Quick oil consumtion question (MK5 1.9 tdi)

[85turbo]

Today on a trip down to the nsw south coast, just passing the
Kiama bends, the orange check oil level light came on.

I stopped asap and checked the level.
Sure enough, it was low.

It has used about 400ml in aprox 8000 km.
Is this excessive ? It does not leak or blow any kind of white smoke.

The car is booked in for a service in 2 weeks and I am trying to figure
out if I should be telling the dealer about it.

I'm posting this by iPhone, so please excuse any bad formatting.
I'll be back home tomorrow afternoon.

Jason.

[Buller_Scott]

only 400ml in 8000kms? i would have thought it would use a fair bit more than that.

how many km's has it got? if you're still running it in (100,000km's is the accepted 'run in' mark for these engines) are you babying it alot?

mine used a fair bit more than that between my last two services..

[Guest0608]

Hi mate, look in your maintiance book in the oil section, I think its 3.2 page 30 ish or something. All VW engines state that they can use 1 litre of oil every 1000km and there is no concern! Yeh its a lot of oil but thats the specs vw, have a look in your book. only if using more than 1 litre every 1000km you have a issue! vwtech.

[Transporter]

Today on a trip down to the nsw south coast, just passing the
Kiama bends, the orange check oil level light came on.

I stopped asap and checked the level.
Sure enough, it was low.

It has used about 400ml in aprox 8000 km.
Is this excessive ? It does not leak or blow any kind of white smoke.

The car is booked in for a service in 2 weeks and I am trying to figure
out if I should be telling the dealer about it.

I'm posting this by iPhone, so please excuse any bad formatting.
I'll be back home tomorrow afternoon.

Jason.

The 400ml over 8000km is normal and every internal combustion engine will use some oil. You have nothing to worry about.

[85turbo]

Thanks for the info guys.

The car has 124k km on it and while I don't thrash it, it's not babied.
Just driven normally.

Thanks for the reassurances.

Jason.

[Arctra]

Hmmm. I see a thread like this and it makes me worry. Not because my 2.0L TDI Tiguan is using oil, but because IT'S NOT. It's been over 11000km's now (since new) and I have not had to put a drop in.

I had the 7500km "fluid check" service and the dealer said to me I had clearly been checking my oil coz I didn't need any. Well, he was right, I have been checking my oil regularly, but I have put nothing in as the oil is still at the top of the max level on the dipstick. As much as I would have liked them to, they didn't change my oil at the 7500km check either, so if I understand correctly it's still running the "running in" oil which is a bit thinner and meant to be used up.

Driving style wise, I don't baby my engine. I know diesels like to work so that's what I make mine do. When she's cold I don't rev high but I do rev high enough for the turbo to be kicking in and pressurizing the rings. Once she's well and truly up to running temp (oil temp-wise, not just water temp as shown by the temp guage on the dash) I have no problem slamming the throttle down and revving her nice and high so the turbo is working hard. Whenever I can on long and/or steep down hills sections I slip it into tiptronic mode and drop a gear so she compression brakes and loads the engine. I don't know if it's because of this driving style that I am not using much.. or anything noticeable for that matter.

Any opinions would be great. Oh, as for when I check the oil level, I prefer to do it first thing in the morning before I start the engine so the oil has settled overnight. If I check after the engine has been running I give it at least half an hour for the oil to settle. I take the dipstick out, wipe it clean, dip it in and out again and then take the reading. I'll repeat that just to be sure of the measurement.

[gldgti]

i think people reading about other peoples supposed problems on forums can cause phantom problems.... what i mean is - you come along and read this thread and go "sheesh, that sounds like i could have that problem", or "why dont i have that problem?" all of a sudden you're looking for something that isnt there, and if your really unlucky, you'll find symptoms of something or other that isnt there either. it all harks back to early man building up instincts about how to react to other's stories - helps you to survive.

trouble is, if we all really did have these problems, i doubt vw would exist anymore.

Mate, dont worry. your engine may be using just a little oil, and thats fine. i reckon a tig, with extra drivetrain and weight will bed in the rings more easily than say a golf would. driving style can have a lot to do with it aswell, not to mention the kinds of trips you do. for comparison, my mk3 only does long, high engine speed trips (3000rpm cruise, 45min twice a day). it'll still only use about 1/4litre of oil for every 7000km, and i'm at 218,000km. if the rings are bedded in well, the engine wont necesserily use much oil - even under hard working conditions (i do every hill at 110 on the F3).

really, its fine

[Transporter]

Dean, as I said earlier any internal combustion engine use some oil. If you don't see oil going down on the dipstick, that is easy to explain:

Not all the diesel injected into the cylinder get burned, some of it will get into the sump, also if you would do used oil analysis there would be other polutants in the oil sample, like air born particles that pass through the air filter and ended up in the oil making up for some oil used.

I would say that your engine is mostlikely running in properly. I wouldn't worry about that it didn't use any oil, it did. Our Golf used less than 1/2L during 7,500km up to 15,000km, at 22,500 I changed oil and drained 4.3L out.

[Greg Roles]

I've never had to top up my TDI and I'm now at 45k. The only loss I notice goes out via my Provent catchcan, but even that isn't enough to worry me on the dipstick between services. Then again I am doing my own inbetween oil and filter, so that's probably covering up any noticable use.

All the same I wouldn't worry about the initial posters use, still within "normal" in my opinion.

[Buller_Scott]

yeah, re arctra's car, not that im any expert, but my oil warning lamp in-dash didnt come on till i was on my way to the dealership for my very first service. the vw guys said that's okay, and my car's running awesome (just did a trip to sydney.... so smooth, and the diesel torque kicks in when its a full adult load, going up a 3km hill @ more than the speed limit on the way into sydney).

45k km's and counting.... until that pd cam lobe wear bites my orse, lol. not that it affects you, arctra. be confident!