Oil Consumption - 2.0 TDI

[linds]

this has decended into conversation...

anywho, flog the daylight out of your TDI, it'll love you back (some will find that hard to believe).

[Y2K]

i must have a lemon then, ive flogged it and it still used a lot of oil.
It was filled with over 1ltr before 15000km service, then between the 15 and 30000km service it was filled up twice (over 1ltr each time). Then between the 30 and 45000km service it was filled up three times (again over 1ltr), which by this stage i was up for a new engine...(hint, i chucked a hissy fit), head office were still classing this as normal, so they decided to do a consumption test. Then the stupid car stopped using it, so now im stuck with it, no new engine.

[gerhard]

i must have a lemon then, ive flogged it and it still used a lot of oil.
It was filled with over 1ltr before 15000km service, then between the 15 and 30000km service it was filled up twice (over 1ltr each time). Then between the 30 and 45000km service it was filled up three times (again over 1ltr), which by this stage i was up for a new engine...(hint, i chucked a hissy fit), head office were still classing this as normal, so they decided to do a consumption test. Then the stupid car stopped using it, so now im stuck with it, no new engine.

Bugger. You're stuck with a barely run-in engine that uses no oil.

[mikinoz]

I'd rather the engine stop using oil than a replacement. I promise a car is not the same after a transplant like that.

[OilBurna]

103kw tdi passat wagon had first oil top up at approx 8,000km at rex gorell in geelong, then have also added a small amount in at approx 28,000km when the oil light came on. This was approx six months after 2 year service as I was not up to 30,000km. Currently at 31,000km nearly 3 years old and no problems, but I bought some Castrol oil and keep it in the back as the oil light always seems to come on when I am away on a long trip. Previosuly doing mostly urban start stop city driving but now doing more freeway km's and seems much better.

[gregozedobe]

103kw tdi passat wagon had first oil top up at approx 8,000km at rex gorell in geelong, then have also added a small amount in at approx 28,000km when the oil light came on. This was approx six months after 2 year service as I was not up to 30,000km. Currently at 31,000km nearly 3 years old and no problems, but I bought some Castrol oil and keep it in the back as the oil light always seems to come on when I am away on a long trip. Previosuly doing mostly urban start stop city driving but now doing more freeway km's and seems much better.

Have you considered checking the oil level yourself every now and then (ie not relying on an oil warning light) ? You know that's why they fit a dip stick, right ? [sarcasm intended]

Do you check the coolant level and tyre pressures regularly ? If not, you should. It may save you $$$ and prevent inconvenience and even death (seriously).

lecture over, now for some useful info for you :

If you drive a car for short trips in stop start traffic the engine never gets a chance to run properly warm (TDIs take a long time to fully warm up). Condensates from unburnt fuel can build up in the engine oil, masking actual oil consumption. In severe cases you can get a white, milky emulsion on the oil filler cap and even on the top of the dip stick.

So your engine appears to have the correct level of oil, but it may have 500ml (or more) of condensates in the oil.

If you then go for a long highway trip your engine finally gets hot enough for long enough to boil off all the condensates, so the engine oil level appears to drop dramatically for the first few hours. I would recommend doing a level check after 2 hours and after 4 hours, consumption should stabilise to the engines "normal" level after that. Once you know the pattern you don't have to check so often (but I make a habit of checking the engine oil level every time I fill up, and neither of my engines use much oil at all).

I hope the topup oil you bought is the correct spec for your engine, not some cheapo grade that won't be right. VW TDI engines in particular are fussy about having correct lubrication.

[OilBurna]

thks for the advice greg will take it onboard yes I do regularly check all fluid levels, I will check the oil more regularly. Yes I have bought the correct oil not a cheap version, Castrol SLX Professional Powerflow Longlife III $88 from Volkswagen i;d prefer to have peace of mind having it in the car, but will check oil level before long trips. The dipstick is not easy to read the high and low mark are fairly close together. On the other hand as well with regular 1 mth checks the other half's Mercedes C220 diesel is not using a drop after two years and has only done 8,000km and she drives like a grandma, oops I'm in trouble now. next service is due soon so might see if I can go on an oil consumption test then.