Sump level rise 2010 103TDI PD

**Skooter** · 20-09-2013, 11:02 AM

I'd agree with the fuel possibility if we weren't talking about something in the order of 4 litres ... that's one hell of a lot of diesel to leak (and would probably mean atrocious fuel econ!). And would surely be associated with an obvious smell of fuel in the oil - which there ain't. Will absolutely monitor oil level until I'm sure I am safe. Bloody stressful, the whole episode. As I said to the dealer yesterday, it's either an overfill error on your part, or something that dates back well into the valid warranty period (expired 2 months and 600km ago). If it's a tandem pump, I'd bet my knackers they won't buy into replacement under warranty. For now, I survive on optimism.

Didn't quite get the 'pool' gag, GLD??? The only pool I can picture is the one I found in my sump three days ago

!!

**kaanage** · 24-09-2013, 09:45 PM

Any more findings on your oil?

**gldgti** · 25-09-2013, 04:46 PM

Originally Posted by Skooter

Didn't quite get the 'pool' gag, GLD??? The only pool I can picture is the one I found in my sump three days ago

!!

Just mean take bets for/against fuel contamination or overfill

**Skooter** · 27-09-2013, 11:13 PM

Originally Posted by gldgti

Just mean take bets for/against fuel contamination or overfill

Mean indeed!! Been out of town (lots of opps to clean it all out and hopefully perform some regens!). Been monitoring oil level every day and it hasn't moved a millimeter up the stick. Must have covered over 1000ks, mostly 80+kph. So at this early stage, the odds are hopefully tending towards the overfill (taking the inside run on the rails!).

My worry is still what if any damage has the DPF suffered from either eventuality. Not something I'm able to monitor (is there ANY way to determine ash contam in a DPF?). I don;t have much to lay on the service manager's desk - "you've done something dodgy to my car that's reduced the life of a very expensive component by X-km or X-years. And if it wasn't your doing, then it must be fuel contamination - and that's a warranty issue ... even tho the warranty has expired"!!

At the mo, car's running a treat and oil level is static. How many k's do I need to cover before the bet's settled?

**Skooter** · 27-09-2013, 11:18 PM

Oh, and meant to ask: how do I know when the car is performing a regen? Some members talk of rough running, high idle ... I've never felt a thing. Would feel a lot better if the MFD just told me it was about to do the biz ... a warning, so I could make sure I let the thing finish its burn! If I had VCDS I'd probably let my other half clog it up with too much city driving (I cycle everywhere in town!) and I could do forced regens.

Probably going to have a Oettinger remap in a few weeks, if I can satisfy myself the DPF ain't gonna swallow the household budget!

**Skooter** · 25-11-2013, 10:27 PM

I'm back - and I'm mad as ...

Car has now done about 4k since service, with new oil (filled to correct level). While things looked real dandy at 1k, I'm now convinced the level is on the rise. Not sure exactly where to go from here.

It's difficult to gauge exactly how much extra 'oil' I've got in the sump based solely on the dipstick (why is it black??? Black oil, black dipstick - designed by a dipstick!?

). Even after a trip to Adelaide (from Melbourne) where the car ran beautifully and returned 5.3L/100 on the MFD, the oil level is up the stick a good 5mm from std when I last checked at 1k post-service. Could even be 6L by now. Without dumping $75 worth of oil after only 4k, I have no way of knowing exactly how much is gone up.

So now I can only assume fuel contamination, and my strong suspicion is cylinder leakdown of diesel from regens (possibly incomplete regens?). My partner does a few more short city trips than I would like and I suspect that if regens are occurring, they are incomplete. The first 1k post-service (when the level remained static) were travelled over longer trips at higher speeds, but still predominantly city driving.

Noone has answered my question as to how to know when a regen is happening - any takers? Apart from that, I need to know how to prevent it happening if it's going to dilute that fancy 507 oil. Am I going to have to drain and fill every 4k with new oil??!

Next stop is Skoda Oz and Richmond Skoda, once I'm positive it's rising and probably not due to a double fill when serviced by them (apology might be forthcoming too!). There's nothing unusual about our car or the way it's driven, so surely this must be commonplace if there's nothing else to explain a sump level rise? Why do I feel like a loner?!

Now what was that about taking bets ...?

**Transporter** · 26-11-2013, 07:17 AM

Maybe it should be your first step to see the professional mechanic to get the car properly diagnosed. It's hard to do so from reading the posts without seeing the car.
The leaking injector (s) could be the cause as well as frequent regenerations due to the fault or DPF that is blocked. The ECU is programmed to regenerate the DPF approx. every 1000km or when it's needed measured using the sensors. Usually the fault in the sensor would set the fault light in the instruments. The leaking injectors should be easy to diagnose for average mechanic equipped with the suitable scanner.

Also check for any chip box installed by the previous owner, since this can also cause the excessive fuel being injected.

**Skooter** · 26-11-2013, 10:24 AM

Thanks for the advice, T'porter. Definitely my next move is to have an experienced VW diesel mech go over it and try to identify what's going on. The sooner the better, as far as I'm concerned. I take no joy in the knowledge that my expensive, super-special VW approved oil is possibly more like WD40!

**gldgti** · 27-11-2013, 05:29 PM

I can only agree with Transporter - get it scanned by someone who can interpret well. Its plausible that there is a sensor issue causing regens that shouldn't be happening (although your good fuel economy would seem to make that more unlikely).