TFSI oil consumption fault - affected models?

[ALT F4]

Is there a list of affected models and years?

I've been asked by a work colleague about a 2005 and 2006 Audi A4 2.0 TFSI .... reading the internet it seems a little confusing as to which models/years are affected by the piston rings and the excessive oil consumption.
I'm sure the PH massive are clued up on this so if anyone can fill in the blanks below it would give me a much clearer picture.....

(1) Models affected are =
- A3? A4? A5?
(2) Years affected are =
- 2006 to 2014?
(3) Engines affected are =
- 1.8 turbo? 2.0 turbo? 3.2 N/A?


Cheers.

[kambites]

I think the confusion comes from that fact that all (or at least most) TFSIs tend to use some oil. Audi's press release says:

"As we have stated previously, a low percentage of older 2.0 TFSI engines fitted to certain models have been exceeding the factory oil consumption tolerance of 0.5 litres per 1,000 kilometres (approx. 620 miles). Changes were made to the production tolerances of the pistons and rings in this engine from mid-2011 onwards, and customers with 2.0 TFSI cars produced after this date should not have any cause for concern."

Ours 2.0 TFSI seems to burn about a litre every 2500 miles.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 28th April 13:42

[Dave Hedgehog]

our polo gti burns 1ltr per 1000km and has done so for the last 70k miles

VW say this is normal and do not give a monkeys


surprisingly we wont be buying another VW

[X5TUU]

3.2 A6 about 1l every 1000miles

2.0 TT hasn't used any in 18mths / 6k miles

[speedking31]

Dave Hedgehog said:

our polo gti burns 1ltr per 1000km and has done so for the last 70k miles

VW say this is normal and do not give a monkeys, surprisingly we wont be buying another VW

If you only buy one car every 70000 miles I'm not surprised

[Dave Hedgehog]

speedking31 said:

Dave Hedgehog said:

our polo gti burns 1ltr per 1000km and has done so for the last 70k miles

VW say this is normal and do not give a monkeys, surprisingly we wont be buying another VW

If you only buy one car every 70000 miles I'm not surprised

well i dont want to go spoiling the OH now do i

[TurboHatchback]

All I know is I've had two VAG direct injection engines (2006 Golf GTI and 2007 Audi 4.2 FSI V8) and both used oil. The Golf used a fair bit when I got it and used less and less over the year I owned it, when I sold it the usage was practically zero. The Audi also seems to be using less over time, perhaps lots of longer trips with occasional redline overtakes is good for them. It wouldn't put me off buying another, putting a slosh of oil in every month or two is hardly much of an issue.

[Meridius]

I thought it was the Twincharged 1.4 that had the oil consumption issues? The earlier engines in particular until 2013 (I think) when they had an update.

[blade7]

My 05 A4 doesn't seem to use any oil, it's just turned over 100k. I think the oil consumption problems were mainly between 2008-2011, though I'd be a bit twitchy about anything between 07-12.

[kambites]

blade7 said:

My 05 A4 doesn't seem to use any oil, it's just turned over 100k. I think the oil consumption problems were mainly between 2008-2011, though I'd be a bit twitchy about anything between 07-12.

Our 06 TFSI does but it's not enough to be a problem and it hasn't increased in the years we've owned the car.

[Prizam]

Is it just me who thinks this is unacceptable then?

My TVR, BMW & Series, BMW GS or Volvo V50 dont use a drop... EVER.

They all go service to service without being topped up. (And i do check and make sure they are all on the MAX line)

[kambites]

Prizam said:

Is it just me who thinks this is unacceptable then?

It certainly doesn't bother me, any more than the car wearing out its tyres or brakes bothers me. It's just another consumable; the effect on running cost is utterly negligible.

[ManOpener]

Earlier EA113 engines use a bit of oil between services, especially if you do lots of short journeys. No more than most other modern engines though. As far as I know they don't have any consumption related faults, a litre of two every 10k is pretty normal.

The later EA888 engines (2008-12 I think) had issues with properly excessive (1 litre per 500 mile ballpark) oil consumption caused by...something to do with the piston rings I think. I think the issues were with longitudinal engines (so A4/5/6) rather than transverse ones (Golf/A3) but happy to be corrected.

Edited by ManOpener on Thursday 28th April 14:19

[MrBarry123]

I'd only think it was unacceptable if it was going to cause an actual problem with the car.

My car uses a bit - probably 1 litre between changes (every 10,000 miles).

I have read that some people get good success in reducing the oil consumption by using a higher performing oil e.g. Millers Nanodrive 5W-40. Their opinion seems to be that the manufacturer specified oil (typically Castrol Edge 5W-30 for these engines) isn't up to the job past 5,000 miles.

[ManOpener]

MrBarry123 said:

I have read that some people get good success in reducing the oil consumption by using a higher performing oil e.g. Millers Nanodrive 5W-40. Their opinion seems to be that the manufacturer specified oil (typically Castrol Edge 5W-30 for these engines) isn't up to the job past 5,000 miles.

My consumption has reduced since changing to Mobil 1 New Life 0W40 from Castrol Edge 5W30, but it's not really a like-for-like comparison as I also now do longer journeys on average.

[Guvernator]

My S5 with the 3 litre supercharged engine used to drink a litre every 1500 miles or so, sometimes less. Went to the dealer who told me it was normal. According to them modern Audi engines are designed to run hotter for better mpg figures but it means they use more oil. Shortish town journeys stuck in traffic also don't do it any favours.

Not sure how true either of those statements are but I'm a bit old skool so to me oil usage=potential problem with engine so I persisted by basically being a pain in the backside and got them to do a proper oil consumption test. This involves them draining the oil, accurately measuring it and then measuring it again 1000 miles later. After doing this, they finally decided the usage was outside tolerance, probably because they got fed up of me pestering them and did a recall fix where they changed the oil breather pipe and a seal. Apparently the old parts where sucking up too much oil so they were replaced with different parts. If this didn't work the next step would have been to open up the engine. Luckily it did and the car now uses much less, about 1 litre every 3000 miles. Still not ideal IMO but much better than it was.

If it worries you keep pestering them to do the consumption check and they should eventually give in.

[oldaudi]

My 2001 hasn't used any in 11000 miles and still looks like honey on the dipstick. Id love a newer one but I really wouldnt know which model to pick after 2008 given the possible problems. I had several as company cars but I'd be scared to buy one

Edited by oldaudi on Thursday 28th April 14:59

[Guvernator]

oldaudi said:

My 2001 hasnt used any in 11000 miles and still looks like honey on the dipstick.

That's great, not sure what it has to do with this thread though as the TSFI engines where introduced post 2005, or did you just feel like boasting?

[oldaudi]

boasting

[Guvernator]

oldaudi said:

boasting

Oh, that's alight then.

Is it just me that gets the feeling that we are past "peak" reliability now. I reckon late 90's to the early millennium might have been the sweet spot. Lots of new cars seem to have all sorts of issues that we never had previously. What's to blame? Cost cutting to the last penny? Too complicated?

What's worse, the German's seem to be the worst offenders now.

Edited by Guvernator on Thursday 28th April 15:22