Interpretation of service messages

[Vagophile]

I bought the camper two years ago, it had an oil change prior to my purchase, mileage 65490.
Recently the MFD has been showing:



and after fiddling with the steering wheel buttons, this comes up:



What, exactly, is this telling me?
Irrespective, given that two years have passed, I have the oil and filter, now all I need is a fine day and the inclination to change the oil.
An indication of the Covid effect is that the Cali has only travelled 890 miles in two years! So what, I view it as a sunk cost and it should see more use now.
An observation on this is that the oil is as clear now as the day it was changed and if that were the only criterion, you wouldn't say it was due a change.

 

[WelshGas]

I bought the camper two years ago, it had an oil change prior to my purchase, mileage 65490.
Recently the MFD has been showing:

View attachment 92327

and after fiddling with the steering wheel buttons, this comes up:

View attachment 92329

What, exactly, is this telling me?
Irrespective, given that two years have passed, I have the oil and filter, now all I need is a fine day and the inclination to change the oil.
An indication of the Covid effect is that the Cali has only travelled 890 miles in two years! So what, I view it as a sunk cost and it should see more use now.
An observation on this is that the oil is as clear now as the day it was changed and if that were the only criterion, you wouldn't say it was due a change.

Inspection is time related, every 365 x 2 days.
Oil change is also time related, every 365 x 2 days but is overriden by two factors,
Total milage 20,000 miles or Oil quality sensor which can reduce the 20,000 mile limit.
Oil may look OK but can deteriorate over time especially when exposed to air.
You can reset both Service messages via Carista or other OBD dongle software or by manipulation of certain dashboard controls.

 

[Jim2007]

Inspection is time related, every 365 x 2 days.
Oil change is also time related, every 365 x 2 days but is overriden by two factors,
Total milage 20,000 miles or Oil quality sensor which can reduce the 20,000 mile limit.
Oil may look OK but can deteriorate over time especially when exposed to air.
You can reset both Service messages via Carista or other OBD dongle software or by manipulation of certain dashboard controls.

Interesting thank you. Mine seems to want more oil changes than the schedule:

Oil: 13500, 10 months, mostly done on a tour round Scandinavia, first three months included commuting, now thankfully a thing of the past
Inspection: 21000, 20 months, again, largely accumulated on trips.
Oil: 27000, 30 months, again, largely on trips
And next month, Oil: 37000, 40 months. Largely on long trips, some bimbling about while we only had one vehicle for a few months.

Any thoughts on why? I’m not inclined to ignore the computer, it’s a vehicle we’ll own for a long time and I’m quite prepared to pamper it, but I was beginning to wonder that it didn’t seem to want to let me have very long between trips to the garage. The van is never thrashed.

Thanks in advance.

 

[WelshGas]

Interesting thank you. Mine seems to want more oil changes than the schedule:

Oil: 13500, 10 months, mostly done on a tour round Scandinavia, first three months included commuting, now thankfully a thing of the past
Inspection: 21000, 20 months, again, largely accumulated on trips.
Oil: 27000, 30 months, again, largely on trips
And next month, Oil: 37000, 40 months. Largely on long trips, some bimbling about while we only had one vehicle for a few months.

Any thoughts on why? I’m not inclined to ignore the computer, it’s a vehicle we’ll own for a long time and I’m quite prepared to pamper it, but I was beginning to wonder that it didn’t seem to want to let me have very long between trips to the garage. The van is never thrashed.

Thanks in advance.

I don’t have a T6, but the Oil quality sensor on the T6 does seem to favour more frequent oil changes but the T6 does also seem to carry out more frequent DPF regenerations and also the T6 uses Adblue for emissions control. It does also depend on driving style and types of trips. Low speeds and short trips mean more frequent oil changes and more frequent DPF regenerations.
On my T5.1 180 the MFD calculation is 20,000 miles +/- 2000 miles between oil changes although I have an oil change each year having done very close to 20,000 miles/yr normally. So an oil change annually and the Inspection every 2 yrs.
nb: I drive with” spirit” and the shortest trip is 20+ miles , normally a lot longer.

 

[Vagophile]

@WelshGas, thanks for the info. It seems that the oil quality sensor is an important factor in determining the actual oil change mileage. What does it sense?
I assume that, had it not been time limited, there was another 7,900 miles to oil change and 14,200 miles to inspection. I also assume that the -99 indicates the number of days beyond 2x365 that the change is overdue? I'm fairly sure that the warning has not been showing for that long.
A check of the vehicle data shows reference Q18, service indicator 40,000 km or 2 year variable, so 25,000 miles between changes, which in my view is stretching it somewhat although it seems that that sort of mileage between changes is unlikely except in commercial use.

 

[WelshGas]

@WelshGas, thanks for the info. It seems that the oil quality sensor is an important factor in determining the actual oil change mileage. What does it sense?
I assume that, had it not been time limited, there was another 7,900 miles to oil change and 14,200 miles to inspection. I also assume that the -99 indicates the number of days beyond 2x365 that the change is overdue? I'm fairly sure that the warning has not been showing for that long.
A check of the vehicle data shows reference Q18, service indicator 40,000 km or 2 year variable, so 25,000 miles between changes, which in my view is stretching it somewhat although it seems that that sort of mileage between changes is unlikely except in commercial use.

I was very close to it before Covid and should be close this year.

 

[Jim2007]

I don’t have a T6, but the Oil quality sensor on the T6 does seem to favour more frequent oil changes but the T6 does also seem to carry out more frequent DPF regenerations and also the T6 uses Adblue for emissions control. It does also depend on driving style and types of trips. Low speeds and short trips mean more frequent oil changes and more frequent DPF regenerations.
On my T5.1 180 the MFD calculation is 20,000 miles +/- 2000 miles between oil changes although I have an oil change each year having done very close to 20,000 miles/yr normally. So an oil change annually and the Inspection every 2 yrs.
nb: I drive with” spirit” and the shortest trip is 20+ miles , normally a lot longer.

Thanks, that helps alot. I'll keep servicing it when it asks. Fresh oil and new filters can only be good for the van (not my wallet, mind).

 

[ChristopherW]

I’m puzzled by the reference to the ‘oil quality sensor’. : I’ve not been able to find reference to it in any electrical/fuse diagrams. I’d assumed the service reminders were generated by an algorithm using mileage and driving style data?
And I wondered what clever technology such a sensor might use?
Apologies in advance if this is well known

 

[ArunAlec]

I’m puzzled by the reference to the ‘oil quality sensor’. : I’ve not been able to find reference to it in any electrical/fuse diagrams. I’d assumed the service reminders were generated by an algorithm using mileage and driving style data?
And I wondered what clever technology such a sensor might use?
Apologies in advance if this is well known

Don’t forget the bonnet!! keep opening it and VW will want todo an oil change! See post 14…… https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/storing-cable-s-in-the-engine-compartment.28424/#post-327559

 

[steve_b]

I get my oil changed every 12 months irrespective of whether I am being nagged to do so by the display as I suspect that fresh and regular oil can only be beneficial to the engine and in the overall scheme of things it is cheap. I have a local mechanic who will change it for less than the cost that I can buy the oil for as he gets it in huge quantities. Lots of T5s in the south west so 507.00 oil is available in bulk