Polo GTI High Oil Usage - Discussion Thread

[gavs]

That's pretty nasty exhaust discharge, I agree with Acko in that I see it to be carbon (aka soot) but that amount is worrying. Shoot me a pm if you want a potential course of action that might help with fault finding...

[kawabanga]

I'm not sure it's only carbon, if it's sprayed all over the back of the car it means that it is light as black oil sprayed that is able to be stuck to the bumper...
If you touch those little dots on the bumper they should be oily...



Look also at this pic: this engine should have only 22.000Kms...

Moteur 1,4 TSI 180 Ouvert_2 - Combi RS - Bob_84 - Photos - Club Club.caradisiac.com

[Candy GTI]

So if this has only happened over the two months we've had the car then why isn't there a massive black patch behind the car that parks in the spot next to it, seen as it has been started every morning over a period of 3 years?

I don't know how it could be soot because I can wash the car spotless, go for a 30 min drive then already have wet little black spots covering the back of the car. When its freshly sprayed on the back of the car you can wipe it off with a finger and see it can't be anything else but oil?

[Karly101]

Candy mine was exactly the same but I noticed that it increased with oil consumption after the rebuild it disappeared for 2,000km then came back... the back of the car was covered with a mixture of soot (it washed off really easily) and oil (needed degreaser to remove) ....my number plate is still all stained from it. I also I had a friend drive behind me and she noted that it was smoky and stank... as the oil consumption increased I could also start to smell burning oil when I got out of the car.

I complained after the engine rebuild when it first started again but was told everything checked out ok on the computer.. it was only when the oil consumption got to really excessive levels that it was noted on my invoice 'problem car, excessive oil consumption, soot on back of car' and then new engine. New engine I've done about 1500km and no signs of anything as yet.

[Acko1991]

I had a really good discussion with my friend who is a 30 year experienced engineering technician about engines etc. Mostly centred around the fact that on one of our ships we have dropped a valve and cracked some valves too. He stated and I agreed that the biggest issue concerning the engines is that at sea. Being in the navy we conduct Emergency Engine stops. Meaning they are stopped and started all the time. You are going to find that you create more wear and tear on an engine driving it to the shops and back than you are if you drove to canberra and back.

Maybe if you feel that you only do short trips or are in stop/start traffic a lot. It might be a great idea over a weekend to really give it a good run up the blue mountains or up to newcastle etc.

Give it a lot of running time. See if anything changes. Especially on your car Karly. It seems madness that you have had two defective engines.

[kawabanga]

It seems madness that you have had two defective engines.

In Italy, on some GTIs and some A1s, as well as in England, they are not even doing the already scheduled engine's change, waiting for the modification to the oil separation system...

[Karly101]

Give it a lot of running time. See if anything changes. Especially on your car Karly. It seems madness that you have had two defective engines.

Technically only one defective engine with a failed engine rebuild... I'm not sure also if they honed the cylinders when replacing the rings? Would think they would have but didn't ask. So far so good still on this one and hoping to take it out of town over the long weekend... unfortunately been too busy at work to do much and my daily commute is only 15 minutes but I did take it for a good drive for the first 200km. The previous engine didn't do any inner city stop start driving and it made no difference, I think it was also just a bad engine as my oil consumption issues didn't start until 7,000km I think it was?

I'm not the only one though where the new piston rings made no difference.. they were doing another gti after mine at the dealership (I nicked their engine as theirs was booked in the month after mine and my oil usage was too excessive!). I have a feeling the dealer was getting sick of me coming so often for top ups haha.

[kawabanga]

The previous engine didn't do any inner city stop start driving and it made no difference, I think it was also just a bad engine as my oil consumption issues didn't start until 7,000km I think it was?

Did you change type of use (city, start&stop, short trips) after 7.000Km with the previous engine?

We also had a lot of cases where the same engine had completely different behaviour about using oil, depending on the type of route done.
And the behaviuor was not one way: after a period of only-city and great oil consumption, they had again normal consumption going again mainly on highways or country roads...

Anyway, this could just not be a excuse for VW, except writing on the GTI's specifications "Not for city use"...

[Acko1991]

If you drove a Polo GTI in Australia and stuck to the road rules the engine would be doing a far lot less work than a European based GTI would do anyways. Average speed on European motorways is 120/130 while over here we are lucky to get to 110. So you might be correct....The engine might not be getting the work out that it needs in Australian driving conditions.....I don't get it though...VW should never of designed the Polo GTI engine on pretty much racing standards......Driving around living the dream should be the first priority in any road car.

[kawabanga]

Yep and in Germany they don't even have limitations on some highways...

Some Italian GTI users found a certain improvements in oil consumption changing driving style in the city: no more D, only manual, no foot on the floor at low revs and never wait for the engine to warm up before reaching 2.000/3.000rpm, but starting immediately at those revs, of course if traffic condition permit it...
I'm not sure if those suggestions are good [I drive only country roads, no lights, Italian limits (read it as "no-rules-but-only-suggestions" ) and 0.7liter/10.000Kms], but more than one user said they had benefits doing this...