Quique

I just had my 2004 B6 S4 pretty much overhauled. It was leaking oil from every conceivable gasket and joint. After replacing every seal, gasket and valve head covers, 7 quarts of oil were put into the motor and the oil registered at its acceptable level. Within 24 hours and about 30 miles driving, the oil light came on, it was down a quart so I added 1. 2 days and 30 miles later, the min level oil light comes on again and I add another quart. The car is inspected from top to bottom and no leak is viable including a clean tail pipe. Thats 9 quarts and there are no visible leaks.( Also put some card board boxes underneath and after a day, they were clean).

Question: Is the oil slowing finding all the spots in the engine that it cannot be drained from? Should expect to put 2 more quarts in to reach the mythical maximum of 11 quarts of oil capacity that I have read here? Has anyone experienced something like this?

I am baffled.

2004 S4 Nogaro Blue Std. with Unitronic Stage 2.

bc4point2

I may be wrong here but if the B6 and B7 are the same capacity then this might be useful: I put in 9 quarts on my last oil change. I used a mighty-vac to do the oil change so I'm not sure how much was left in there before i started filling. How long are you waiting before you measure the oil level after the fill? It should be at least a couple minutes especially if the engine is cold. I usually wait about 10-15 mins after the 8th quart and every half quart after that to give everything time to settle etc, might be excessive but it sounds reasonable to me.

As a side note, I had to add a half quart after 3 weeks and 1000kms (800 miles) and will keep monitoring that too

ProtoFly

My A6 4.2 (essentially the same engine) has a 9.3 quart capacity. As long as you aren't continually having to add oil, I'd merely suspect that you didn't get it quite full.

If, on the other hand, you still have to add oil frequently, you may be looking at another problem, like cylinder scoring, valve seals, etc.

As I've learned, the 4.2 seems to 'like' oil, and supposedly a quart every 500-1000 miles is 'within spec'. Scary. Personally, I just think that Audi doesn't want to replace engines.

I really wish some companies would develop a good 'sleeve' for the cylinders on these blocks, as new engines are expensive.

Quique

I waited a day and about 30 miles between each oil level check. I am on the third day since adding the 9nth quart and so far so good so perhaps the car ultimately needed 9 quarts like the response below indicates. Thanks so much for your response