Manxmotorman

The car was parked on a level surface for about 2 hours yesterday, following a 30 mile, mainly motorway at 60 mph journey. Oil level before returning was about 2/3rds from the top of the cross-hatched section. I've checked again now, in the usual parked position, and it's at the bottom of the cross-hatched section. I would estimate, therefore, that when it gets towards the bottom of section C, it will really be at the bottom of the cross-hatched section, and time to top up. I'll continue to monitor the level, both after parking at the supermarket and at home when cold, and establish my personal way of ensuring that the oil is always as it should be. I no longer do my own maintenance, as age is becoming a bit of a limiting factor. I now entrust the annual service & issues I can't manage to a small family run independent garage, whose specialism is Jaguars of all ages. They do service all makes, and are most helpful. They are aware of my past history of dealing with competition cars when I had my RAC competition licence, and treat me as if I do, mostly, Know what I'm talking about! Thanks to everyone for your comments and assistance, much appreciated.

I've been a short trip this a.m., and checked the level after 10 minutes at the destination. Level is 1/2 way between max & min. I will check again this p.m., after a longer journey and longer delay before checking. going back over my records from taking ownership, the first 12 months required 1/2 a litre at 5,983 miles. (Mileage on purchase, 19,285). This corresponds with a reasonable consumption > 10k miles/litre. That year was a mix of mainly short trips locally and several longer journeys to the south coast from Rochdale. Last year, owing to covid, I only did 2,278 miles. So far this year, owing to my wife being unwell, I have done 2068 miles, most of that in the last couple of months, to and from hospitals. The car is running well, returning exactly 50mpg on the 2nd screen, i.e., over about the last 1500 miles. I don't think I have a problem after all - just confused by the low mileage since the plague, and not checking properly on a level surface. The most useful information for me, (being a bit old school), is checking after a short drive and a 10 - 15 minute delay. Back in the 60s it was always advised to check before starting the engine, to ensure all the oil had drained into the sump. BUT the oil was much more viscous, and took a while to drain down. (Remember Duckham's 20-50?)

Thanks for this - yes, using VW 502 & on fixed intervals. One thing I haven't yet established is how much between top & bottom of cross hatched section? 1/2 litre or 1 litre? I think 1/2 a litre at a time would suffice, to keep the level between marks.

Thanks for your replies. I'll check tomorrow, as i have a 30 mile trip to do, and the car will be standing for at least an hour on a flat car park. I know it has a temperature sensor, so, Wino, there should be a level sensor too. And no, I don't wait until the light comes on normally. I do check when cold, but the car is higher at the front than the back on the drive. It is at the low end of the dipstick on the drive, so I'll see where it is on the flat tomorrow, and then have an idea of what the reading on the drive really is. I've done a bit more general research, and checking hot or cold is OK, allowing for the fact that more will drain back to the sump overnight. Checking hot too soon could lead to over-filling, which is also a Bad Thing. I'll add a note tomorrow to let you know the outcome...

Oil consumption on my 1.2 Rapid seems a bit high. My diesel Jetta would go a year (8-10K miles) without topping up. Petrol Rapid gets through a litre after 2,700 miles. Is this normal? And is there any indication when the level is getting low? According to the book that came with the car, the MFD should warn me. However the book covers all variants and doesn't always indicate when features are missing. I know I can use the dipstick, but the drive is not level, so the reading will be wrong.

Further update. The problem seems to have gone away, now, and I'm 90% sure that the problem was caused by water ingress not draining away in the front doors. As mentioned earlier, I found that the front door drain holes were covered by the weather seal on both sides. Some surgery with a sharp knife removed a small amount of the seals to allow proper drainage. The rear doors, a known issue, had modified door seals already, so drained OK. Some misting occurred occasionally for a while during spring, but since then - no problem. The residual water in the front doors must have taken a while to evaporate. Looking forward to a condensation free winter!

Update.... Perhaps the weather hasn't been right for the misting up problem, but so far, apart from once, there has either been no issue at all, or some slight misting which was easily shifted with the fan & aircon is the usual way. I have left the silica gel in the car on the dash. I've dried it out a couple of times. Whether or not it's made any difference, I don't know. I usually leave the heater controls all at 12 'o' clock for short trips, just turning the temp down to zero when close to my destination. I haven't yet found out where the rear wash/wipe pipe break is yet - it's still a bit cold round here! But as soon as some nice spring weather arrives I'll remove the trim in the boot area and see if I can locate it.

Thanks silver1011. I'll check behind the trims in the boot area. I have looked a couple of times under the bonnet, but the outlets from the water reservoir are enclosed in the wheel arch, so hard to see where they go, other than somewhere along the O/S of the car. I had accepted that the rear wash was not working, and apart from having tried it a couple of times, made sure I only enabled the wipe function, in case the water was accumulating elsewhere. An earlier MoT advisory noted that the rear washer wasn't working (before I took ownership).

The last few days have confirmed my thoughts in my previous post. Leaving the car in a warm humid state internally, especially at dusk on a cold day, will almost certainly produce a lot of condensation. Over the last week or so, I have used the A/C most of the time. (As I usually do). About a mile or so from my destination, I turn the heater off, just allowing cool & dry air into the cabin. As mentioned in another post, the A/C doesn't work when the outside air is below about 4 degrees, unless the heating is on too. However if it's cold & dry outside, this doesn't matter - getting the temperature down does. I have also acquired a 1kg back of silica gel, which has been left in the car. So far, I've not experienced a problem since. One day last week I went to the gym. It was raining, so when I got back into the car, the screen misted up immediately. BUT A/C cleared it within less than a minute. Keeping the glass clean also helps. Thinking back to when I first experienced the severe occasion of excess moisture. it was after a day when the sun was out, warming the interior for a good few hours, followed by a cold night. The next morning produced the dripping screen. The car may have been a bit damp from the previous wet day. For the record, my car doesn't have climate control, just A/C and manual heater controls. Re-reading the earlier posts confirms the above. But still doesn't explain why Skodas seem to have more of an issue with this than others? Anyway, my experience with the make so far is otherwise very good. I like my Rapid...

Yesterday morning the car was dry... I was out with a friend later in the day, and whilst it misted up slightly when we got in, it soon cleared with the aircon on. I tried an experiment on the way home. About 2 miles away I turned the heat down to zero and left the aircon on. The theory is that warm air holds a lot more moisture than cool air, so by leaving the car with mainly cool dry air might help the situation. The weather was dry too. I've not used the car today, but a check around midday revealed no condensation, despite being in the sun. Overnight temperature down to -2. Thinking back to the first incidence of the dripping wet screen, the journey prior to parking up was short - about 3 miles - and it was a wet day. A wet day followed by a cold dry night produced the problem. Could it be that short journeys and better sealing of cars generally is making the problem more likely? I'll try keeping the temperature down and the aircon on during short trips, especially when it's wet and see if that helps. I'll check that the air exit vents in the boot are working properly too - if they are stuck partially shut the air has no where to go. My last 4 cars have all been VAG, and apart from this one, haven't been a problem. The wife's (old K12) Micra doesn't do it either. Looks as if the weather is going to change towards the end of next week here, so I'll keep the forum posted on my findings.

What I found strange was that the rear doors had rubber seals with cut-outs where the drain holes were - but not the front doors! The front doors did fill up, and were easily drained by holding the rubber sealing strip away from the door. As previously mentioned, I cut away a small part of the sealing strips on both front doors and the problem didn't recur. I've ordered the silica gel bags from Amazon as an interim measure whilst I carry on getting splinters scatching my head wondering where the H2O is getting in... Thanks to everyone's comments so far.

Thanks camelspyder - might be the only solution, but where is the water accumulating?? The front doors did fill up before I cleared the drain holes. Perhaps something in the doors is acting like a sponge. I'm not going to take the panels off to find out, but has anyone else done this?

Thanks MickA, I'll have look. But like you I'm getting on a bit, so I know what you mean!

My Rapid is 2014 model with 24k miles. Been going well until following a cold night the front & rear screens were totally misted up. It soon cleared with the usual control settings. BUT a few days later, the same thing happened and this time the front screen was dripping wet. I've looked through the forums but not yet solved the problem. Wiping it down and using the heater/aircon got me away after about 10 minutes. Door drain holes clear. (The front ones needed the rubber seal cutting away to allow the water out a few months ago). No damp carpets. The aircon (manual version) seems to be working OK. I've so far not found the pollen filter. I've looked on either side of the centre console and cannot see any sign of it. Similarly the heater plenum chamber - where is it? Usually at the base of the screen... I'm used to working on cars, and my last was a VW Jetta. I did need some guidance, but the Haynes manual answered all my questions. But I can't find any useful manual to show me the two areas above. I have down loaded the manufacturers PDI instructions, but that hasn't helped. Finally, the rear washer doesn't. I can hear the pump running, but no water comes out. One to investigate. (I thought that the water may be going somewhere else, but the boot/spare wheel area is all dry). I'll explore further when it's a bit warmer! Manxmotorman

Thanks for your kind welcome, I have found a manual on line which answered my first question - how to alter the headlights. They are set a bit too low, so now I need a flat unlit section of road...