I’m hoping one of you knowledgeable people can help me with an oil usage issue on my mark III Octavia VRs. It’s the diesel estate model with the DSG box. 2016 plate. A couple of months ago I had the “check your oil level” warning. So I did and it was low. Topped it up with half a litre and all was well. Roughly six weeks later (I do roughly 800 miles per month so let’s just say about 1000 miles had been driven) the same warning came up. Checked it again and it was low again, so I topped it up with another half litre. Same again after roughly another 1000 miles (yesterday). Thats 2 litres in roughly 3000 miles!!

Obviously something isn’t quite right, but what?? 
No oil leak I can see in the engine bay.

Never any oil underneath the car.

No milky deposits round oil tank lid.

No sign or smell of burning oil. No black smoke from exhaust or black deposits around the exhaust.

So I have a couple of questions…..

1. Are Octavia Vrs’s prone to guzzling oil and if so how much???

2. Anyone have ANY ideas what could be wrong?

All ideas and advice welcome

Thanks in advance 

 

First thing.

 

If the Check Oil came up then 0.5 litres put in was probably not enough oil.   (Even if you have not put oil in the warning would have gone out after opening the bonnet.)

?

When did you know there was the correct quantity / level showing of oil? 

????
When was the Oil & Filter change before the warning, and when it had that service are you sure the oil level was correct?  As in enough oil in!

 

If you are running it low often the oil is worked harder.

 

How many miles has the car done, and how long have you had it.

Do you check the Oil Level with the engine oil at Normal Operating Temperature after the engine stopped a few miles.

Edited 9 August, 20241 yr by Ootohere

@CTvrs Was the car serviced by Skoda Specialist Cars, John Clark Group Dundee before you got it?

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/522251-corrosion-warranty-repair-has-rusted-again

 

 

Edited 9 August, 20241 yr by Ootohere

Thanks for replying.

Ok, So I bought the car in February this year and apparently the dealer did an oil service then. I’m starting to doubt that though. I’ve had the car in a main Skoda dealer since buying it to have some other service type stuff done and they said the car is in very good condition. I didn’t get the oil service done as I had been told it was done when I bought it.

last oil service prior to February was roughly 1 year before I bought it. And it’s had its oil service every year prior to that according to the service history.

I checked the level using the dipstick and I did it in the morning before driving so the engine was cold and oil settled. This was after the oil level warning was displayed roughy at beginning of May. Since then I’ve added 2 litres. So 1.5 litres up until yesterday when I got the warning again. I put another half litre in and it’s sitting about half way on the dipstick.

car has done 75k 

cheers

Ootohere it hasn’t been near that dealer for years. Nice bit of detective work though 😂

Henrys Skoda in Glasgow

Then previous owner traded it in to a dealer in Yorkshire. I bought it from them and they claimed they had done the oil service as going on mileage it was due (70K). Even if they didn’t actually do it, the oil service is showing on the history at 60K (Henrys).

See where the oil is on the dip stick next when cold, engine not started.

Then maybe after at least 10 miles if you have the oil at an indicated 90*oC or so check it, on the flat, engine stopped maybe 4-5 minutes.

 

Then if it needs oil top it to the top of the cross hatch.   *Cover the cross hatch have it at the top of it.*

Then see from then how long it takes before needing topped up if it uses oil. 

 

5w 30 FS III.   VW504 00 /507 00

 

OT.

Has the Haldex been services.  Each 3 years / 30,000 miles or sooner?

 

 

Edited 9 August, 20241 yr by Ootohere

Thanks for this 👍🏻

I had the haldex done in Henry’s Skoda in May just to be sure it was up to date.

I’ll try the topping up method you suggested. When I added oil I left it at the half way point on the crosshatch. So I guess it might just be low on oil and then I’m barely adding enough.

I’ll give it a go and update in due course 

Thanks for replying 

If you were topping up with 500ml and getting 1000 miles before adding another 500ml and another 1000 miles that’s likely 1l per 1000 miles or 1600km. Not ideal but not catastrophic yet. There have been issues with rings on the 2l diesels as there was with the 2l petrols in the mk2. Do some searching. Some people swear by an engine flush, but leaving it to late in engines life can create more problems. If you can use a slightly higher viscosity oil still meeting vw standard that may also help a little. Do rule out under hidden  tray leaks as well. 

0.41L per 1000km is that consumption and it is within spec. My 2016 Scout uses 0.25L per 1000km and I add 0.8L of oil each time the low oil indication comes on(yes I measure the level before, during and after) I just like to have the longest time before I have to do it again

 

 

Thanks for replying TheClient and Scout-MkIII. Interesting and useful information from both of you.

Appreciate you taking the time to reply. 
Cheers

Have you checked pcv system for leaks as that can cause oil to be burnt as it passes back into the intake tract. Also how many miles has the car done.

22 hours ago, CTvrs said:

Thanks for replying TheClient and Scout-MkIII. Interesting and useful information from both of you.

Appreciate you taking the time to reply. 
Cheers

No probs. Of course I meant 1litre per 2000 miles or 3200km. Given you've only been putting in 500ml at a time.

 

Suggest using Google to search cuna or cupa oil usage or oil consumption. It will probably return some posts from briskoda to examine plus possibly some from other forums using the same engine. Vw, audi, seat.... 

0.4 litres per 1,000 km is not Within Spec because VW Group / Skoda says May use as much as 0.5 litres per 1,000 km.

They have said that for decades for engines, petrol or diesel from 44 kW up and 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 & 12 cylinders. 

 

It could be is certain climates, and certain uses and towing etc. High Mountain Passes in high summer.

Not just getting about in the UK at UK NSL,s.

Edited 12 August, 20241 yr by Ootohere

My manual 2.0 tdi 2016 vRS was chugging oil so fast it would put a beer chugging redneck at a redneck party to shame, around 0.5liters every 500-750km... After having a cleaning additive work the cylinders for half an hour, oil and filter changed and topped up, it barely wasted any oil over 800km (Id guess around 0,1l) However some days ago on a 400km long trip I had a DPF soot light illuminate on the dash so I downshifted it to 5th gear going ~140kmh, kept it going on high rpms on a highway for around half an hour until it went out. Checked my oil level again today and it went significantly down smh.... My mechanic claims "higher" oil consumption wont do much IF ANY significant damage to the engine only to my wallet for buying gallons of oil but I am taking it with a pinch of salt smh.....

 

Also I was thinking maybe my piston rings went bad so I was thinking to replace those, but I found a guy irl who had the same car same problems, did just that, paid a fortune and problem didnt go away, so Id guess we vRS owners are cursed with this fate, maybe? :') Maybe also check if the DPF filter needs cleaning maybe that causes over consumption? Idk

Edited 14 August, 20241 yr by LucidEric

More like crank ventilation issues forcing oil into the egr exhaust system forcing the engine to burn it

@CTvrs  How has it gone since you posted with the quantity of oil being used?

How many miles has the car done since you posted?

Ok Ootohere, so I followed your previous bit of advice. Last weekend I filled it up to top of crosshatch (1 litre) when engine was cold. Then drove it until oil temp hit 100. Then let it sit for 10 minutes and checked oil level. Was still bang on the top of the crosshatch.

Reset my trip counter and “since start” data so that I can accurately record how many miles I’ve driven next time the check oil warning appears.

I’ll see how it goes 👍🏻

Its also due an oil service at 80k and it’s just touching 78k now. so if I think it’s using too much oil after I have accurate data. I’ll ask Skoda to check it out.

I’ll update this post again when the check oil level warning comes on 👍🏻

cheers

@CTvrs  NO!

Do not drive until you get a warning light or message.  Check it cold again and at normal operating temp maybe after 500 miles or even sooner.

 

No point going 1 litre or more low.   You are not doing the engine any favours. 

5 minutes ago, Ootohere said:

@CTvrs  NO!

Do not drive until you get a warning light or message.

 

^^^^ What Ootohere says ^^^^

 

Unless you have a special light, it's not a 'check oil level' warning.  It's a 'Your oil pressure is dangerously low' warning!  And driving with dangerously low oil pressure can have catastrophic and expensive consequences - like new engine time consequences.  Waiting for the light to come on is a bad idea.

 

Gaz

No worries 

I’ll check it after 500 miles and see how it’s looking and report back 👍🏻

watch this space 😀

Thanks for the advice 

Gaz, most of our vehicles have oil level sensors and the warning light is to indicate that, is it maybe coloured yellow?

 

The low (or no!) oil pressure light will be red, possibly the same icon and as you say you should stop the engine immediately.

 

I agree with Ottohere that it is unwise to deliberately wait for the low oil level light to come on, its a fallback measure for those who never do maintenance checks on their fluid levels and also to warn of a sudden leak.

It is not unusual if driving a bit spirited to get a LOW OIL PRESSURE light or message before there is a LOW OIL LEVEL or Check the OIL level warning. 

Just to clarify….

The warning message I got states

CHECK OIL LEVEL

and is a notification on the dash console with an AMBER triangle containing an exclamation mark. 
It also appears in the CAR STATUS.

I do not have a RED OIL PRESSURE warning light coming on. I agree with JR’s comment above.

Im an engineer but not a motor engineer. So while I’m not clued up on cars and engines I find it difficult to believe that the “check oil level” notification I get on my dash is only triggered/displayed once the engines oil pressure is dangerously low.

That seems crazy. Surely it must be sensing a loss of oil and therefore warning the driver well before the oil level is low enough to cause serious oil pressure conditions.

Thats my take on it.

Nonetheless I will continue to check my oil level after 500 miles as suggested by Ootohere as that seems like sensible advice.

cheers 😁

Edited 21 August, 20241 yr by CTvrs

Yellow "Check Oil Level" is a notification to top up the oil as soon as possible.

 

Red "Low Oil Pressure" is a warning not to be ignored, stop as soon as safe and turn the engine off.

Open the bonnet and close it and the red warning goes out the same as the yellow one does though if it came on because oil was low and spirited driving yet the low oil warning had not come on. Crap set up.