Oil level too high warning… AGAIN

JonriceT6

Senior Member
T6 Guru
I had an “oil level too high warning “ over a year ago now, went in to VW to get the software update required and it’s been great ever since.
On my way to Scotland this week on the motorway it came On again.

I see a lot of people on here have had similar issues, if my software is up to date , what else could it be?

My van is still under warranty until November .

Thanks in advance
 
It’s only recently had a service at VW so oil is fine.
Could it be anything to do with filling the fuel up to max before my trip?
Don’t normally fill it upto max.
 
If VW fill the oil to the top of the dip stick during a service on a long run as the oil heats up and its volume expands I believe it triggers the warning. When my new T6.1 was delivered I noticed the oil level was 1/2 on the dip stick, the result I've not been affected by this issue. My oil level when cold is still 1/2 way on the dip stick so no evidence of diesel dilution of the oil.
 
Thermal expansion coefficient of synthetic oil results in approx 5% increase in volume / 100 deg C temp rise.
So with 7.4L volume and a temperature differential of 80 deg C the volume will increase by approx‘ 0.3L.
Given that the oil will be distributed around the engine when running I doubt that this will trigger a high oil level warning.
 
Wouldn’t you have thought VW would know this.
Yes i have checked the oil, it’s just over max
 
So, the next question is: Did you check the level when you got it back from servicing by VW?
Was it at or above maximum then? ie Could they have overfilled it?

BTW How much is "just over"? 1mm or 10mm?
I didn’t Check it , but currently it’s about 2mm over the second round bit on the dipstick
 
If it were me I'd buy a cheapo suction kit, something like


Suck a small amount of oil out of the dipstick, take a photo of the new level of oil on the dipstick then re check it after a couple of weeks.
That way you'll know if it was overfilled by the dealer or if you're getting oil dilution.
 
When my van was serviced by VW, I had the warning. VW assist came out and took out over a litre of oil to bring it down to max on the dipstick. I spoke to the VW garage before I called VW assist. They told me that the amount of oil is added automatically by machine which dispenses the amount of oil required when they put the vehicle details into the dispenser and not measured out by a human. They told me that their oil dispenser obviously needed recalibrating.
 
When my van was serviced by VW, I had the warning. VW assist came out and took out over a litre of oil to bring it down to max on the dipstick. I spoke to the VW garage before I called VW assist. They told me that the amount of oil is added automatically by machine which dispenses the amount of oil required when they put the vehicle details into the dispenser and not measured out by a human. They told me that their oil dispenser obviously needed recalibrating.
Wow , that’s unbelievable.
Is it worth me calling vw assist here in Scotland or make the journey home then make a booking with vw.?
Does too much oil cause alot of damage?
 
Wow , that’s unbelievable.
Is it worth me calling vw assist here in Scotland or make the journey home then make a booking with vw.?
Does too much oil cause alot of damage?
I spoke to the garage when the warning light came on (it was the day after the service and I was on a long drive to Devon). They advised me to call VW assist or to take it into a VW service centre. The oil was visibly high on the dip stick.
 
I worked in the maintenance industry all my working life. We had good conscientious mechanic/technicians and lazy guys who thought near enough is good enough .
Never assume everything was done correctly. If you have a fault and it's not hard to check then definitely that is your first action.
You would think you wouldn't have to do this after taking it to "experts" but I'm afraid it is .
 
Does too much oil cause alot of damage?
Normally your sump contains oil in a relatively "calm" state, there are no moving parts in the sump. This oil is sucked up and sent, under pressure, to all of the parts of the engine that require lubrication.
When the oil is overfilled the oil level reaches the crank and associated moving parts, these fast moving parts froth the oil up, introducing air into the oil. This frothy oil / air mixture cannot provide the level of lubrication required, so yes, too much oil can cause excessive wear on many critical engine components.
 
Does too much oil cause alot of damage?
As @DaveD said plus engine power is lost in churning oil and there is a far greater risk of crankshaft oil seal failures which are already a weak point on the T6.
More importantly if the oil level increase is down to fuel dilution it is destroying the engine and turbochargers.
 
I had an “oil level too high warning “ over a year ago now, went in to VW to get the software update required and it’s been great ever since.
On my way to Scotland this week on the motorway it came On again.

I see a lot of people on here have had similar issues, if my software is up to date , what else could it be?

My van is still under warranty until November .

Thanks in advance
Went up Scotland twice had aa out both times 2nd guy said there is a new up date this year he downloaded it and done 800 miles not come on since
 
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