TFSI oil consumption fault - affected models?
Discussion
Meridius said:
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.
Well, the 1.4 twincharged engines are no more: the new Polo GTI is a 1.8 turbo and the Seat and Skoda versions are no longer made. My own 2011 twincharged VRS uses between half a litre and a litre per 1000 miles, but oil isn't THAT expensive, is it - when compared with tax, insurance, petrol etc. HB2K said:
Well, the 1.4 twincharged engines are no more: the new Polo GTI is a 1.8 turbo and the Seat and Skoda versions are no longer made. My own 2011 twincharged VRS uses between half a litre and a litre per 1000 miles, but oil isn't THAT expensive, is it - when compared with tax, insurance, petrol etc.
I don't think it's the expense, it certainly wasn't for me, more the hassle plus the worry that it might be indicative of some more serious underlying issue. It's not nice to top up a car with oil, drive for a month and then hear the dreaded bong and see the yellow warning light on the dash yet again. Just not very confidence inspiring in a car manufacturer who has a reputation for being well engineered. In short when it happened to me, I wasn't really feeling the "vorsprung durch technik".
i had a 2009 Audi A4 2.0 tfsi which when i bought it private at 89,000 used 1ltr of oil every 600miles! After the program on watchdog covering this issue and audi obviously getting some lash back i took the car to my local main dealer with 130,000 on the clock, they did a oil consumption test and offered to fix the issue for free. total cost came to around £6000 with new pistons, fitted etc. Car didn't use a drop afterwards.
StevenB said:
Chap here has a 2011 A3 TFSI uses a litre of oil in about 350 miles (70,000 miles)
Yeah that's definitely broken.First thing to check is probably the PCV system. It's quite failure prone and causes oil consumption to go through the roof but no other symptoms beyond a slight increase in fuel consumption and turbo lag.
I had a car with the 4.2 V8. When I bought the car it had just been serviced, although I now suspect they used really cheap oil.
At first it used a litre every 900 miles or so. 5000 miles later it was using a litre every 250 miles or so, just about every tank of fuel matched with a litre of oil.
Replaced the oil with a full ester synthetic, and oil use dropped back to a litre every 1200 miles or so.
Then sold the car. To be honest, for a premium brand I expect to be able to drive between service intervals without having to top up the oil. The only other cars that I have had to keep an eye on the oil and top up outside the service schedule were Alfas and Fiats.
At first it used a litre every 900 miles or so. 5000 miles later it was using a litre every 250 miles or so, just about every tank of fuel matched with a litre of oil.
Replaced the oil with a full ester synthetic, and oil use dropped back to a litre every 1200 miles or so.
Then sold the car. To be honest, for a premium brand I expect to be able to drive between service intervals without having to top up the oil. The only other cars that I have had to keep an eye on the oil and top up outside the service schedule were Alfas and Fiats.
kambites said:
StevenB said:
Chap here has a 2011 A3 TFSI uses a litre of oil in about 350 miles (70,000 miles)
Yeah that's definitely broken.First thing to check is probably the PCV system. It's quite failure prone and causes oil consumption to go through the roof but no other symptoms beyond a slight increase in fuel consumption and turbo lag.
My 08 Golf Pirelli uses about 0.5l per 1000 miles, always has done in the 50'000 miles I've done in it. It's tuned and driven accordingly. I have no issues with this. My partner's 2007 s3 uses a similar amount, again, i don't see it as an issue and i suppose from a maintenance perspective it's not much different to the father in law topping up the adblue in his tiguan....
Atomic12C said:
Parisien said:
2010 A3 1.4 TFSI, on 75k miles now, uses 1/2 litre every 5k miles.
Anyone know when you should or need to change the timing chain on these?
Should say in your car manual but I think the chain is a long life element, as in it may not need changing, just maintaining.Anyone know when you should or need to change the timing chain on these?
Parisien said:
No mention of it, but sometimes people in the know say, change it anyways! Would appreciate other clarification guys.
As long as the tension is right, the chain should last pretty much indefinitely. I think the problem with the 1.4 TFSI is that the tensioner isn't very good and whilst tensioner failure itself doesn't generally cause a serious issue, it will cause the chain to wear extremely quickly and ultimately fail, destroying the engine. So at least keep an ear out for a rattling chain.
0.5 litre every 1000km is in no way acceptable.
Do they just use a tape measure to check tolerances during assembly?!
I'm sure BMC used to state a pint of oil every 1000 miles was normal after run in on the A-Series in the Minor. Which is considerably better than 0.5 per 1000km!
Do they just use a tape measure to check tolerances during assembly?!
I'm sure BMC used to state a pint of oil every 1000 miles was normal after run in on the A-Series in the Minor. Which is considerably better than 0.5 per 1000km!
Edited by lee_erm on Tuesday 21st February 15:13
Sounds like VWs are as bad as BMW.
All the petrol BMWs I've owned used around 1ltr/1K miles which I thought was fking awful but my local friendly dealer assured me was no problem at all. I guess it isn't as long as you don't have to pay for it or keep an eye on it!
My MKV Golf 2005 GTi used 1/2 ltr in the 10K miles I drove it just to keep on topic.
All the petrol BMWs I've owned used around 1ltr/1K miles which I thought was fking awful but my local friendly dealer assured me was no problem at all. I guess it isn't as long as you don't have to pay for it or keep an eye on it!
My MKV Golf 2005 GTi used 1/2 ltr in the 10K miles I drove it just to keep on topic.
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