I don't assume it to be any different but was curious about checking the oil. Would there be a difference in the oil reading being done cold vs. hot. On my start up procedure I check the oil with the ign. on and no start. Once in a while I'll do the 5 minute wait and check the oil after a drive and have always found both readings to be full. This make me assume that there is no difference. I know with my kids Audi A4 that if you check the oil using the electronic system if you check the oil to soon after shutting down it sometimes shows it slightly low on the bar read but if you wait a few more minutes it comes back up to full. It seems the Jag doesn't allow for an early check as I assume it has a timer and being the min time is 5 minutes all of the oil must be drained back into the sump.

 

jagtoes,
You can actually check your oil after waiting only 5 minutes? I can wait 30 minutes and I still can't get a reading. So, I try and remember to read oil level prior to starting the car first thing in the morning, 'cause during the day I don't have 30-40 minutes to sit around waiting for the computer. Oh, how I wish we had dipsticks and gauges.

 

i suspect you are actually inquiring about the electronic oil check system vs the difference in checking oil warm vs cold.
you want all surfaces coated with oil before checking how much is in the reservoir. Also hot oil expands and cold shrinks. You want to measure expanded oil cause that's what the engine sees when running.

quick puzzler. recently i removed 9 quarts of oil from an engine that only holds 5quarts. What happened?

 

I suspect the difference between hot and cold is insignificant and so far my results have been the same. Waiting the 5 minutes allows the oil to drain out of the cooler I assume. I understand the hot vs cold and ran through this with my old Ferrari. The dip stick in those cars had an oil ( high/low)range when hot on the stick. Checking it cold the level was 1 1/2" above the high mark. Now if you found 9 qts in a 5 qt sump someone doesn't know what they are doing.

 

engine holds 5 quarts, the lines, coolers, filter, etc hold the other 4 OR he completely blew a head gasket and the other 4 quarts are coolant?

 

Nope, those other 4 quarts are all the nano-soot particles that have been collected from the DI engine.

 

Leeper nailed it- blown intake gasket.

bought it up because Jagtoes made a good point about 'old habits'. Get this; every car pundit now says, never let your car idle to warm it up, unnecessary and puts bad emissions in the air. So I am going on a mission critical trip in my suv, let the thing idle for 15minutes, did it because when I checked the oil cold it was off the charts high on the stick. Thats right there was 4 quarts of water in there, but because oil floats it wont register on the stick. After I let it idle is when I found the chocolate milk.

Frankly I have been slacking on my 'old habits' and conceded to modern ways. That was the one day I checked and idled. The hell that I would have been in if I drove to find out I had blown an intake. I dont get these new pundits, whats wrong with being prudent? How come no one tells aviators they dont need to do a pre-flight inspection just go, the maintenance crew has already done all they can. Whats wrong with best practice these days.

Not to ramble on- they say that warmup is useless, just go, just dont do highway speeds right away. Heck on most roads in USA you are in 6th year as soon as you get out of your driveway.