To AVS or not AVS, that is the question....

[corroda]

Just had the second AVS service done on my 1.9 TDI having bought the car 10 months ago. I was pretty disappointed to only get 11,200 miles on the last service, but now the computer is indicating that I'll only get 9,000 miles or about a year before service number 3 Having read the VW document that Nelson posted it's obvious that I should have opted for the annual service.

If the service indicator is linked to the colour (condition) of the oil, would it be possible to increase the service interval by replacing the oil myself before the next service is due. In theory this would allow me to get 18,000 miles before dealer services. N.B. I'm happy changing the oil every 5,000 miles if required, but I object to getting charged £200 every 9 to 10 months for the privilege.

Final point. Is there any additives that you can use to clean out the burnt oil. Obviously at every additional service the engine will still contain some burnt oil hence leading to reduced service intervals if going by the on board sensor.

[nordberg]

I just don't believe the indicator has anything to do with the colour of the oil!!

[TDiAvant]

The colour of the oil is just total BS.

[Chav]

Yes we've been through this loads of times in the past.

The little computer starts at 20K miles until next service.

Then every time you cold start it, it removes 2-3 miles I think, and everytime you whizz the poor thing before it's warmed up it knocks off a few more, and there's a few other variables too and voila - your final mileage before it beeps at you.

I get 19K between services usually, because I've done those 19K within 7 months or so - doesn't matter how you drive that much if you do lots of long journeys.

And the oil could be bright green with orange stripes - the DIS wouldn't give a toss!

For people doing 10K miles a year, its 50/50 which service method you should choose.

Personally I find getting the car serviced a time-consuming PITA - so even if I was doing 3K miles a year, I'd choose AVS!

[Mook]

It's not to do with the colour of the oil. Oil changes from brown/gold to black because it gets contaminated with tiny bits of metal and burnt fuel mixture.

The sensors measure the electrical conductivity of the oil, not the colour. As the conductivity reduces, it tells the ECU.

Once your service interval has kicked in, it doesn't measure the time to the actual service time (i.e. countdown to zero) by the number of miles you've done - it still gets readings from the sensors.

Changing your oil would help slow the amount of time it takes to get to the final countdown, but don't forget that a lot of other things are checked, changed and topped up when your car is serviced.

HTH

[corroda]

Thanks Mook,

Okay, so it sounds like the condition of the oil is monitored and plays a part in determining the time to the next service. Does anyone know if changing the oil will increase the time to the next service or will the system only count down.

[Mook]

As I posted above, changing the oil will influence the countdown