Oil Usage MY08 1.9 TDi POLO

[bluey]

My dealer told me to come in for an oil checkup at 5000km as the TDIs are known to use a bit of oil when running in.

[Pumpe-Düse]

Clearly VW does

Actually they don't. The fact that the oil light comes on when 700mL-1L of oil has been consumed means that they are fearful of letting sillies who never check anything drive it to death. A light with a chime to scare them "early," if you will is a failsafe.

No, they don't.

Yes, they do. Also, see above.

Rubbish

Right back at you.

True, when you read the forums, try and absorb what is written, and it's also in the manual

The manual doesn't say anything about the oil being low when the light is on. In fact, it doesn't mention the amber light that came on in my car. It only mentions a red one, which is an oil pressure warning light. When it came on, I pulled over straight away, turned the car off and pulled out the manual. After finding nothing useful in it, I called VW assist, who told me about the 1L thing.

Yes, it is. The low oil light is to allow even the obtuse to notice the oil level is low. Hopefully you let them put the oil in, and didn't just put in cheap Woolworths brand, or your warranty could indeed be void

The oil light in the Polo (the first amber one) is actually ultra conservative. Normal driving with it on won't do any damage to the engine, after doing some research, its a "stage 1," of warnings for the obtuse as you say (the red oil light with constant chime is the bad one). And no, unless Woolworths sells 5W30 full synthetic, I didn't use that. Though thankyou for assuming that I don't know what oil to put into my car and/or how to put it in.

Hopefully now you will be a little kinder to your machinery

Are you implying that I've been unkind/abusive to it up until this point? Interesting.

Off topic but along the same lines.

We had a customer with his wife in the passenger seat talking on her mobile & driving along as usual & "BANG"! the passenger side airbag & curtain airbag went off without warning & no reason, no fault's, nothing.

The wife ended up with a broken cheek bone & broken arm

They tried to sue the dealer, the manufacturer, the work's.

Guess what?

They didn't have a leg to stand on. Why?

The owner's manual stated, "Aftermarket electrical devices are not to be used inside the vehicle while driving".

DENIED!

I don't know why I keep getting sucked into this crap.

Not the same. VW puts the service intervals at 15,000km. The manual tells you how to check/refill/top up the oil and advises it is a good idea. Not at any point does it tell you it will be required of you to do so prior to your 15,000km service interval. It also speaks of not being required for long-life service interval cars and a different short-life (7500km) interval car. Its not clear or concise about the issue. If I could be arsed to get it out of the car now...

[brad]

The manual doesn't say anything about the oil being low when the light is on. In fact, it doesn't mention the amber light that came on in my car. It only mentions a red one, which is an oil pressure warning light. When it came on, I pulled over straight away, turned the car off and pulled out the manual. After finding nothing useful in it, I called VW assist, who told me about the 1L thing.

Look under the section General Maintenance - Inspecting & Replenishing There should be a 1 page section titled Engine Oil which explains what oil is suitable for your vehicle. Towards the end it says Note: before a long drive we recommend you purchase and carry with you engine oil..... Not specific, but the implication is that VAG expect your engine to use oil.

On the next page titled Check Engine Oil Level in the 2nd collum it says: It is normal for the engine to consume oil.... 0.5L/1000km..... higher consumption in the first 5000km then it goes on to say check oil levels at regular intervals, preferably every time after the fuel tank is filled or after driving long stretches which I'd interpret as check every 500-1000km. This is quite specific & I can't see how it could be mis-interpreted.
I can't see a problem with this as after a few checks you'd get an idea of what the oil burn is like & how often you need to check it.

Also on that page it says: The warning light on the instrument cluster.... "Engine Oil Level" whether (sic) the oil level is too low.

I'd suggest you read the manual a bit more - it also tells you about all these other amazing features that the dealer never tells you about.

Not the same. VW puts the service intervals at 15,000km. The manual tells you how to check/refill/top up the oil and advises it is a good idea. Not at any point does it tell you it will be required of you to do so prior to your 15,000km service interval. It also speaks of not being required for long-life service interval cars and a different short-life (7500km) interval car. Its not clear or concise about the issue. If I could be arsed to get it out of the car now...

I got the manual out for you. See above. The don't advise, recommend, urge,encourage or suggest that you check the oil - they say DO IT!. I can't see how they could be any clearer.

The only oil issue that I find unclear is their recommendations as to what oil to use - but that's a subject for a different thread.

Subaru used to have oil usage issues. At delivery they would even issue the new owner with gloves, wipes & a litre of oil. They clearly stated that oil should be checked every 500km. Quite a few people thought that they were above getting their hands dirty by checking the oil and Subaru weren't shy about denying their warranty claims (no oil level light on Subarus).

[gregozedobe]

warnings for the obtuse

Couldn't have phrased it better myself.

People who don't have any mechanical sympathy for their vehicles is a big reason why I prefer to buy brand new, even though it is a lot cheaper to buy at 1-2 years old.

[gerhard]

Look under the section General Maintenance - Inspecting & Replenishing There should be a 1 page section titled Engine Oil which explains what oil is suitable for your vehicle. Towards the end it says Note: before a long drive we recommend you purchase and carry with you engine oil..... Not specific, but the implication is that VAG expect your engine to use oil.

On the next page titled Check Engine Oil Level in the 2nd collum it says: It is normal for the engine to consume oil.... 0.5L/1000km..... higher consumption in the first 5000km then it goes on to say check oil levels at regular intervals, preferably every time after the fuel tank is filled or after driving long stretches which I'd interpret as check every 500-1000km. This is quite specific & I can't see how it could be mis-interpreted.
I can't see a problem with this as after a few checks you'd get an idea of what the oil burn is like & how often you need to check it.

Also on that page it says: The warning light on the instrument cluster.... "Engine Oil Level" whether (sic) the oil level is too low.

I'd suggest you read the manual a bit more - it also tells you about all these other amazing features that the dealer never tells you about.


I got the manual out for you. See above. The don't advise, recommend, urge,encourage or suggest that you check the oil - they say DO IT!. I can't see how they could be any clearer.

The only oil issue that I find unclear is their recommendations as to what oil to use - but that's a subject for a different thread.

Subaru used to have oil usage issues. At delivery they would even issue the new owner with gloves, wipes & a litre of oil. They clearly stated that oil should be checked every 500km. Quite a few people thought that they were above getting their hands dirty by checking the oil and Subaru weren't shy about denying their warranty claims (no oil level light on Subarus).

Unfortunately, Brad, your very clear re-iteration of the contents of the manual will have no effect on this bloke. It's akin to pi$$ing into the wind - instead of getting relief, you just get excrement blown back at you

With a bit of luck he'll sell it since it needed oil before the stated 15,000k service period (which he seems to get, whereas he seems not to get anything else !!) and move to another forum and sprout his version of how the world should be to the members there.

[gerhard]

Couldn't have phrased it better myself.

People who don't have any mechanical sympathy for their vehicles is a big reason why I prefer to buy brand new, even though it is a lot cheaper to buy at 1-2 years old.

Why does the word "recalcitrant" also keep coming to mind when I read this thread ?????

[brad]

With a bit of luck he'll sell it since it needed oil before the stated 15,000k service period (which he seems to get, whereas he seems not to get anything else !!) and move to another forum and sprout his version of how the world should be to the members there.

One of my Subaru forum friends sold his Liberty because he couldn't stand the thought of having to add a litre or 2 of oil before the 12500km services came around (he bought a Honda). Another forum mate got a very good deal on a 1 year old Liberty because of it & didn't give a damn about the oil usage.

Personally, if my car was munching through a litre/1000km I'd top-up with a very basic oil (like Shell ECO 10w30 or Valvoline 10w30) to increase the friction & help the rings key-in. There'd still be enough remaining additive pack from the synthetic oil to keep everything humming along nicely.

[bluey]

I'd have no problem using a non-synthetic to run in a non-turbo engine. I understand from reading on another forum that the weakness in the pumpe-duese actuator is that the cam lobe is a bit small. The VW spec synthetic apparently is the fix to keep the cam lobe alive long-term. I'm also a bit paranoid about turbos and cheap oils.

[Pumpe-Düse]

Look under the section General Maintenance - Inspecting & Replenishing There should be a 1 page section titled Engine Oil which explains what oil is suitable for your vehicle. Towards the end it says Note: before a long drive we recommend you purchase and carry with you engine oil..... Not specific, but the implication is that VAG expect your engine to use oil.

On the next page titled Check Engine Oil Level in the 2nd collum it says: It is normal for the engine to consume oil.... 0.5L/1000km..... higher consumption in the first 5000km then it goes on to say check oil levels at regular intervals, preferably every time after the fuel tank is filled or after driving long stretches which I'd interpret as check every 500-1000km. This is quite specific & I can't see how it could be mis-interpreted.
I can't see a problem with this as after a few checks you'd get an idea of what the oil burn is like & how often you need to check it.

Also on that page it says: The warning light on the instrument cluster.... "Engine Oil Level" whether (sic) the oil level is too low.

I'd suggest you read the manual a bit more - it also tells you about all these other amazing features that the dealer never tells you about.


I got the manual out for you. See above. The don't advise, recommend, urge,encourage or suggest that you check the oil - they say DO IT!. I can't see how they could be any clearer.

The only oil issue that I find unclear is their recommendations as to what oil to use - but that's a subject for a different thread.

Subaru used to have oil usage issues. At delivery they would even issue the new owner with gloves, wipes & a litre of oil. They clearly stated that oil should be checked every 500km. Quite a few people thought that they were above getting their hands dirty by checking the oil and Subaru weren't shy about denying their warranty claims (no oil level light on Subarus).

So I actually bothered to get the manual out for you to see if it says what you've written. It doesn't. Is that manual from a Polo? You're in Sydney I see, so I'll gladly meet up with you and show you my car's manual and what's written in it. Specifically about the oil light, it says its for oil pressure not oil level.

Unfortunately, Brad, your very clear re-iteration of the contents of the manual will have no effect on this bloke. It's akin to pi$$ing into the wind - instead of getting relief, you just get excrement blown back at you

With a bit of luck he'll sell it since it needed oil before the stated 15,000k service period (which he seems to get, whereas he seems not to get anything else !!) and move to another forum and sprout his version of how the world should be to the members there.

Please tell me what the hell your problem is? Are you mad that I'm not impressed with the fact that VW can't seem to build an engine that doesn't burn its oil in large quantities? My manual is actually different to brad's, it advises that it will burn up to 1.0L/1000km and possibly more when running in. The only other engine I've ever heard of that used that much oil was the GM Generation III LS1 5.7 V8 used in the 4th Gen Camaro, C5 Corvette and VTII-VZ Commodore's. And according to GM, 1L/1000km oil use was a recall fault. Perhaps I should be glad my example has only managed to drink 1L/11,700km.

My "version of how the world should be," seems to be shared by, at least what I know from cars I've owned... Ford, Renault, Mazda & Nissan. No previous car of mine ever advised that the engine would burn oil in the manual. My Clio between its 10,000km intervals (5W40 full synthetic) wouldn't use a drop. My Fiesta before it advised in the manual that if the oil level started to go down and/or the oil light came on, to contact the dealer service department immediately. Obviously oil useage on new cars, especially that high an amount, isn't supposed to be a normal thing... how sloppy made are these engines? How poor are the clearances?

Do all VAG engines do this, or just the TDI's?

*PS - I am looking at selling the car. For a better VW. Don't worry gerhard, I'll be sticking around for quite a while, just for you.

[gregozedobe]

Do all VAG engines do this, or just the TDI's?

From what I've read (fairly widely over the last 2 years), VAG engines can vary considerably in their oil usage.

TDIs seem prone to use more oil than petrols, particularly in the first 15-20,000Km. Engines that are run-in with vigour (ie not babyed) seem to use less (both of mine use pretty close to zero oil, I've never had to add any).

My impression is that the majority of VAG engines use none or very little oil. Even though VW claim that usage of 1l/1,000Km is "normal", personally I think anything over 250ml/1,000Km is excessive. Unfortunately VW make the warranty policy, not me

A factor that may catch some people out is that an engine that is usually only driven for short trips can use significant amounts of oil without this loss showing up on the dip stick, because it accumulates water condensation in the oil (because the engine oil never gets hot enough to evaporate this water off). One sign of this is a white emulsion on the underside of the oil filler cap. In extreme cases you can even see oil droplets on the dip stick.

If you then go for a long highway drive (or a fast drive in a twisty road) the engine finally does get hot for a long enough time to evaporate these condensates, and suddenly the apparent oil level goes down.

This means it is important to:
A Check the engine oil level carefully at the first fuel stop on trips, and
B Carry the correct oil so you can top up the oil level if needed.