Oil consumption new petrol VRS

[Gtewary]

I was about to ask how often should one check or top up the oil on a petrol VRS DSG as I was getting conflicting messages from the various threads I tried to read up on. Some were suggesting every 4-5000 miles others every 1000 or so.

But today the yellow light came on with the message 'check oil level'. I have a brand new car and the odometer just 1000 miles when the light came on. Apart from one trip to London (110 miles one way on M6) it's all been short trips on A roads. So some questions-

Is this normal?

Will it continue to need so much oil or as the engine loosens up will the consumption go down?

I just used the oil they have thoughtfully provided with the new car and it required about 750mls. Should I just stick to the same?

Thanks for your help

[marcevo1]

Mines due a service at 15k miles. I've owned it for the last 8k miles and hasn't needed a top up (it's getting towards min now though)

[D@z]

mines used about a quarter litre over the first thousand ish miles, since then It hasnt used anymore, or at least a very very small amount

[dunc69]

Gtewary, sounds like you weren't properly topped up from the off! Pretty poor!

Mine (same engine) was fine in the first year (fairly regularly checked although the dipstick isn't that easy to read!). After the first service (wasn't filled up properly with oil, only halfway up the dipstick - not impressed) it has started to use a little oil. Have added 3/4 litre over the last 9 months in 1/4 litre increments (over about 8 or 9,000 miles) and am comfy with that.

Hope that helps.

Dunc

[DGW]

There is good advice on page 199 of the Owner's Manual.

[Gtewary]

Gtewary, sounds like you weren't properly topped up from the off! Pretty poor!

Mine (same engine) was fine in the first year (fairly regularly checked although the dipstick isn't that easy to read!). After the first service (wasn't filled up properly with oil, only halfway up the dipstick - not impressed) it has started to use a little oil. Have added 3/4 litre over the last 9 months in 1/4 litre increments (over about 8 or 9,000 miles) and am comfy with that.

Hope that helps.

Dunc

Thank you all for your responses. Looks like mine is an exception. Thing is that even after topping up 750 mls I'm about halfway between the min and max marks on the dipstick. Should I take this up with he dealer. Do cars leave the factory with different amounts of oil? Is this common ?

[Gtewary]

There is good advice on page 199 of the Owner's Manual.

Thanks DGW. it's page 190 and this is what it says:

It is normal for the engine to consume oil. The oil consumption may be as much as 0.5 l/1 000 km depending on your style of driving and the conditions under which you operate your vehicle. The oil consumption may be slightly higher than this during the first 5 000 kilometres.

My driving was very 'sensible' as I was running the engine in as per owners manual instructions. So my question really is what is common rather than a technical possibility and so far gauging from responses looks like its not common. I will of course now watch it more carefully.

[Ecomatt]

I check my oil every 3 to 4 days as I do my tyres. That way you can monitor how quickly it uses oil or if there is a problem.

[Aspman]

You should check your oil every week. I find my TFSI will suddenly use quite a lot of oil after not using a drop for 000's of miles.

I don't fill mine to the max level when I topping up. My car uses a lot of oil until the level drops to about midway between min and max then it'll stick there for a long while. So When I'm topping up I aim for that amount.

Car runs fine and has always been the same since new so this odd consumption doesn't bother me anymore.

I've no idea if the TSI is any better on oil use than the TFSI.

[stever750]

It's quite common for this engine (and it seems most VAG engines) to use oil as a normal operating condition, 1000km/litre is a pretty high level by any manufacturers standards. You need to check the oil regularly, this is no service and forget engine by any means. If you look on the Golf or Audi forums you will read pages and pages on this topic. It seems there is also a big variation between engines on the consumption, but now you know what it is like, it's easy to manage (if a little hassle).

[Davidsr20]

I would not worry too much I have often seen cars from factory low and might take a pint or so , it will use oil in the first 1-3 k and then it should calm down to prob half that amount, I'd also say urs was just low from day one, all these engines are mass produced so should all be roughly the same.

Did u check it when u bought it for oil?

I know my mothers 2011 Octavia 1.6 cr was low when she got it too.

[Gtewary]

I would not worry too much I have often seen cars from factory low and might take a pint or so , it will use oil in the first 1-3 k and then it should calm down to prob half that amount, I'd also say urs was just low from day one, all these engines are mass produced so should all be roughly the same.

Did u check it when u bought it for oil?

I know my mothers 2011 Octavia 1.6 cr was low when she got it too.

My fault. I didn't check when I first got it. First time I've bought a new car so I guess lesson learnt. Thanks all for your helpful replies.

[Gtewary]

Update: Mine is now using about 750mls every 2000miles. So seems to be improving but still higher than I would have thought. Its showing 7300 on the odometer now

[Bullit]

It's still strange, I don't need to top up my oil at all between services and mine is a 2011 manual Tsi.

[rap1]

Mine's a 2011 vRS TSI DSG just come to 19600 mls and had its 20000 mls(second)service, it hasn't used a single visible drop since I've had it and I check regularly.

[t12adh]

Had my 1.4TSi DSG Octavia for one month and 650 miles. It wasn't filled to the mark when I checked it at two days old and since then it has consumed half a litre. The dealer says nothing to be concerned about and some TSi engines consume and others don't. So I have bought a drinker which hopefully will improve when I have put some miles on. 

Very helpful forum and the car is great to drive.

 

Tony

[rogerzilla]

The turbo cars do seem to use a little oil, especially if you're used to Japanese cars which rarely use oil at all (apart from the Mazda RX-8, which drinks it by design!).  I check the oil level every couple of weeks, along with the tyres and washer bottle.

[07 vRS Taxi]

While Audi drivers are given new pistons Skoda owners are left scratching their heads, shocking.

[rogerzilla]

Anything with a turbo has an extra set of rotating seals where oil can potentially escape, and also puts extreme heat into the oil which will slightly increase evaporation via PCV notwithstanding an oil cooler.

 

VAG engines are known for using a bit of oil.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing and may be by design.  The Coventry Climax engine, which ended up being used in F1, had quite heavy oil consumption.  This was because its original design spec called for it to be started and run at full throttle immediately, so the clearances were left deliberately slack.  Why?  Well, it was designed to power water pumps on fire engines.

Edited 27 October, 2013 by rogerzilla

[mark999]

The best advice is not to treat it too gently running in

Mark

[rogerzilla]

Ideal running-in procedure is to ensure the engine is heavily loaded (wide throttle, low revs) as often as possible without actually lugging it.  The idea is to get the piston rings bedded in as early as possible with high sustained cylinder pressures.  This is quite difficult to achieve in normal driving, unless you live at the bottom of a mountain.

 

However, the usual advice to avoid long trips at a constant cruising speed is valid, as this can glaze the bores without the rings ever bedding in properly.  Motorway trips are best avoided for the first 1000 miles, if you can.