VW 1.4 TSI Oil Consumption

[Dave Hedgehog]

im getting a little concerned about our car

had 1 ltr at 5500 miles and yesterday needed another ltr at 6500 miles ....

my r32 didnt need any oil in the first 10k miles ..

[huwp]

Dave Hedgehog said:

im getting a little concerned about our car

had 1 ltr at 5500 miles and yesterday needed another ltr at 6500 miles ....

my r32 didnt need any oil in the first 10k miles ..

Have you had the car from new i.e. Is that 1 ltr in the whole of the first 5,500 miles then 1 ltr in the last 1000 miles? If so I would be monitoring the car very carefully and probably making sure that the dealership log it on their system as a likely fault. If you have a helpful dealer they might do a consumption test now. At least the problem is so well documented now that VW can't deny the problem with these engines as they tried doing with mine a year ago.

If you want to discuss how I dealt with VW then feel free to email me.


Huw

[Dave Hedgehog]

huwp said:

Dave Hedgehog said:

im getting a little concerned about our car

had 1 ltr at 5500 miles and yesterday needed another ltr at 6500 miles ....

my r32 didnt need any oil in the first 10k miles ..

Have you had the car from new i.e. Is that 1 ltr in the whole of the first 5,500 miles then 1 ltr in the last 1000 miles? If so I would be monitoring the car very carefully and probably making sure that the dealership log it on their system as a likely fault. If you have a helpful dealer they might do a consumption test now. At least the problem is so well documented now that VW can't deny the problem with these engines as they tried doing with mine a year ago.

If you want to discuss how I dealt with VW then feel free to email me.


Huw

yes from new

and its 1ltr every 1000 miles so far >.<

Dealer just keeps saying its normal for new cars to burn oil..

I will pop down and ask them to do a consumption test

[Deva Link]

Dave Hedgehog said:

and its 1ltr every 1000 miles so far >.<

I wonder at what point it starts clogging up the catalytic converter?

[kawabanga]

Dave Hedgehog said:

Dealer just keeps saying its normal for new cars to burn oil..

Completely wrong, in our forum polovw there are plenty of examples of increased oil consumption after a certain milleage.
So I fear it could get worse, not better...

When they probably realize and admitt the problem, your stock pot and cat will be completely encrousted...

[SWR Performance]

Dave Hedgehog said:

Dealer just keeps saying its normal for new cars to burn oil..

Dealer obviously doesn't know squat about engine construction. All-new engines might burn oil due to the rings not yet being fully seated. If it gets worse, like it's described in this thread, it's a fault of some kind or a tech error while constructing the engine from VAG. Bad ring material, bad cylinder wall preparation, a combo of both foreamentioned or non-compatible materials, bad crankcase ventilation system (clogging up or pulling too hard), bad valve seals or seal material, etc...

To fix it I would NOT get "the better option and replace the engine".. that's he WORST option. You then get an engine with - very likely - the same problem. To open the current one, find the problem and fix it might be slightly more expensive right now, but it FIXES the problem.

[Sam_68]

neiljohnson said:

This is a known issue with these engines ...

That certainly seems to be the case from comments by BG and others. They seem to be variable, though: mine needed a litre of oil adding half way to its first service, but since then has not needed topping up between services at all (currently at 30K miles).

[packman10_4]

But your using short life PD oil lol , i look after around 15 vw,s i put 10/40 semi in them and half the oil change time change at 6k.

try that i bet it wont use half of that !!!

Edited by packman10_4 on Thursday 9th February 07:36

[huwp]

packman10_4 said:

But your using sort life oil lol , i look after around 15 vw,s i put 10/40 semi in them and half the oil change time change at 6k.

try that i bet it wont use half of that !!!

Not much use if you're within the warranty period though.....

[powerstroke]

huwp said:

packman10_4 said:

But your using sort life oil lol , i look after around 15 vw,s i put 10/40 semi in them and half the oil change time change at 6k.

try that i bet it wont use half of that !!!

Not much use if you're within the warranty period though.....

Possbly a solution if someone is stuck with one of these premium brand cars
useing a lot of oil and is out of warranty

[packman10_4]

But saying that i look after a 3 cylinder diesel Polo with 150k on the clock and uses no oil at all ??? but ive got a w reg beetle 2ltr with 97 k fully history ect ect that uses oil its got no leaks no smoke drives great ? some you win some you loose !

Edited by packman10_4 on Thursday 9th February 07:37

[CatScan]

I've had my Fabia VRs for 3.5 weeks now and had to give it it's second half litre top up today. Local dealership being called tomorrow once I find my records of what miles it was topped up at. Still has 2 years of warrenty. I work in an engine design office and noone can believe how much oil this thing is drinking.

[packman10_4]

If i can recall vw did have a big problem with people bringing there cars back within the service period with blown up engines. This was due to people not checking the oil on a weekly basis then it would run dry and bang !

In the trade this oil is known as short life not Long life oil , so why does vw use this oil because its nearly £12 per litre and i would say there main custom is from company cars so they just bill the company and sod the bill. Last week a friend who runs a Audi A3 diesel was charged £260 for a intrim service witch is oil and filter and check the brakes ok , Andy said did you take the wheels off to check them there reply was no ! so after a heated discussion the bill was reduced £100.

As i said the PD's that i look after nearly 14 of them now run 10/40 semi and i change that every 6k with minimal oil useage.

You pull a vw tech to one side and ask him what he would use oil grade wise if it was his car ???

[librarian lass]

Same problem with my GTI.

Had the oil test, it lasted 800 miles and VW has refused to acknowledge there is a problem. Seems I have to keep topping it up until (if?) they come back with a solution.

Not happy, as I'm sure you can tell from all my responses about this on the web.

[CatScan]

packman10_4 said:

You pull a vw tech to one side and ask him what he would use oil grade wise if it was his car ???

He'll say the manufacturers recommended oil. Companies are not in the habit of making sub par specs to get a couple of hundred quid out of you over the life of the vehicle. Every engine replacement probably costs vw about 7-8 grand including labour, the engine, shipping an engine from the plant to wherever it needs to be and the disruption on the line of needing to build an engine that's not going into a car in plant. That's the profit margin of 5-6 Polo GTis gone, or god knows how many bottles of oil.

[packman10_4]

CatScan said:

packman10_4 said:

You pull a vw tech to one side and ask him what he would use oil grade wise if it was his car ???

He'll say the manufacturers recommended oil. Companies are not in the habit of making sub par specs to get a couple of hundred quid out of you over the life of the vehicle. Every engine replacement probably costs vw about 7-8 grand including labour, the engine, shipping an engine from the plant to wherever it needs to be and the disruption on the line of needing to build an engine that's not going into a car in plant. That's the profit margin of 5-6 Polo GTis gone, or god knows how many bottles of oil.

Ask the chaps at Northampton Audi or Autohouse VW they all say the same The pd is to thin and the diesel models do use oil. More the 2ltrs than any other , eaither check your oil regular once a week or use a differnt grade oil.

[CatScan]

Using a different grade oil voids the warrenty though, and I don't fancy giving up 2 years of free fixes on the car.
Booked it into the local dealership for tomorrow, they're going to do some tests on it and see if they can spot a problem. 1.4 litres gone in 1000 miles just isn't right.

[huwp]

CatScan said:

Using a different grade oil voids the warrenty though, and I don't fancy giving up 2 years of free fixes on the car.
Booked it into the local dealership for tomorrow, they're going to do some tests on it and see if they can spot a problem. 1.4 litres gone in 1000 miles just isn't right.

That's about as bad as mine was. The dealer was quick to acknowledge that such a level of consumption was unacceptable.

I finally got satisfaction by threatening that I would get an independent report and then sue (my profession helps) and seek disclosure of all complaints made to VW throughout the domestic and european market. VW know that this would reveal a significant issue with the engine.

I also told them that I would subpoena the local service manager to give evidence against VW UK. He was of the view that the only reasonable fix was a new engine on what was effectively a new car with a defect from time of sale.

VW will fob you off for as long as they think they can get away with it (see it from their standpoint - why wouldn't you) but will capitulate in the end.

They must be concerned about a judgement against them. That can then be reported in the press, both general and motoring, and may trigger a very very expensive recall.

Get tough with VW UK then you'll get a reasonable outcome.

[neiljohnson]

The main experience I have on these is through friends that have bought vrs skodas both horrendous oil usage issues one had an engine replaced that made absolutely no differance to oil consumption so he outed the car the other is awaiting a response from skoda after failing its consumption test miserably.

On the other side I've looked after a golf with the same twin charged engine 170bhp version ( was the first one I saw in the garage I work at) that only uses a very small amount of oil do is the fault mainly related to the 180bhp version of the engine ??

Vw are not what they used to be I see lots of differant versions of the 2.0 td engine every day & their general reliability is laughable

[packman10_4]

Indeed it does void the warrenty , unless they do a oil sample check/ test there non the wiser. All the diesel oil is black when it comes out anyway. Yes the 10/40 is cheeper but your not doing it for cost reasons you just want it to use less oil !