Off out on the mountain bikes this morning, middle of nowhere the oil light comes on!

Checked the oil, and it was just showing on the bottom of the dipstick, oops!

Pulled into the nearest garage, and the only thing they had was a litre of Shell Helix Ultra 5W-40 fully synthetic, topped it up until it was just below the max on the dipstick, and on my way.

Will it be OK to run the car with this oil in until my next service, or is it worth doing an oil change now? Cheers.

U will be sound mate ... Been topping up with different oils for years ... As long as it meets vw spec .. U shud be ok . But I don't see any issue

you'll be fine

that is good oil

U will be sound mate ... Been topping up with different oils for years ... As long as it meets vw spec .. U shud be ok . But I don't see any issue

you'll be fine

that is good oil

Thanks for the replies, put my mind at ease, lol!

It wants to be decent oil, £20 for a litre...

Cheaper than an engine failure! I always carry a litre but never the same that's in the engine haha

Should be fine as mentioned. Where did the oil go though? Should not be burning it..! Any leaks?

Should be fine as mentioned. Where did the oil go though? Should not be burning it..! Any leaks?

Good question. I must admit that I can't remember the last time I checked it either, think I need to be a little more vigilant!

I do a lot of short, stop-start journeys, could this have any detrimental effects? Never seen any oil where it's been parked up.

Mine hasn't lost any since the last service (Castrol Edge 5W-40), I'd get it checked out for leaks sooner rather than later. False economy to keep buying top up oil, especially at £20/litre! If you know it has a leak you should check it more regularly. I check mine every 1-2 weeks but I would reduce that if I knew it was burning/leaking oil.

If you do a lot of short journeys you should reduce the mileage between services. Oil consumption could be increased from short journeys, but it depends what is causing the loss of oil.

Edited 30 July, 201213 yr by vrsTom

I've had a proper look, and there's some oil on the back passenger side of the engine, underneath the dump valve, any ideas where it could be leaking from?

rocker cover is a common leak on these