Thread: Servicing Requirements new D4

Hi JB,

Sorry mate on Holidays & don't have full coverage/time to answer. ;-)
The cost is approx....
1 hr labour approx. $170
Oil 8 Litres (7.8). $200
Oil Filter. $40 from memory
Total. Approx. $410.00
I have rounded things up as the labour rate is under that & so is the oil per litre & cant remember the exact price of a filter.
But gives an idea of what you asked for.

Cheers mate.

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner

Originally Posted by JamesH

Hi Jaybee. Arc up the ignition without turning over the engine (ie hit start with foot off the brake pedal). The message centre spends some time telling you that it won't start unless you put your foot on the brake. You tell it that you know that but you just want to check some stuff. Then you hit any button menu control doovey on the RHS of the steering wheel. Then scroll down to Service Menu and select it by hitting OK button. You will then see another shorter menu at the bottom of which is check oil level. Scroll down and hit OK. The Oil Level gauge will pop up.

You cannot do this within ten minutes of swtiching off but never mind you don't do it unless the car has been off for hours to give the oil a chance to drip down (ie before you start first thing in the morning).

If you are like me you will see it is two notches down from full and you will wonder if it was two notches down from the start or whether it was full and is using oil at a rapid rate. We'll never know but the second time I checked mine after about another 1000k I was concerned to see it 3 notches down from full. Good news is that a further 1000k has seen no real decline, still three notches, but I'm going to check this regularly - it could be a top up is required before the 13000k health check. For this reason I too am interested in the answers to your other questions. On the other hand I am not sure I have the guts to add oil in case I over fill it. Ive read 100ml a notch but I've also read more. I think 100ml is the lowest figure. I'm going to wait until it is at least a notch below the halfway point and then, if I find the courage, I'll add an insufficient amount to take it to full.

James I think I remember manual saying some where that if/when it needs oil the screen will tell you how much to put in , fill with ignition ON,


Cheers Ken

Thanks Ken.

That is re-assuring if I was in the metro area but if the message came up a long way from a service centre (eg on a remote or rural trip) then I would need to be holding a litre or two of oil. Also if you are about to head off on a long run away from service centres and you can see the level is a bit off full, you might wish to do a pre-emptive top up. From what I can gather it is not readily available in "domestic" quantities, but I may be wrong about that.

If you take your own container to the dealer they will sell you the oil you need. That's what I did on my recent trip to Central Oz. Didn't need to use it though.

I think I would prefer to have it full all the time.
The less oil you have the more work the oil that's inside the engine has to work.
I know 100 or so mls wont make a great deal of difference but anything over half a litre I would top up.
I'm glad I service my wife's A4, under $100 for oil and filter and it's done.
Looking at purchasing VCDS and I can read all the faults and service everything else.

Originally Posted by Goaroving

If you take your own container to the dealer they will sell you the oil you need. That's what I did on my recent trip to Central Oz. Didn't need to use it though.

So what is the brand of oil that we need to use? Can it be bought at retail? Alos does anyone know the part number for the filter? Is it a mongrel to get to I suppose is the big question!

I would prefer to use the oil my dealer does.

Pete thanks for the heads up, But I think that it will be cheaper for me to get off my backside and do it my self at 5k. See you for first scheduled service!

Does it void the warranty if you do your own services between scheduled services?

Cheers Scott

Mine's a 2.7 V6 but I carry a 5 litre and a 1 litre bottle of oil in the back at all times (probably 80% of my travelling is outside of metro areas).

So far, I've only needed to "top up" about a litre once. Not long after it was new, I opened the bonnet to discover that I'd sprung an oil leak - from the spray pattern on the front of the engine and under the bonnet - I suspect the front seal "weeping". I topped up the oil level and de-greased the engine bay, and have never lost a drop since. Also got the dealer to check it out when it went in for it's 10K health check, and they could find nothing wrong.

Must admit - I'm a lot happier having a dip-stick in mine.

I used to run the Td5 D2 20,000km between oil and filter changes. Always replaced the spin filter element at 10,000 k's, but the main cartridge and oil at 20,000 using only the recommended Mobil synthetic oil (purchased in 20 litre drum from Westrac in Kalgoorlie - much cheaper than Repco or dealers and Cat uses the same oil). Never had an issue with that and it's still going strong (young bloke now has it). I always did my own servicing on the D2 - will probably get the dealers to do the D4 though.

As for fuel - always BP or Shell for me. Caltex only occasionally if I can't find a BP or Shell when I need fuel There's a Caltex close to me in East Perth and I might occasionally fuel up there in the evening if I want to make an early start in the morning and not have to stop for fuel. The other brands - never go near them. About to have a rear wheel carrier and long range tank fitted by Lifestyle 4WD in Perth, so the use of anything other than BP or Shell will become a non-issue for me shortly.