Dipstick wrong?

You may want to double check your math.

Your are right I was off by 2 and 1/4 oz, Which IS NOT going to raise the
level of the oil on the dipstick a 1/4 inch... got any other answers?

The oil capacity of the 1.8L gas engine is just over 4 quarts, not 4
liters. The actual figure is 4.3 quarts, but as you never can drain
*all* of the old oil out, it would be best to put in 4, or even 3.5,
quarts and then run the engine, let it sit for a while, and then check
the level to make sure you don't over-fill it. In fact I have a diesel
which is listed as an oil capacity of 4.6 quarts but at oil changes I
only end up putting in just a smidge over 4 quarts to reach the proper
level on the dipstick.

This is a common misconception. Go to the UK or Ireland, and you'll see
inches, feet, miles, pints, quarts, and gallons are just as commonly
used as they were decades ago. UK/Irish road distances are marked in
miles and cars sold there today still have speedometers calibrated in
MPH. This makes for an interesting mix of units for figuring fuel
efficiency, however, since fuel is sold in liters. So you either deal
with the oxymoronic "miles per liter" unit or you convert it into miles
per Imperial gallon.

Even Canada is not totally letting go of the traditional measurement
system. Due to popular demand, several Canadian car magazines are once
again printing specifications in English measurements as well as metric.

The only real advantage of the metric system is that the math is easy.
Otherwise the units are totally inconvenient for everyday use. A
centimeter is too small and a meter is too large, while an inch and foot
are both just right (obviously, since these were based on human
dimensions). And the Celsius temperature scale (actually NOT a part of
the metric system, but still commonly used) is good for the science
laboratory but is just plain wrong for human use -- it is completely
illogical to have NEGATIVE outdoor temperatures for most of the world in
winter time. OTOH, the Fahrenheit scale is human-based so it makes
sense; you know if the temperature ever goes below 0 degrees or above
100 degrees, then things are getting very very cold or very very hot!

So what if there are 12 inches in a foot, 4 quarts in a gallon, and
water freezes at 32 degrees? Not everything in life is based on a scale
of 10. And if you carried the metric system to its extreme, we should
be using metric time (100 seconds in a minute, 100 minutes in an hour,
etc.), and we should all be speaking Esperanto because it is much easier
and more logical than English!

1 liter = (roughly) 1.75 English pints = 2.2 US pints, as a UK pint is 25%
bigger than a US one (20oz, compared to 16oz).

Or...look on the gallon bottle of milk... 1 US gallon = 3.78liters. Since 8
pints = 1 gallon, this means that 1 liter = 2.12 US pints. That's about 2
pints and 2 ounces. So we're in the ballpark.

Won't it be great when the USA finally catches up with virtually every other
country on the planet and go metric! Even the English abandoned the "English
system" (called "Imperial" there, BTW) over 30 years ago. Base 10 is far
simpler to work with than Base 12.

Chris

I have a 1991 Cabriolet that takes 4.3 qts w/ filter and the oil level marks about 5/8" above the mark. I've come to find out that a plastic cap at the top of the dipstick tube had broken off, thus when the dipstick is inserted it goes in deeper that it should - recording higher. You may want to check this on yours. p.s I took a file and cut a new groove on my dipstick to match where 4.3 qts. measures.

Bouncy,

Sounds like some people need to quite nagging you about metric conversions and address the issue of whether or not the extra 1/4 of oil showing on your dipstick is going to damage your car, or impair it's performance.
Having owned 25 or 30 VW's over the years, both air and water cooled, I feel pretty safe in telling you that your Cabriolet will not suffer from the little bit of extra oil. (if indeed your dipstick is accurate )
Not meaning to be sarcastic, but Cabriolets/Rabbits are known for 2 things....
1- Dependability
2- Oil leaks!
So, don't worry about it. if the stick read something like... 1 or 2 inches over, well then that's a whole 'nother basket of worms! But, you're good. Drive on! Be happy!

Liz Nash

On my VWs, I usually add 3.5 - 4 quarts with a oil+filter change, that
leaves it a bit low. Then if it drops with use to the fill mark, I'll
add some more.

How about someone drove the dipstick tube in to far?

i find that the dip stick height can vary a lot from car to car (even of the
same model) so you may actually have the right amount of oil in there
assuming its properly drained

Don't worry about it. 4 liters or 4 quarts and a new filter. It's all
good.
Ken
92 Jetta
84 GTI