Hi all, 

 

Have a 2014 vrs tdi. I do check the oil (but probably not as frequent as I should!) however after a couple hundred mile trip yesterday I'm told this morning "car said something about oil"!! 

 

I checked the dipstick and it was showing basically nothing! First confison... Does this mean the car has used 1l of oil? I read top to bottom of dipstick is around 1l? 

 

After checking it the warning vanished (I assume the bonnet opening did this? Would it come back on out of interest?) 

 

Next up I added some Mobil 1 5w30 ESP. I wanted Castrol but didn't have, I now see when trying to buy Castrol they do a LL version? How do I know what I need? Car was serviced yearly and I'll keep that way. 

 

To confirm the dipstick read full when I got the car, having done 5k miles is when the light came on yesterday, but worryingly I never really noticed it dropping! 

 

Thanks 

We do not know how much used because no idea if low from the last service or check, if so then the oil works harder and can very well degrade or drop low quicker.

 

You are going to be able to tell us how much is needed to get the correct level.

More than i liter i expect.

 

??

Was it showing full with a cold engine and cold oil?  Or as it should be checked after that first checks, to confirm where it should be at normal operating temperature.

 

The warning would be back in about 60 miles. (100 Km) after opening the bonnet.

 

The Mobile is certainly no down grade from the Castrol. 

Do you know it was Castrol it got at the last Oil & Filter change?

 

Is it showing nothing on the dipstick cold?  

You are going to see how low it is once you get oil in and up the Area A on the dipstick.

Then when checked and topped up when 'At normal operating temperature' and in Area A.

So hot and above 80 *oC indicated. up to 90 *oC for the Normal Operating temperature.

 

Your car needs Long Life Oil.   EVEN IF ON A FIXED OIL SERVICE REGIME.

VW504 00 / 507 00 for your car.  5w 30 FS III.  (Long Life.)   VW507 00 TDI's.

 

Not the VW508 00 / 509 00 for newer engines. 0w 20 FS IV.     VW509 00 TDI's.

Edited 15 August, 20232 yr by toot

Thanks toot. 

 

Very informative. 

 

I check when warm usually. As I did today when I saw it was empty. 

 

Ah that's fine then I'll stick to Mobil if I can, there is no mention of what oil was used last time (can I mix brands?) is the Mobil a long life oil? I'll stick with it if so for top ups. 

 

Today I put in 500ml it's now half way up the cross hatched area. Another reason I assume it's a litre top to bottom. 

 

I'm leaving it to cool now and will check again the Level and top up if necessary. 

 

Does that seem excessive use? 1l in 5k miles? 

Some engines / dipsticks are a litre top to bottom.   Not the smaller engines with less oil capacity like 2.8 - 3.6 litres.    But then those with a 2.0 TDI are in a perfect position to check when they have low oil.  If the oils to the specification VW 504 00 / VW 507 00 then it is long life oil.  And correct for your engine.   Since you do not know what is in and the oil is low I would do an oil service.     Read the threads on the TDI,s with high oil use.  Fingers crossed your engine is fine but give it a chance. Change the oil.   

Edited 15 August, 20232 yr by toot

I have a 2014 vRS TDi and the dipstick min line to max is around 1L I think.

My low oil warning usually triggers about when it reaches the min line on the dipstick.

Meaning there should still be ~ 4L of oil still in the engine when the warning triggers.

 

If I add between 0.75L it will move it close to the max line. Im always careful not to overfill but I guess it would take closer to a litre

 

I find the dipstick on the VW engines hard to read & often require 2 or 3 wipe/dip/read before I'm confident of the reading.

 

The correct oil should have a list of compatible OEM part numbers written on the label (e.g. VW507 00 VAG, Renault Xx xxx, Peugeot Yy yyy etc)

 

As suggested by toot, you need the VW507 spec oil for the TDI.

 

 

 

On 15/08/2023 at 13:12, SkodaNewb said:

Does that seem excessive use? 1l in 5k miles? 

 

My TDI consumes ~ 0.75L per 20k km. 
I do around 30-35k a year & usually have the low oil warning once between the normal service intervals.

1L in 5k would seem excessive but perhaps the first reading was not really full?

 

In the past, I've had one similar situation to this where I drove 2.5k km over 3 days on a summer road trip when it was fairly new.

The outside temperature was hot (~35°) & the car spent the whole day on the highway at 120-130kph.

I had not checked the oil level before the trip but it was only a few weeks after the service so "should" have been full.

After topping up, I had no further problems afterwards.

I cannot say whether it really consumed a lot of oil or if it wasnt completely fully after the service.

 

I always check now, before I drive away from the garage that the dipstick is at the top & the oil is clean rather than sooty.