Folks here might be able to look up the tsb’s and customer interest bulletins to see if there’s anything about problems with the engine oil level indicator dash warning light system. What model year is this Q5? It seems like if they don’t have a dipstick then the oil level system would be required to warn of under-fill AND over-fills and by how much. Does it have an over-fill warning light?
BTW, I expect you know tis already but there’s nothing to gain by stressing about it. The facts will make themselves known after the car is inspected at your shop. Since you can’t do anything about it other than not driving the car, worrying will get yo nowhere. Focus on something else & let the shop figure it out. My guess from what you say is there’s no serious internal engine damage, but there may be some niggles that need clearing up, like fouled spark plugs, blown oil seals, maybe an O2 sensor or cat problem, etc.
When the oil level is that high oil will enter the intake system though the PCV and breather system. The oil will cause smoke and foul the spark plugs. If the engine is turbo charged there will be some additional labor involved to clean out the intercooler.
What might the damages be?
Fouled sparkplugs,
shortened cat converter life expectancy from contamination in the exhaust,
Same for the oxygen sensors,
possible need to flush the PCV valve out,
and the biggie: if tester is right and you aerated your oil with your crankshaft, and I suspect he is, you MAY have bearing damage. Crank and rod bearings are subjected to high forces, especially the rod bearings, and they don’t lubricate properly with aerated oil. NOTE: you didn’t go very far, so you may be okay in the end.
In summary,
the shaking and stalling may have come from the oxygen sensors being coated with oil, combined with contaminated sparkplugs. The upstream sensor is a variable in the algorithm used by your ECU to meter your fuel.
if it gets running right again, you should expect premature failure of the cat converter.
odds are that you didn’t drive the car far enough to create serious damage to the crank and rod bearings, but you may not get the normal longevity out of the engine.
Don’t get sick over it. It’s only a car. And 99% of everything we stress over never really happen. Odds are that with a new oxygen sensor, some new sparkplugs, and maybe a new converter, you’ll be back up and running.
I found a customer interest bulletin for the 2L, TSB number 551538 re low oil level display, but it looks to be about a switch that tells the computer if the hood is open or not. Doesn’t seem like it would apply for your problem. No harm done to ask the dealership for a copy of the TSB though. You might be able to google it too.
BTW, are you sure there’s no dipstick? The info I see says there is a dipstick tube at least. Maybe it is plugged from the factory and if you want to use a dipstick you have to remove the plug buy a dipstick from Audi
Not wanting to pile on the OP but the video I found showing how to change oil in the 2009 to 2016 Q5 clearly shows the person pulling an oil dipstick but it seemed to be not that easily seen. After filling and checking with the dipstick they then show using the dash readout.
You have already told the dealership what you did, and what you did amounted to owner negligence.
Warranties cover breakdowns of parts as a result of defects, but not as a result of owner negligence.
While I empathize with you, no manufacturer could be profitable enough to stay in business if their warranties covered problems that resulted from owner negligence.
