Strange oil warning on 2008 3.0Si Coupe

S

Scuzi

Member
The car is 9 months old now and has just covered 14k miles. Over the past few days I have noticed a strange problem with the oil warning. After driving the car, when I turn the engine off, as I turn the key, the oil warning light comes on and flashes on the display "Add +1.0l". Any other time I'd put some oil in but when driving normally after a few minutes when the engine is up to operating temperature, the oil display is indicating that it is full. The only time it indicates as low is just as I turn the key to turn the engine off. It started this a few days ago and it does it every time now.

I don't want to add more oil in case it doesn't need it because too much oil can be worse than not enough. Any idea what the problem might be?

If only it had a dipstick life would be much easier!
 
I'd rather have too much than too little.

No dip stick on the latest M52 engine? That sucks.

Long live the M54 with a dip stick (driving).

Sceptre
 
IIRC there are different beeps for oil, if it comes on when you stop the ignition then it needs oil soon but not mega-urgent, and if it comes on when you're driving then you should put some in pretty much straight away.

It definitely needs some oil though. How long until first service? I'd just buy a litre and put half in.
 
The new engines are N52. If that thing says it's a liter low, add one. My 3.0Si didn't quite use a quart in a year (just under 15K miles)
 
Sceptre said:
I'd rather have too much than too little.

No dip stick on the latest M52 engine? That sucks.

Long live the M54 with a dip stick (driving).

Sceptre
Click to expand...
Too much oil can do a hell of a lot of damage to the engine, hene my reluctance to risk overfilling it.

The reason I am reluctant to add oil is that 99% of the time the oil level indicator on the dash shows the oil level as being 100% full, not even half or a quarter but completely full. It's only in the brief second when switching the car off that it displays the add oil message.

The 3.0Si has the new N52 engine which doesn't have a dipstick.
 
The errant indication could be caused by the voltage to the sensor dropping below the threshold it needs just before the electrical system turns off... The sensor could be overly sensitive and timing between key off, the voltage drop to the sensor and the system turning off is the issue. Not sure..
 
Wondermike said:
IIRC there are different beeps for oil, if it comes on when you stop the ignition then it needs oil soon but not mega-urgent, and if it comes on when you're driving then you should put some in pretty much straight away.

It definitely needs some oil though. How long until first service? I'd just buy a litre and put half in.
Click to expand...

I agree with Mike...also bring it back to the dealer if you are not sure what to do.
 
So, when the engine is up to operating temperature, it indicates full? I would believe that over the error when you're shutting the engine off. I'm with shipkiller, you may have an overly twitchy sensor. Do you have any friends with an OBD II reader? Have you changed the oil recently? When I had mine changed at the dealer, it took several miles to clear the indicator-it was showing only 1/2 full but cleared up on its own. Have you checked the oil filler cap to make sure it's on tight?
 
Smokin said:
The new engines are N52. If that thing says it's a liter low, add one. My 3.0Si didn't quite use a quart in a year (just under 15K miles)
Click to expand...
Do you mean you go 15K without an oil change????
 
B & Js Z said:
Smokin said:
The new engines are N52. If that thing says it's a liter low, add one. My 3.0Si didn't quite use a quart in a year (just under 15K miles)
Click to expand...
Do you mean you go 15K without an oil change????
Click to expand...
According to the indicator on my car, it won't need it's first ever oil service until it hits 16.5k miles! Crazy.

Thanks for the advice guys. I've been thinking I should put a small amout of oil in, say 200-300ml to see if it stops the warning. If not, I have it booked into the dealer for a few other problems, namely:

Dual mass flywheel rattle (second time)
Crap glovebox latch (third time)
Very squeaky drivers seat
This oil problem

The car is only 9 months old!!!
 
Sceptre said:
I'd rather have too much than too little.

No dip stick on the latest M52 engine? That sucks.

Long live the M54 with a dip stick (driving).

Sceptre
Click to expand...

Actually Scuzi was correct that too much can be more harm than too little. It is likely to cause foaming, cavitation in the oil, reduced lubrication, not to mention reduction in MPG through increased resistance of the crank splapping around buried in oil, etc.
 
Well, I went a year and they changed it. I'm not going to get into when to change oil debates here.
 
cj10jeeper said:
Sceptre said:
I'd rather have too much than too little.

No dip stick on the latest M52 engine? That sucks.

Long live the M54 with a dip stick (driving).

Sceptre
Click to expand...

Actually Scuzi was correct that too much can be more harm than too little. It is likely to cause foaming, cavitation in the oil, reduced lubrication, not to mention reduction in MPG through increased resistance of the crank splapping around buried in oil, etc.
Click to expand...


I only have to ask you to weigh up all of these possible issues of over filling with the implication of too little oil - starvation, cam wear, crank wear, etc.
Give me some foam and cavitation any day compared to heavy cornering with not enough oil. I get fed up seeing owners of dry sump vehicles over fill em and suffer, but our engines are not that sensitive.

Regards

Sceptre
 
Sceptre said:
cj10jeeper said:
Sceptre said:
I'd rather have too much than too little.

No dip stick on the latest M52 engine? That sucks.

Long live the M54 with a dip stick (driving).

Sceptre
Click to expand...

Actually Scuzi was correct that too much can be more harm than too little. It is likely to cause foaming, cavitation in the oil, reduced lubrication, not to mention reduction in MPG through increased resistance of the crank splapping around buried in oil, etc.
Click to expand...


I only have to ask you to weigh up all of these possible issues of over filling with the implication of too little oil - starvation, cam wear, crank wear, etc.
Give me some foam and cavitation any day compared to heavy cornering with not enough oil. I get fed up seeing owners of dry sump vehicles over fill em and suffer, but our engines are not that sensitive.

Regards

Sceptre
Click to expand...


For sure - too low is dangerous too, but it's all about degrees of 'over' or 'low'. I too see far too many people that if in doubt add a litre and end up in a right mess
 
You could try jacking the car up on each side to see if that causes an error (or just try parking at some angles on a steep hill)? On a flat, the oil level on my dip-stick (M54 3.0i) is exactly half; however get the car on an incline and the 'low oil' warning temporarily shows.

Could be a good way of testing it?
 
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