MK5 Golf GTI

All Things Mk5 => Mk5 General Area => Topic started by: Homer on February 14, 2012, 10:52:49 am

Title: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: Homer on February 14, 2012, 10:52:49 am
Hi, over the past year I have topped up my engine oil on three occasions, about 5 litres in total. The car is under warranty so I have taken it to VW, they are saying they have checked it and cant find no fault and that if I want further investigation its going to cost me £67.15 as they are not sure it is a warranty issue. I am not sure what exactly to do next as engine oil shouldnt just disappear... She said one factor could be the high mileage that I am doing- about 15-20k a year. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: edd666999 on February 14, 2012, 10:57:45 am
1 liter every 600miles is normal as far as VW are concerned. I have put similar in as you.
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: Homer on February 14, 2012, 11:00:25 am
I take it you mean 6000 miles?
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: Russ_leeds on February 14, 2012, 11:10:27 am
No 600
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: JackG on February 14, 2012, 11:18:59 am
Yep about 600-900 per litre for me :)
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: Kregiel on February 14, 2012, 11:29:23 am
Mine does not take oil at all if taken easy. But if I push it hard or on RR it drinks a lot.....
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: AlanEdition30 on February 14, 2012, 11:34:38 am
Homer when was your car last serviced? (oil change), my car hardly uses any oil, the only time it did start to use a bit was just before it was due a service.
A service sorted it  :happy2:

Though as a few others have said 1 litre per 600 miles is within the tolerances
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: gazon69 on February 14, 2012, 11:36:03 am
Yea sounds about right. They do have a thirst for the stuff im afraid. When they are driven hard they do use a fair bit
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: Tamiyoman on February 14, 2012, 11:45:06 am
Drive FSI cars like miss daisy and they dont use much, push them and use the full rev range and they drink the stuff.

Had my ED30 3 months now and done around 1000 miles and its taken 1.25L of topping up thus far.

Your car is normal.
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: swgti on February 14, 2012, 12:13:17 pm
I've had mine 9 months now and it hasnt used a drop.
Going on VW's figures thats nearly a litre every other tank of fuel, If mine was using 1ltr per 600 miles based on my mileage so far and using Castrol Edge I would have spent nearly £170 in oil in that time........ :scared:
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: Homer on February 14, 2012, 12:16:31 pm
last service before todays was in August, thanks for all the replies folks, best stock up on engine oil then  :happy2:
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: Saintsteve on February 14, 2012, 12:20:41 pm
my high oil consumption was partly due to a loose engine cover, oil was leaking down the back of the engine, not apparent on the floor but worth checking if you have the top engine cover off, to just try the bolts and check they are tight.
My consumption has now reduced I've noticed.
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: Black9 on February 14, 2012, 02:22:50 pm
I think it varies engine to engine. Mine uses hardly any oil whatsoever but heard others use quite a bit. Keep ontop of consumption & change the grade of oil if neccesary
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: E30Dom on February 14, 2012, 03:48:06 pm
I think it varies engine to engine. Mine uses hardly any oil whatsoever but heard others use quite a bit. Keep ontop of consumption & change the grade of oil if neccesary

Same here... mine uses about a 1litre of top up per service(8000miles)... Not like the BMW's ive had which is more like a 1litre every1-2k miles...
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: flyboy1976 on February 14, 2012, 04:15:48 pm
cant say the same here, 30k Edition 30 ....Stage 2+, no oil consumption since ive had it (2 1/2 years)
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: rich83 on February 14, 2012, 04:23:46 pm
5L in a year is not an astronomical amount. A Mazda RX8 would chew about 20 litres in that time (at least)
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: heavyd on February 14, 2012, 04:29:03 pm
Its when you use half a dipstick every 200 miles like mine did, that you need to worry :scared:
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: gazon69 on February 14, 2012, 04:33:03 pm
 ::
Its when you use half a dipstick every 200 miles like mine did, that you need to worry :scared:
:signLOL:
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: Saintsteve on February 14, 2012, 05:08:02 pm
Its when you use half a dipstick every 200 miles like mine did, that you need to worry :scared:

That's about 2.5 litres every thousand miles... Still within VW's tollerences.

Are u sure you really needed a rebuild  :grin:
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: parks on February 14, 2012, 05:28:08 pm
Ive a litre bottle of oil I keep in the boot which I top up from a 4 litre in the house. Mine likes a drink now and then.
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: heavyd on February 14, 2012, 05:39:00 pm
Its when you use half a dipstick every 200 miles like mine did, that you need to worry :scared:

That's about 2.5 litres every thousand miles... Still within VW's tollerences.

Are u sure you really needed a rebuild  :grin:
It was nearly a full top up bottle a week at the end. I used up 2 full 4ltr bottles of castrol edge in about 3 months. Didn't use a drop the first 9 months I owned it.
I haven't used a drop since its been fixed either
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: edd666999 on February 14, 2012, 06:08:00 pm
I take it you mean 6000 miles?

 :signLOL:

You would hope so! but no.
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: martziniuk on February 14, 2012, 08:09:23 pm
Its when you use half a dipstick every 200 miles like mine did, that you need to worry :scared:
Did you ever find out why it was using so much oil, was it rings or stem seals etc?
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: stealthwolf on February 14, 2012, 08:12:17 pm
For the first 10k of its life, my car used a litre. Since then it's needed around a litre over the last 30k miles.
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: GrayMK5GTI on February 14, 2012, 08:13:04 pm
Mine gets through about 1litre every 2000 miles.  :sad1:
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: micky 32 on February 14, 2012, 11:25:12 pm
Be interesting to know why some cars use oil and others don't. Mine goes from the max to min mark in 1700 ish miles.
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: Andy on February 15, 2012, 12:22:10 am
and they say the tdi's are oil burners :signLOL:
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: 182_blue on February 15, 2012, 07:10:35 am
I think it varies engine to engine. Mine uses hardly any oil whatsoever but heard others use quite a bit. Keep ontop of consumption & change the grade of oil if neccesary

Same here... mine uses about a 1litre of top up per service(8000miles)... Not like the BMW's ive had which is more like a 1litre every1-2k miles...

My edition 30 never needed topping up and the R is the same.
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: edd666999 on February 15, 2012, 08:13:20 am
Could be related to oil used? Journey type? Driving styles?

I know mine uses significantly more oil when i have ignored the fuel bill.
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: Saintsteve on February 15, 2012, 09:18:51 am
Could be related to oil used? Journey type? Driving styles?

I know mine uses significantly more oil when i have ignored the fuel bill.
I think it varies engine to engine. Mine uses hardly any oil whatsoever but heard others use quite a bit. Keep ontop of consumption & change the grade of oil if neccesary

Same here... mine uses about a 1litre of top up per service(8000miles)... Not like the BMW's ive had which is more like a 1litre every1-2k miles...

My edition 30 never needed topping up and the R is the same.

There's the answer from both angles. don't drive it, it won't use any, but if you are more enthusiastic with the throttle, it will use oil to some extent  :signLOL:
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: maxload on February 15, 2012, 09:55:39 am


There's the answer from both angles. don't drive it, it won't use any, but if you are more enthusiastic with the throttle, it will use oil to some extent  :signLOL:

Exactly , it's all about the way you drive. The harder the engine has to work , then the more oil it will use , much like fuel  :smiley:
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: ub7rm on February 15, 2012, 09:58:35 am
Its deff all about driving style with my car; the level barely moves for months when I'm just plodding along to work and the car rarely goes over 3k rpm but when I take it away for a weekends hooning it can quite quickly go through a litre of oil.
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: diesel junior on February 15, 2012, 10:43:57 am
Spot on. Tootling about the costa blanca mine hardly uses any but have just done 1800km down to jerez and back for the f1 and it's gone from 'max' to the midway point. Mind you wasn't hanging around on the country roads of Andalusia  :driver:
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: Mk5 GTian on February 18, 2012, 06:34:27 am
Wow, that's a lot of oil. Mine has been driven pretty hard for 6k and I've only needed to top up 1 litre of Edge so far.
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: vRStu on February 18, 2012, 09:10:08 am
With the TFSi I always found that if you fill to the max every time it will drink it.  Leave it between min & max and consumption reduces drastically.

It's also good to use some oil as it refreshes the properties of the oil to combat engine wear and corrision.
Title: Re: Engine Oil Disappearing- VW say cant find a fault- advice please
Post by: Homer on February 18, 2012, 11:39:33 am
My style of driving is not aggressive to be honest so doubt this would be the reason for using up more oil than some other people. The dealer did a check said all ok, they said I have to go back aft 800 miles to have it checked again. One of my mates said it can be to do with build quality of engine, some may be built better than others or in better condition than others but find this hard to believe to be honest