oil dipstick AUDI R8 SPYDER 2011 Owners Manual

178 Checking and filling
Engine oil
Engine oil specifications
The engine oil used in your Audi needs the
right kind of oil.
The engine in your Audi is a sophisticated
powerplant that was built to exacting specifi­
cations. This engine needs the right kind of
engine o il that meets spec ificat ions regarding
qua lity and viscos ity so that it can run
smoothly and reliably . Choos ing the righ t oi l
and changing oil w ith in the time a nd mileage
interva ls printed in your vehicle's Warranty
&
Maintenance book let matters a lot more to ­
day than it did yea rs ago. A udi has developed
a special quality standard for engine oil that
will help assure that your veh icle's eng ine will
get the lubrication it needs for proper opera­
tion .
Modern engine lubrication has taken a quan­
tum leap in the last few years. Many synthetic
oils ava ilable today provide better engine lu­
b rication that can outlast traditiona l petrole ­
um-based o ils, making them a smart choice
for use throughout the life of you r A udi .
Whether you use synthetic or petroleum­ based engine oil, the oil that you use must
conform to Audi's oil qual ity standard
VW 502 00 to help keep your veh icle 's eng ine
r unning smoo thly and help prevent t he fo r­
ma tion of harmfu l deposi ts, some times called
"s ludge," that over t ime can lead to expensive
repairs.
A t the time of pr intin g, engine o ils availab le in
the U .S . and Canad a that meet the exact ing
specifications o f A udi oil standard VW 502 00
are synthetic engine oils . This does not mean,
however, that eve ry synthetic engine oil wi ll
meet A udi oil standard VW 502 00. So a lways
be sure that you use an approved o il.
To help preve nt the formation of harmful de ­
posits use only oi l with the fo llow ing spec ifi ­
cations printed on the oil container :
Audi oil standard VW 502 00
Oil container labels may car ry the specifica ­
tion sing ly or in combination with othe r desig ­
nations and oil quality standa rds .
Viscosity
Engine o ils are graded accord ing to their vis­
cosity . Th e pr oper viscos ity grade oil fo r you r
engine de pends on clim actic o r seaso nal con­
di tions where yo u drive. You can use o il wit h a
viscosity grade o f SAE SW40 across all tem ­
perature ranges for norma l driving conditions.
However, if engine oil visco sity g rade SA E
SW40 is not ava ilable, you can a lso use v iscos­
ity grade SA E SW -30 or SA E OW -40 as long as
it meets Audi oil q ua lity standard VW 502 00
specificat ions.
Beca use engine o il that mee ts the Audi o il
standard may not be availab le everywhere
when you need it, we strong ly recommend
t h at you a lways carry with you an extra quart
( li ter) of oil that express ly conforms to the
VW 502 00 specification, in case you have to
top off the oil while on the road .
Only if the level of the oil is at or be low the
min imum ma rk on the o il dipstick - and n o oi l
that expressly conforms to Audi o il standard
VW 502 00 specifications is availab le -may
yo u top off with a high quali ty engine o il, p ref­
erably synthet ic-based, that me ets ACEA A3,
AC EA AS o r AC EA B S or A PI SL spec ifi cat io ns,
but even t hen, only in v iscosi ty g rades SA E
SW -40, SA E SW-3 0, or SAE OW-40 . However,
during the entire time between oi l change in ­
te rva ls , never top
off with more than a tota l
of 0 .5 qt/liter engine oil that does not con­
form to Audi oil specification VW 502 00.
F or more information abo ut engine oi l that
has been approved for your ve hicle, please
contact e ither yo ur authorized Aud i dea ler or
Audi C ustomer Re lations at 1 (800) 822-2834
or v is it our web site at www.audiusa.com or
www .aud icanada .ca. Here you w ill also find a
c ur rent l ist of oils (manufacturers, bra nd
names etc.) that conform to Aud i oil standa rd
vw 50 2 00.
Changing the engine oil

18 0 Che cking and filling
@ Tips
If you have the impression your engine
consumes excessive amounts of oil, we
recommend that you consu lt your a uthor­
ized Audi deale r to have the cause of your
concern properly d iagnosed . Keep in m ind
that the accurate measurement of oil con ­
sumpt ion re quires great care and may take
some time. Your author ized A udi dealer
h as ins tructions abo ut how to meas ure o il
consumption ac curately .
Checking the engine oil level
Fig. 142 Ins trume nt clus te r: En gin e o il te mpe rat ure
dis pla y
F ig . 14 3 Mark ers on oil dipstick
Before you check anything in the eng ine com­
pa rtment,
alway s read and heed all WARN­
INGS
c;, A in Working in the engine compart­
ment on page
175 .
Determining oil lev el
.. W arm up the engine by driv ing unt il t he in­
strument cl uster d isplay shows an oil tem ­
perature of 210 °F (100 °C) to 230 °F
(110 °C)
¢ fig . 142 @ .
.. Park your vehicle so that it is hori zonta lly
level. ..
Allow the warm engine to r un for abo ut two
minutes at idle.
.. Shut the eng ine off and wa it two minutes .
.. Check the oil level on the engine oil dipst ick
¢fig. 143.
Oil leve l within range (v
.. Do not add oil.
Oil level within range@
.. Add 1 quart (l lit er) of o il c;, page 180. Af­
terwards , the oil leve l sho uld be with in
r a nge ~.
Depend ing on the way the vehicle is dr iven
and the ope ra tin g cond itions, o il consu mption
c an be up to 1 q uart per 600 miles (1 liter per
1,0 00 km) . Co nsump tion may be higher with­
in the f irst 3,000 miles (5,000 km) .
Adding engine oil~
Fig. 144 En gin e co mpa rt m en t: O il fil ler cap loca tio n
Befo re you check a nyth ing in the eng ine com­
partment,
always r ead and heed all WARN­
INGS ¢
A in Working in the engine compar t­
men t on page
175 .
.. Unsc rew the cap~ to the eng in e oil filling
hole
c;, fig. 1 44.
.. Ca refully top off with the appropr iate oil
¢ page 228.
.. Check the oi l level again ¢ page 180 .
.. Top off the oil again, if necessary .
.. Screw the cap back on the fi lling hole and
slide the oil dipstick in as far as it w ill go.