9litres wont be so disastrous as long as you did an oil change in the not too distant. Sort of a damage limitation exercise i suppose.

[Bigsidavies]

They put shell helix ultra in mine and gave (read included in service cost) me a top up bottle for the boot

Not that my boot usese much oil.

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Nip to Audi and buy a 1 litre top up bottle. Will hit you for about 15 quid but you will need the litre to get it to full so wont be wasted. They put shell helix ultra in mine and gave (read included in service cost) me a top up bottle for the boot. I've got a couple since off ebay for cheaper outlay, but you need some asap. However, my uneducated guess would be that a litre of halfords fully sinthetic of similar quality would be better than running with the light on and once diluted in the remaining 9litres wont be so disastrous as long as you did an oil change in the not too distant. Sort of a damage limitation exercise i suppose.

I think you'd be OK using upto half a litre of non-approved ACEA A3 oil. I can't remember if my current RS4 owners manual gives such advice, but I'm fairly certain it said this in the manual for my previous B6 S4.

[darlo968]

Reading this topic with interest as I was thinking about checking my oil level just now - six weeks after last service and seven weeks since I bought the car. I am aware that these engines do use a bit. Am I safe to rely on the oil level light to tell me when I need to worry, or should a visual check be done regularly too?

[nihc]

Reading this topic with interest as I was thinking about checking my oil level just now - six weeks after last service and seven weeks since I bought the car. I am aware that these engines do use a bit. Am I safe to rely on the oil level light to tell me when I need to worry, or should a visual check be done regularly too?

You MUST check the oil regularly, especially when you first get the car to get an idea of how much oil is used. The manual states that the oil level should be kept to the top mark if going up hills, or words to that effect.
If the low oil light comes on then the oil level is way too low and you risk damage.
I don't think the low oil level warning comes on until the oil is well past the end of the dipstick.
My S4 uses about a litre even couple of thousand miles.

Regards, Chris.