Well I've booked my Vrs in with Skoda for a little investigation. After the first time the oil level became low I've kept a close eye on it and I've now had to top it up 3 times in 10k miles... whilst topping today I also noticed the coolant is below the minimum level!

 

I realise some oil use is acceptable (particularly during the first 5k) but this seems excessive right?

and surely it shouldn't use coolant?

 

Does anyone else have issue with oil/coolant use in theirs?

How much topping up was required. How much oil put in during the 10,000 miles?

first time it went low enough to bring the amber 'low oil warning' on, and the other 2 times I topped up very slightly before the warning would have come on but very similar to the first top up if that makes sense (sorry not sure in litres)

The coolant loss issue has happened before, several members have had water pumps replaced under warranty, though mine was a very slow leak.

I did top up a little in the first 10k, but nothing after that. I didn't baby the engine too much at first either.

I think its wise to investigate. be interested to hear what they say. Hope you get it all sorted.

Oil can be used during the first few thousand miles as we know so this is why you need to check after collecting a car that the correct level of oil is in from the PDI, 

then check in the next few thousand miles or you may well get a 'Low Oil Warning'.

 

Then you need to be sure you 'Top Up' with enough oil, because if you do not then you might find there is more oil being used again.

Kind of important to remember if the first time it needed 1 litre, then if it was 0.5 then another 0.5 litres, 

so over 10,000 miles 2 litres was used.  Other wise those being told it used oil have no idea if it was an acceptable amount.

 

?

Is the oil now staying pretty much to the level as it should & do you do a Cold Check parked on the flat, and the 'Hot' check as described in the Owners Manual.

ie At Normal Operating Temperature. ?

 

................

With Coolant the vehicle might well have the Coolant at the 'MAX' mark on collection but the level will go to between the 'MIN' & 'MAX', 

which is as it should as there is no 'FILL TO LEVEL'.   it should not drop to 'MIN' though, 

if you or the Dealership fill again to 'MAX' then after a few times or even the first time the coolant is run up to 'Operating temperature' 

the coolant might drop to between 'MIN' & 'MAX'.

If coolant keeps dropping then there is an issue / fault needing addressed.

Edited 4 February, 20179 yr by Offski

I know this sounds a little flippant, and obviously not a useful tip for everyone - but I've had a few Octavia Vrs's of different vintages now, and frankly in my experience, the way to prevent high oil consumption is to make sure that you cane the tits off the engine on a regular basis.

 

In fact, with nearly 30 years of driving and racing under my belt, I can say with great confidence, that an engine that is used hard, but properly, will not burn oil.

 

I don't mean abused, I mean used properly. That involves (especially with a turbo engine) some very careful warming up when cold, which means light throttle use whilst keeping the revs relatively high to avoid bogging the engine down and high pressures on slow-moving, cold pistons and the valvetrain. Proper warming up does not involve the water temperature gauge either - the oil takes at least 15 minutes to warm through properly to at least 90 degrees C.

 

Once it's warmed properly, then hard acceleration and high revs promotes proper bedding and sealing of pistons and rings to the bores. It also prevents a build-up of condensation within the engine, and similarly the high flow of hot oil helps to prevent carbon and sludge build-up (admittedly not the issue that it used to be years ago with inferior oils) it also ensures that every metal component of the drivetrain regularly gets up to it's design temperature, and expands and contracts as it is supposed to do so. Again, this helps with general bedding-in.

 

Meanwhile, it's beneficial to use a basic mineral oil when the engine is new, to again assist with bedding in of mating surfaces and bore sealing. Then after at least 500 miles, but preferably a few thousand, switch to a high-quality synthetic oil. Expensive, yes, but worth every penny. I have consistently proven time and again with my race engines that investment in Mobil One pays dividends. Others may disagree, but I speak from my own experience is all.

 

Finally, once you come to a standstill, especially after hard use, allow the engine to idle for a few minutes before shutting it off. I know that the Mk. 3 has a turbo cooling water pump which runs after shut-off to facilitate the stop-start system, but I am old school, and system or not, mine gets warmed down properly. It's not all about the turbo either, it is helpful for the engine internals for hot-spots to cool down for a while, which prevents varnish-type carbon build-up once again.

 

 

 

Many of the issues of high oil consuption that I have come across involve cars which have been used lightly from new, and have never had a proper caning. I often ask the owner 'how do you treat the engine' to which they reply 'ooh I never drive it hard!' The answer to which is pretty much, 'well there's your problem!'

 

 

 

Thanks for the replies, very much appreciated.

 

its been in today and doesn't appear to be a problem, they pressure tested the coolant system with no leaks and had a good check round with no signs of oil leaks... 

 

just going to keep a really close eye on it for a few weeks see if the levels drop and take it from there

slight update... possibly unrelated

 

since them checking over everything and finding nothing wrong (just topping both the oil and the coolant to set a level for monitoring) the oil now seems to run 8-10 degrees cooler than it did before (so now around 95)?

 

its on a long run atm, from Morecambe to Southampton and back so that should be a good test to see if the levels drop again

Im approaching 12 months and only around 7k miles on my petrol VRS. Checked my oil today and its a quarter of the way up between max and min. My coolant is on the min line. Ive not had a car drink coolant before of any make or vintage. Also not seen oil being drank like that on anything other than an older 2.0 16v Ibiza Cupra engine. Its not a big deal to me unless it increases, will be demanding a top up at the service in a few weeks!

 

I also ran my engine in very carefully, low revs and early gear changes from the edge of the showroom to the main road then I drove it as normal (which includes a decent kicking when its appropriate!)!

On ‎11‎/‎02‎/‎2017 at 11:37, NikEd said:

slight update... possibly unrelated

 

since them checking over everything and finding nothing wrong (just topping both the oil and the coolant to set a level for monitoring) the oil now seems to run 8-10 degrees cooler than it did before (so now around 95)?

 

its on a long run atm, from Morecambe to Southampton and back so that should be a good test to see if the levels drop again

 

Glad you've mentioned this.  Someone only this past week, possibly on this thread, posted that they'd expect the running oil temperature to be 120'C.  This to me seems waaay to high and I've been checking mine regularly this past week.  On short to medium runs mine frequently sits in the high eighties, just nudging into the nighties.  On longer/higher speed runs my temp seems to top out at about 102'C.  I've only once seen a high temp of 109'C and this was after a very long haul from south Devon to Suffolk which was over three hours long.  Low to mid-nighties seems about right to me.

so yours is still another 10 degrees cooler than mine? seems strange to me that they vary so much... mine is never in the eighties even on short to medium runs (unless it doesn't get upto temp of course)

 

like ExSeat I've never experienced a car use oil or coolant, even old cars!! It's not a big deal just wanted some confidence there was not an underlying issue 

another little update... car has covered about 700 miles in the last 3 days and both oil abd coolant levels are unchanged!

 

hopefully no more problems