Oil Usage

[Funkoid]

Evening All!

Just a quick one really, i know a great deal depends on driving style has anyone noticed the mk1 vRS using a fair amount of oil?

Mine is currently on a long life service schedule at 52k i added around 400-500ml of oil maybe 2-3 months ago and it seems to have disappeared in that time.

There are no visible signs of oil being burnt at the exhaust end, vag com diagnostics are clear and the car seems to be running alright I was just after checking really.

[lordrobs]

Mine gets rinsed now and then but doesn't use a drop.

[Funkoid]

I'm planning on doing an oil change over the next month or two. I was going to continue to use the long life castrol edge stuff but change every 10-15k I presume there is no harm leaving it on the long life service setting?

[lordrobs]

I'm planning on doing an oil change over the next month or two. I was going to continue to use the long life castrol edge stuff but change every 10-15k I presume there is no harm leaving it on the long life service setting?

I would do a manual reset (as described in your manual) when you do your oil change, this will automatically put you on fixed 10k servicing. I wouldn't go over 10k if your not following variable servicing though even if you are using long life oil.

[Tech1e]

1 litre per 600 miles is permissable.

[Lex Dysia]

1 litre per 600 miles is permissable.

:eek: That sounds like alot, mine uses about 1/4 litre over 7000 miles

[dieselV6]

1 litre per 600 miles is permissable.

I certify that is genuine VW statement. Although I always had the feeling that they had come up with it only after some of their engines had shown massive oil consumption, and put the 1l/1000km limit to dispose of 98% of legal claims .

My Octavia's 1.9Tdi (ASV) used to drink about 0.4l/600miles on autobahn flights. Nowadays, after 100k miles and becoming a shopping trolley the consumption is smaller. The Superb's 2.5V6 TDI does not drink more than 0.1l-0.2l oil for the same distance. Both sets of numbers are only at long high speed runs (120mph-140mph), when engine works at close to full power and at high revs (3500-4000). Under normal driving conditions, Octavia uses about 0.2l/600miles, and the Superb does not really do any normal driving in significant quantities yet

[rwbaldwin]

The 1 litre per 600 miles is based on 'lemon law' limits in the US.

1 quart in 500 miles or 1 liter in 600 miles is considered so high that the vehicle is a 'lemon' and can be returned.

So dieselV6 is right, it is there for legal reasons.

[Funkoid]

Cheers that's put my mind at rest. I run it up to 3-4k revs about once or twice a day sometimes more. I must have covered close to 2-3k in mileage since I topped up so it's about right.

[cloverleaf]

It depends a lot on where it's driven and under what conditions as to how much oil the car uses and what condition it's in. My old 3.0 Vectra was 10 years old, had probably been thrashed from new, and had just over 140k on it and took about 1.0l between services which it had every 5k. In contrast, the vRS literally hasn't touched a drop in 12k.

[Funkoid]

In fairness I'm comparing it to a 1.6l escort which has never ever used a drop! that's currently on 93k

[cloverleaf]

It depends a lot as well on how it's been run in and so forth over the course of its life. As with anything mechanical, there are always going to be examples at either end of the scale which use no oil and could potentially be described as too tight whilst others are at the very loose end of the scale. Most fit somewhere in between as a big set of piston rings match either a larger bore or slightly undersize pistons. All the engine components will be specced with tolerances that work with each other. If it's a custom engine (or as some companies call them, Blueprinted), then everything should have been specced to match the other components and hence, in theory, all tolerances should be a perfect match for each other and you will end up with an engine that is producing the maximum possible power, ideal oil consumption etc. If you have a set of undersize piston rings, pistons and an oversize bore then you will get more oil useage than an engine with large rings & pistons and a small bore. The latter probably won't make quite the max power whilst the former could be using a lot more oil and potentially be described as a lemon, dependant on how bad the spec is.