Hi,

As the subject line sugests, I have been topping up with oil since buying my petrol Dec 2007 VRS to the tune of about 1.5 liters in 5 months or about 9000 miles. On trawling through the forums I have seen everything from these engines should rarely need topping up to 'VAG engines burn a little oil because that's what they do'.

I never over-fill therefore I am wondering if other VRS owners have the same problem or should I be running this into the dealer for a warrantly job. A friend says he has noticed a little white smoke from my exhaust but can't see anything excessive.

What do others experience?

Thanks

Searching on these forums show it is well documented with the TFSi engine. The engines do use oil, yours seems to be using around the same as mine, possibly slightly less.

Don't worry.

My octy vrs did but my Golf doesn't. Luck of the draw methinks.

Imo, alot of this is down to how the car is run in from new. Mine doesnt touch a drop.

My golf gti (same engine) uses lots. It needs at least 1 ltr between servicing, sometimes two.

nb. I drive it like you would expect (its a company car and I have a fuel card)

:-)

Thanks to everyone - I feel a bit more reassured now

Imo, alot of this is down to how the car is run in from new. Mine doesnt touch a drop.

+1

IMO the synthetic oil makes it harder to bed the rings in. You have to get pressure in behind the rings & force them against the bore. This doesn't mean thrashing the daylights out of it, just lots of 3rd/4th acceleration/decel in the first 1000km.

If I had an engine that was using oil I'd even consider going back to a suitable viscosity semi-synthetic oil for 3 or 4 oil changes & change it more often (every 5000km). The lack of friction modifiers might help bed things in a bit.

I was under the impression that the oil used in the factory was designed to help bed in the engine , which is why I've always been told to wait until the first service is due rather than change the oil early.

What does the manual say regarding "running in"?

I was under the impression that the oil used in the factory was designed to help bed in the engine , which is why I've always been told to wait until the first service is due rather than change the oil early.

What does the manual say regarding "running in"?

I know what my manual says - what does yours say:).

VAG engines don't come with any special "bedding in" or "running in" oil. That is why it can go the full 15,000km (or whatever the variable time comes to) on the factory fill without needing an early oil change.

Running-in oils are generally cheap oils (often mono-viscosity eg:SAE30) with minimal friction reducing characteristics. This enables the wear components (rings, bearings, etc) to bed-in quicker (they are actually wearing/losing metal). Because it is basic, cheap oil & it fills with metal particles quicker (because the engine is wearing quicker), you need to change it more often (every 1000-2000km) and it isn't recommended for use once the engine has sealed up as it really is crap oil.

It is because our engines have VAG spec 504/507 in them from new and the engines bed in slowly because of the low friction oil that so many users experience:

• Steady improvement in fuel economy right up to about 25,000km
  
• Steady decrease in oil consumption until the engine finally seals up to about 30,000km.
  

This isn't helped by owners babying their engines from new.

Please note, I don't advocate using the MotoMan method that is always posted on forums, but I do believe an engine has to be "loaded up" in the first 1000km. You can feel when you the engine is getting tight as the revs increase & you use that tightness as your "redline".

Also, if you use an out of spec oil in your VAG, that's your choice. I was lucky with mine, I ran it in briskly & it has never needed an oil top-up in 27,000km. If it was using oil, I'd use a lower spec oil for a few thousand km & see what happens. If you did use a lower spec oil, you'd need to be careful of turbo cool-down times, etc.

I would also use a lower spec oil to do my top-ups.

I know what my manual says - what does yours say:).

I'll check my Mazda handbook.

They also seem to put a lot of oil through the pcv system. If you ever take your intake mani off i bet it will be clogged full of oily crud.

The 2.0 TFSI engines do seem to vary a lot in how much oil they use. Mine uses very little. I did run it in with lots of accelerator against a load (up hills) for the first 1,000km (but not high revs).

Mine uses a lot. It has 40k on it and after 2700 ish miles it had gone down to the low part of the dipstick. I have always used 504/507 oil.