Reduce oil level call workshop.

[DarranKing68]

I was travelling in France and I got the reduce oil level after about 8 hrs driving 700 miles all of it on motorways doing at least 70km per hour.

It didn’t happen when I stopped or just after was quite a surprise.

I checked the oil before leaving and it was middle of the stick, I checked it after the error and it was higher.

The van has been standing overnight and the level is back at middle of the stick.

Had the van almost 12 months and did this journey before with no issues.

Between these longer journeys it does a mix of short and ones about 30 miles. But also stands a lot.

What could be going on here

 

[Bav]

The search function is your friend - lots of info re this error on the forum.

 

[Sasquatch]

How long did you leave it after the error before checking initually the level? Oil has a significant coefficient of expansion with temperature ris3 so to be really sure you need it stone cold before checking. If the next day the oil level returned to its original level you have no problem,

Set it about 1/3 of the way above minimum and monitor closely.

There is a software upgrade that addresses this, but it doesnt seem to be universally successful. I keep my oil lefel at 1/3 up between the marks and that cured it.

Best of luck.

 

[monkeybusiness]

I had this after a fairly long trip. Stopped at a service station and the oil level was good - right to the top of the stick but never the less.
Had the oil changed a week or so after and never seen the message again which included a long trip to France.

 

[DarranKing68]

The search function is your friend - lots of info re this error on the forum.

Yes I read those and whilst similar it seems most are either where it’s too full to start with or something to do with the dpi dumping fuel in making it too full. In my case the oil level was the same after the engine had cooled down.

It is due a service and MOT next month and it has extended warranty, so I will mention it to VW at the same time.

 

[Bav]

Yes I read those and whilst similar it seems most are either where it’s too full to start with or something to do with the dpi dumping fuel in making it too full. In my case the oil level was the same after the engine had cooled down.

It is due a service and MOT next month and it has extended warranty, so I will mention it to VW at the same time.

Possibly a software update required.

 

[DarranKing68]

I have now returned from France and I am still getting the reduce oil level warning. I checked the van oil level this morning whilst the oil was cold and it is now above the maximum.

I checked my carista and using the iPhone dpf monitor for vag app (see attached) and it looks like a regen was completed whilst I was driving home.

So now what do I do about the oil level, it’s due a service and MOT which I can book after the bank holiday, but should I pump some oil out in the meantime

How can I tell when the next regen is required, so I can ensure I don’t stop it on a short journey, which value should I be monitoring and can I force the regen.

 

[Trihard1]

I was travelling in France and I got the reduce oil level after about 8 hrs driving 700 miles all of it on motorways doing at least 70km per hour.

It didn’t happen when I stopped or just after was quite a surprise.

I checked the oil before leaving and it was middle of the stick, I checked it after the error and it was higher.

The van has been standing overnight and the level is back at middle of the stick.

Had the van almost 12 months and did this journey before with no issues.

Between these longer journeys it does a mix of short and ones about 30 miles. But also stands a lot.

What could be going on here

Just had the same issue away. My VW T6 still under warranty so called AA as VW not available. They dropped about 3/4 L of oil out of wngine as it was at top of dip stick. 65 miles later same happened again and the level was high again. VW assist came out this time and did a series of checks and took out about the same amount of oil again by syringe this time. He was happy that oil was not contaminated but basically too much oil put in at service as expands after 2 to 3 thousand miles !!! Have driven it for an hr now and no problem but we will see. One point as AA dropped out of sump - then a new sump plug is needed and also new bolts are required as they are for one use only

 

[Trihard1]

Also stated that potentially oil change should be measured by y than litres??

 

[Drive Wayne]

I have now returned from France and I am still getting the reduce oil level warning. I checked the van oil level this morning whilst the oil was cold and it is now above the maximum.

I checked my carista and using the iPhone dpf monitor for vag app (see attached) and it looks like a regen was completed whilst I was driving home.

So now what do I do about the oil level, it’s due a service and MOT which I can book after the bank holiday, but should I pump some oil out in the meantime

How can I tell when the next regen is required, so I can ensure I don’t stop it on a short journey, which value should I be monitoring and can I force the regen.

View attachment 321979

View attachment 321980

I would buy a £9.89 (below) siphon pump from Amazon, withdraw about 4/500 ml through the dipstick. You want the oil level to show about half way up the dipstick cross hatching. Make sure to tell your service garage to only fill oil to the same level.
With regard to your VAG app, you're at 23g of soot calculated, 77% of the way to starting a regen.139 miles since last regen, I would expect mine to start around 180 miles.
Your oil Ash residue at 52.98g is basically the life of your DPF, at 110g IIRC the DPF will be pretty much full and need either cleaning out or replacing.
Looks healthy to me overall, in 40ish miles you will regen naturally, usually as you are pulling up at home! Take her out for a 10 minute joy ride if you notice the revs at 1k rather than 900.
No need to force a regen.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/mobile/mission?p=illTAxq84t6%2BFfgK%2B1wZlVCv0PzmnHudaNOEd1u0KoHercBJ0Pj3Ri5LHQj97w6yMeDKM0yWQt4IFhYAt02pUvGyKVfKXof32vG7hBGnPtLtnCXfhYk5e0UrYFIjm3R%2Bs1S8JV3r9ZETXziWsyF1rQpmq5jM55fE0ppLaEMFuCFjrjmxbpBU%2FWTadTwvvkXo5eM6nFqBrfgVHY4GWe2fvMb6feMQDPhyFu5Dzns0yTL%2BheQquP5ZZ98tWnOancNCT64o4SYsrmjkbUq68C%2FEzzJr9EESziwk5JqqmkxBmiHkqnlS4YGN96K05cjfDgCTcGh5yMhm6SZ8QPM%2BD9TYygs6lnDAk6wMbKlczCExO3FmCXdwO4YtHAlYwYAorzt2T12hV%2B3A2LSGrdPft61FvY14bGIVPQY%2FVKCwfSixuXMRLq74UGS83Q%3D%3D&ref_=nb_sb_ss_di_ci_mcx_mi_ci-mcx-ksf-of-nv1_4&crid=1NM3PKQDY4380

 

[DarranKing68]

I would buy a £9.89 (below) siphon pump from Amazon, withdraw about 4/500 ml through the dipstick. You want the oil level to show about half way up the dipstick cross hatching. Make sure to tell your service garage to only fill oil to the same level.
With regard to your VAG app, you're at 23g of soot calculated, 77% of the way to starting a regen.139 miles since last regen, I would expect mine to start around 180 miles.
Your oil Ash residue at 52.98g is basically the life of your DPF, at 110g IIRC the DPF will be pretty much full and need either cleaning out or replacing.
Looks healthy to me overall, in 40ish miles you will regen naturally, usually as you are pulling up at home! Take her out for a 10 minute joy ride if you notice the revs at 1k rather than 900.
No need to force a regen.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/mobile/mission?p=illTAxq84t6%2BFfgK%2B1wZlVCv0PzmnHudaNOEd1u0KoHercBJ0Pj3Ri5LHQj97w6yMeDKM0yWQt4IFhYAt02pUvGyKVfKXof32vG7hBGnPtLtnCXfhYk5e0UrYFIjm3R%2Bs1S8JV3r9ZETXziWsyF1rQpmq5jM55fE0ppLaEMFuCFjrjmxbpBU%2FWTadTwvvkXo5eM6nFqBrfgVHY4GWe2fvMb6feMQDPhyFu5Dzns0yTL%2BheQquP5ZZ98tWnOancNCT64o4SYsrmjkbUq68C%2FEzzJr9EESziwk5JqqmkxBmiHkqnlS4YGN96K05cjfDgCTcGh5yMhm6SZ8QPM%2BD9TYygs6lnDAk6wMbKlczCExO3FmCXdwO4YtHAlYwYAorzt2T12hV%2B3A2LSGrdPft61FvY14bGIVPQY%2FVKCwfSixuXMRLq74UGS83Q%3D%3D&ref_=nb_sb_ss_di_ci_mcx_mi_ci-mcx-ksf-of-nv1_4&crid=1NM3PKQDY4380

That’s very helpful information. Thank you I will give it a go.

 

[kesia]

Sounds pretty normal to me to be honest. If you checked it after a run and it looked higher, that’s usually just the oil expanding when it’s warm — these engines can be a bit misleading like that.

If it’s back to normal when cold the next day, I wouldn’t stress about it. The “reduce oil level” warning seems to pop up quite easily on these vans even when things are actually fine.

I’d just keep an eye on it for now and maybe mention it when it’s in for a service, especially while it’s under warranty

 

[Linoleum Bonypart]

Nobody mentioned this is happening because of failed regens and diesel is going into the sump oil

 

[Drive Wayne]

Nobody mentioned this is happening because of failed regens and diesel is going into the sump oil

When I had the same issues over 2 years ago, I worried that the diesel may be going into the sump oil, I sent a sample off to Millers which came back with a clean bill of health.
In my case and others, oil expansion seems to be the main culprit. Less oil up the cross hatching, less chance of expansion pushing the sensors over their sensitive limit.

 

[Sasquatch]

Wayne is wise. Examples of 6's or 6.1's with positively confirmed oil dilution issues are rare indeed.

Oil has quite a high coefficient of expansion, and combined with sensors of questionable design and software that may not be up to the job (even the revised software often fails to fix the issue) we see these warning messages popping up.

Carefully resetting the stone cold oil level to 1/3 to 1/2 between dispsticknfixed mine.

Nobody mentioned this is happening because of failed regens and diesel is going into the sump oil

Because it almost never is on these.

 

[T32Rich]

I sent a 3 month old sample off for analysis, came back all ok, as expected. I will send off another one just before next service for comparison. Did a lot of this over the years at work as part of oil monitoring & maintenance.