Not knowing what I'm doing, I managed to put a whole 5L bottle of oil into our car. We've taken it to a garage and been quoted £2.2k to replace the turbo:

 

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4ihRJnVQMo

Not knowing anything about cars (could you tell, given the 5L!), we're not sure if this is the right thing to do.

Any thoughts?

Welcome to the forum.

You have not made it clear if you added 5L of oil to the engine while it already had oil in it - or were you in the process of refilling with oil after draining old oil (oil change) ?

The "low oil" light came on in the dash, so I added the whole 5L to what was already in there 🤦‍♂️ we then managed to drive about 0.5 miles before the car "gave up", then we managed to drive 0.4 miles back towards home (until it _really_ gave up), then got towed the final 0.1 miles home.

Aaaa.

You were supposed to add 0.5 liters and see if enough and then maybe a bit more.   But you know that now.

 

@ApertureS, @Crasheror others hopefully can give advice but you are left sadly with needing the issue sorted & just how much that will be is the issue.

Edited 4 October, 20232 yr by toot

In my opinion, I would consider replacement of the Turbo might not be necessary - the presence of oil in it just shows how the excess oil has been 'blown' out of the engine - unfortunately, I can't say the same for other engine components (pistons, connecting rods and crankshaft) These are all major parts - and there is a possibility of damage to them by the pistons contacting the excess oil. - plus the catalytic converter will probably need replacement after being contaminated.  

Edited 4 October, 20232 yr by Warrior193
typo

Quote

These are all major parts - and there is a possibility of damage to them by the pistons contacting the excess oil. - plus the catalytic converter will probably need replacement after being contaminated.

 

Yep, this is what we're fearing ... are these all things that are "okay" to replace, or are we talking about the whole engine?

 

Basically, we have no idea if this going to end-up becoming uneconomical vs. writing-off the car (2021 Karoq).

 

If it all gets repaired (and the garage is happy), is there a chance that the car will just be unreliable going forward (e.g., long term damage that the immediate repair doesn't fix)?

What Engine has the car?  

What trim of Karoq with how many miles?

 

Worst Case is a Factory Refurbished or Base engine and a Turbo, so not cheap but not half the value of the car.

Then engine rebuild, & Turbo, or turbo or no turbo.

 

The professionals will be along hopefully, they will be working, on cars most likely.

1 hour ago, Naughty_Skoda said:

The "low oil" light came on in the dash, so I added the whole 5L to what was already in there 🤦‍♂️

Wow!

I'm sorry you've had such an unfortunate experience with your car.

But I'm also a bit impressed the car had room for what must be is excess of 9 litres of oil.

Good luck with the repair, hopefully you can find a cheaper fix for the problem.  🤞

Quote

What Engine has the car?  

 

The car is a "Karoq SE L 1.5 TSI 150 PS DSG".

 

Quote

What trim of Karoq with how many miles?

 

Not sure on the trim (does "Karoq SE L 1.5 TSI 150 PS DSG" help?); about 30k miles.

 

Quote

Worst Case is a Factory Refurbished or Base engine and a Turbo, so not cheap but not half the value of the car.

 

We paid £24k at the end of 2021, it was an ex-demo. Is it "reasonable" that hopefully we could get this all done in less than £12k?

14 minutes ago, Naughty_Skoda said:

If it all gets repaired (and the garage is happy), is there a chance that the car will just be unreliable going forward (e.g., long term damage that the immediate repair doesn't fix)?

I'm not a mechanic, but I'd be getting a satisfactory repair done as cheaply as solving the problem allows, and then part-exchanging the car ASAP.

If nothing else, just now you don't have to pass any MOT emissions tests, so if you've damaged part of your emissions control system in such a way you don't pass the MOT emissions test, then that will be a big bill just as you're finishing your warranty period if you hang onto it.

If you're going to keep the car for many years, then a full no-expense-spared repair might be appropriate and give you peace of mind.

If you don't keep your car for ages, then I'd say repair and dump it ASAP.

It’s hard to say without actually seeing the car but what has the garage diagnosed as the actual fault or broken parts?

and what we’re your symptoms exactly?

 

chances are you have backed up the turbo oil return which has caused oil to be forced passed the turbo seals. If so, you could get away with a new turbo cartridge and possible be done with it. 
 

worst case like others said, conrods and crankshaft have hit the oil hard enough to bend/break internal engine parts.

 

before spending this much money on any car I would want a full in-depth engineer report showing exactly what’s broken and photos to back it up.

that way you know the garage has actually done a proper diagnosis and not just ‘it’s fooked m8’