Polo GTI High Oil Usage - Discussion Thread

[skoobysGTI]

Hey Guys

I'm getting very confused with what oil is required for new engines, for bedding in etc

I am no mechanic in any shape or form so thanks for all your input, its starting to make sense to me now.

I'm just gonna go with the flow and do whatever the dealer suggests as they are the ones dealing with my warranty.

All I know is that it's losing 1.2 litres of oil in every 1,000kms and this definitely is not considered normal!

I will see how this mineral base oil (which still meets VW specifications) goes and if it doesn't help, I will do what you suggested Brad.

Thanks again for the input.

[Guest001]

Hey Guys

I'm getting very confused with what oil is required for new engines, for bedding in etc

I am no mechanic in any shape or form so thanks for all your input, its starting to make sense to me now.

I'm just gonna go with the flow and do whatever the dealer suggests as they are the ones dealing with my warranty.

All I know is that it's losing 1.2 litres of oil in every 1,000kms and this definitely is not considered normal!

I will see how this mineral base oil (which still meets VW specifications) goes and if it doesn't help, I will do what you suggested Brad.

Thanks again for the input.

Mineral oil will hardly meet VW specs if they specify Full synthetic, would it????????

They specify 502/505 synthetic for petrol in timed service and 504/507 full synthetic for Diesel and longlife services of petrol. Also only those on the long list of VW APPROVED oils

Use an unapproved oil at your peril if something goes wrong.

[brad]

Get it in writing what they are doing.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no mineral oil that will meet the minimum VW spec (502.00) for that engine.

If they do change the oil, get written instructions on how they want the car driven to facilitate the bedding-in process & also when they want you back for an oil change.

There is no way any mineral oil will be good for 15,000km or even 7500km in that engine - I would go 3000km at the very maximum.

Tell them straight that you've lost confidence in the product & the dealerships ability to provide a permanent solution to the oil usage issue.

[nomadx38]

I will see how this mineral base oil (which still meets VW specifications) goes and if it doesn't help, I will do what you suggested Brad.

Haha that's a good one! Mineral oil that meets VW specs. Sorry couldn't help but laugh.

I know 504/507 is fully synthetic and can only be fully synthetic in 5w30 grade.

502/505 as far as I know can be a blend of mineral and synthetic oil or full synthetic in various grade but never heard of a VW spec oil made from pure mineral oil - specially with Europes strict emissions regs and Europes weather.

By all means do what the dealer says after all they are doing your warrantee work but I would be asking for a officiall letter like brad said - again I don't expect them to give one to you.

[brad]

I don't mind admitting when I'm wrong.

Penrite HPR30 20w60 is 502.00 & full mineral. I wouldn't run anything that thick in a modern, unworn engine

HPR Diesel5 5w-40 is 502.00 & semisynth You could get away with this.

There must be others

[skoobysGTI]

I don't mind admitting when I'm wrong.

Penrite HPR30 20w60 is 502.00 & full mineral. I wouldn't run anything that thick in a modern, unworn engine

HPR Diesel5 5w-40 is 502.00 & semisynth You could get away with this.

There must be others

So are you saying that they are correct in implying that they have a mineral base oil at the right specifications?

Anyway, I have it all in writing. The correspondences are all via emails.

[Guest001]

So are you saying that they are correct in implying that they have a mineral base oil at the right specifications?

Anyway, I have it all in writing. The correspondences are all via emails.

Neither of those two are on the list of APPROVED oils I have. Buy some Penrite Enviro+ And never be wrong About $69-$79 at Supercrap

[Diesel_vert]

Was also told that it is a high possibility that my engine is burning oil due to the oil specified by VGA to be used is a fully synthetic oil, which wouldn’t allow the engine to bed in due to its high lubrication within the engine.

Why did they put synthetic in it in the first place then?

All engines from VW are most likely filled with synthetic oil from the factory - but for whatever reason, the engine fitted in the Polo GTI seems to have oil consumption issues above and beyond what other VW engines normally experience.

In addition, reports in this very thread, of different owners using different running-in procedures but still experiencing elevated levels of oil consumption, suggests to me that there is some sort of fundamental design flaw with this engine (and not for the first time for VW).

They would like to get my car back in and change the engine oil completely to a mineral base oil which still meets VW oil specifications but will allow the engine to bed in easier.

Oils approved to VW standard 501.01 can be met using a mineral base and often have viscosity grades of 10W-XX, 15W-XX or 20W-50.

However, VW stipulates that engine oils approved to VW standard 502.00 or 504.00 are to be used for the engine in the Polo GTI.

If the dealer goes ahead with its plan, they would be overriding the original factory recommendation.

My car has already done 4000kms since the engine replacement and it looks as though they used fully synthetic oil instead of a mineral based oil. There's no way the engine would have bedded in properly now and my new engine is properly screwed again...no mountain climbing is going to help it now I reckon.

For the record, the owners manual for most VW vehicles suggests driving at moderate revs and loads during the first few thousand km - even for the Audi R8, with its 309 kW 4.2 L V8 using either 502.00 or 504.00 oil.

Man! This absolutely sucks!

This nightmare is getting from bad to worse..only had the car for a year and a half and its been back to the dealer about 15 times now..sick of it!

Never again in my life will I purchase a VW! Should have kept the wife's 2004 Holden Barina (which we traded in for)...it didn't have a single problem with it!!

I imagine so.

This is also the reason some of the new direct injection engine also have multi point injection - becuase they found that under constant running direct injection creatures lots of particulate from poor mixing of the air in the cylinder - MPEFI doesn't. This particulate if left to sit in the exhaust tract will start to wear at the exhaust valves.

I'm not saying the GTI's oil consumption is good, trust me it's worse than a lot of other cars but I can name quite a few new cars which are having oil consumption issues and all for the same reason

Holden commodore (Direct injection)
Subaru XV (Driect injection)
Hyundai GDI engines (i30/i40)

All direct injection - with low viscosity / SAPS oil

Some manufacturers have got their heads around petrol direct-injection, others haven't - but it doesn't explain why other engines from VW don't suffer to the same extent as the engine in the Polo GTI does.

I think this particular engine's penchant for drinking oil goes deeper than just its fuel delivery system.

All I know is that it's losing 1.2 litres of oil in every 1,000kms and this definitely is not considered normal!

After 5000 km, the engine may use up to 0.5 l per 1000 km before it is considered excessive.

The owners manual should also state that the oil consumption rates can be higher until then.

I don't mind admitting when I'm wrong.

Penrite HPR30 20w60 is 502.00 & full mineral. I wouldn't run anything that thick in a modern, unworn engine

HPR Diesel5 5w-40 is 502.00 & semisynth You could get away with this.

There must be others

Penrite claims that both products are able to meet 502.00, but neither product has been tested by VW for approval - so your claim that there are no mineral 502.00 oils can still stand.

There are three semi-synthetic engine oils approved to VW standard 502.00 that I know of which are sold in Australia:

Caltex Havoline Synthetic Blend 10W-40
Motul 6100 Synergie+ 10W-40
Shell Helix HX7 10W-40

So are you saying that they are correct in implying that they have a mineral base oil at the right specifications?

To my knowledge, no engine oil that has VW 502.00 approval is made from a mineral base (in contrast to VW 501.01)

I'm just gonna go with the flow and do whatever the dealer suggests as they are the ones dealing with my warranty.

Do they mention at what distance the mineral oil should be drained and what it should be replaced with?

Anyway, I have it all in writing. The correspondences are all via emails.

Yep, it's all on the dealer now - so let's see what eventuates.

[skoobysGTI]

All engines from VW are most likely filled with synthetic oil from the factory - but for whatever reason, the engine fitted in the Polo GTI seems to have oil consumption issues above and beyond what other VW engines normally experience.

In addition, reports in this very thread, of different owners using different running-in procedures but still experiencing elevated levels of oil consumption, suggests to me that there is some sort of fundamental design flaw with this engine (and not for the first time for VW).



Oils approved to VW standard 501.01 can be met using a mineral base and often have viscosity grades of 10W-XX, 15W-XX or 20W-50.

However, VW stipulates that engine oils approved to VW standard 502.00 or 504.00 are to be used for the engine in the Polo GTI.

If the dealer goes ahead with its plan, they would be overriding the original factory recommendation.



For the record, the owners manual for most VW vehicles suggests driving at moderate revs and loads during the first few thousand km - even for the Audi R8, with its 309 kW 4.2 L V8 using either 502.00 or 504.00 oil.



I imagine so.



Some manufacturers have got their heads around petrol direct-injection, others haven't - but it doesn't explain why other engines from VW don't suffer to the same extent as the engine in the Polo GTI does.

I think this particular engine's penchant for drinking oil goes deeper than just its fuel delivery system.



After 5000 km, the engine may use up to 0.5 l per 1000 km before it is considered excessive.

The owners manual should also state that the oil consumption rates can be higher until then.



Penrite claims that both products are able to meet 502.00, but neither product has been tested by VW for approval - so your claim that there are no mineral 502.00 oils can still stand.

There are three semi-synthetic engine oils approved to VW standard 502.00 that I know of which are sold in Australia:

Caltex Havoline Synthetic Blend 10W-40
Motul 6100 Synergie+ 10W-40
Shell Helix HX7 10W-40



To my knowledge, no engine oil that has VW 502.00 approval is made from a mineral base (in contrast to VW 501.01)



Do they mention at what distance the mineral oil should be drained and what it should be replaced with?



Yep, it's all on the dealer now - so let's see what eventuates.

Thanks for the advice and help

Just contacted the dealer and they say they want to leave the mineral based oil in my new engine for 15,000kms!!! That is ridiculous!

I have declined their plan and have written to VWA to see what they suggest.

[skoobysGTI]

Thanks for the advice and help

Just contacted the dealer and they say they want to leave the mineral based oil in my new engine for 15,000kms!!! That is ridiculous!

I have declined their plan and have written to VWA to see what they suggest.

Hi Guys

After owning the GTI for about a year a half and having to bring the car into the dealership at least a dozen times for oil consumption issues, VWA and the dealership have finally taken the car off my hands (at a very good price I must admit!)

I have bought a Ford Focus instead for the wife. And even though its no where near as quick and zippy as the GTI, I'm just glad that I finally got rid of the Polo as it was driving me nuts!

Thanks to everyone for their input and help. If it wasn't for a few of you guys on here, I would still be owning a lemon instead of getting a refund on the car.

Cheers guys

Scott