Fabia 1.4 auto high oil consumption and EML

[Kalum0101]

Good evening

 

Today after doing a 250 mile roadtrip, I had an EML light come on. I plugged a code reader in and the error that came up was P013A which relates to the O2 sensor. I also checked the car over to make sure there wasn't anything else that stood out, and while checking the oil I realised it was right at the lowest level. I last did an oil change at 75000 miles and it's now on 79000 which I thought was a bit fast to burn through all that. I've never noticed a leak and there's no signs of a leak in the engine bay. Do you think the two issues could be related or could it be something else. Its a 2002 model with the 1.4 75bhp engine and an autobox. Any help is really appreciated.

 

Thank you

[Warrior193]

Hi Kalum, welcome to the forum. I'd guess that's around 500ml in 4000 miles - not particularly high use. How often do you check the oil level?

[Kalum0101]

Usually every month. I've checked it twice since the service (full service at the end of August). When I filled it, it was right at the top of A, then when I've checked it last month it's been around the upper B, and today it was at the lowest C point. I'm guessing that's a normal thing? I've not noticed any issue driving the car, other than its a bit thirsty at 30mpg average, but I've been told that's normal for the automatic fabias.

[Warrior193]

Top it up with correct oil, pull the stick a little more often for a while and see how it goes.

Check that you are using recommended method for checking level on your engine type.

[sepulchrave]

It's 20 years old, the valve stem seals will be hard and crispy which means you'll be burning oil whenever the throttle is shut.

[Kalum0101]

Thank you for the advice. I'm going to try some stop leak and see if that helps a bit as well. I am guessing this is all unrelated to the O2 sensor EML?

[rum4mo]

My wife's previous car, a 2002 VW Polo 1.4 16V 75PS, ie BBY engine with manual trans, started "using" engine oil from maybe quite an early age from new, maybe 5 years 40K miles, I tolerated that, but when it was roughly 10 years old, 80K miles, it started pinking even at low temperatures, when the engine load was high at lower revs, I initially treated it to UL+ fuel and that kept the pinking away, but eventually I replaced the oil/air separator and that reduced the oil use and probably got rid of the pinking - but I never ever found out as my wife preferred its improved drivability while using UL+!

 

I remember checking/adjusting the tappets on my 1972 Ford Escort MK1 1300 in 1977, shock horror, I found a hard bit of stuff in the rocker area, so did a de-coke - it was "only" a broken off bit of a valve stem seal, still that engine did get a de-coke and so a new set of valve stem seals, as said, valve stem seals do have a limited useful life.

 

Edit:- Lambda sensors do not live effectively for ever, so maybe the one that has reported that issue needs replacing, I'm not sure how effective cleaning it will be.

Edited 23 October, 2022 by rum4mo
added content

[rum4mo]

8 minutes ago, Kalum0101 said:

Thank you for the advice. I'm going to try some stop leak and see if that helps a bit as well. I am guessing this is all unrelated to the O2 sensor EML?

 

That would be an extremely good or challenging test for that stuff!

[sepulchrave]

39 minutes ago, Kalum0101 said:

Thank you for the advice. I'm going to try some stop leak and see if that helps a bit as well. I am guessing this is all unrelated to the O2 sensor EML?

 

Burning oil is bad for the O2 sensor, it cokes it up, you'll need to replace it.

[J.R.]

55 minutes ago, Kalum0101 said:

I'm going to try some stop leak and see if that helps a bit as well.

 

It will help lighten your wallet.