Golf MKIV oil problem

suki · 14 Nov 2006 at 17:05

hi got a 53 plate golf mk4 1.4 been running fine for the 2 years i've had it. however i duno if this is common with golfs or cars in general, but i've had to put say 4 litres of petrol in over the last 2 years.

also
last night, the indicator came up on the dash, so i checked the oil and yes it was low, so i topped it up with 1.5 litre and that took it to the maximum. however the indicator still stays on, this electrical error or something else ??

i've previously been using castrol longlife 2, what the sticker says on the engine. however yesterday i used some Total stuff. maybe its cheap ??

any ideas people ?

thanks

D

hominid · 14 Nov 2006 at 17:41

I've only just my golf so I'm not a expert but here goes.

from the manual, you should only use Castrol SLX longlife 2 oil for toping up, anything else can reduce the time needed between service intervals. So maybe it's just telling you that it need a service due to using the wrong oil?

Castrol Longlife 2 oil is 0-30W iirc, what weight oil did you top it up with?

Matt82 · 14 Nov 2006 at 17:59

have you been actually changing the oil or just adding to it?

pany · 14 Nov 2006 at 18:17

i have an audi a3 2.0 tdi on the same oil, and also find that it eats oil. i am putting a litre in for every 2000 miles, works out about every other week.

Apparently audi and therefore vw have recently increased there maximum oil consumption figures, it now isn't deemed unuasual uness the car is using over 1 litre per 1200 miles.

The longlife 2 isn't cheap, costs me about £12 a litre from sainsburys so hopefully reasonable. It has also now been replaced by longlife 3

K.C. Leblanc · 14 Nov 2006 at 18:49

Check the dip stick is in tightly. If it's got a sensor in it it might report low oil if it's loose.

Barry Smalley · 14 Nov 2006 at 19:00

Use the proper VW oil - Synta silver (semi-synth)

S@njay · 14 Nov 2006 at 19:09

suki said:
hi got a 53 plate golf mk4 1.4 been running fine for the 2 years i've had it. however i duno if this is common with golfs or cars in general, but i've had to put say 4 litres of petrol in over the last 2 years.

D

Did not know the engine was that economical!!

My friends golf (2001 tdi) also has the same problem, and i dont think VW has said anything about it.

PeterT · 14 Nov 2006 at 19:22

I have a 1.8T GTI and it hardly uses any oil at all. I have run it on the VW gold synthetic oil from new and it is 8 years old at christmas.

PeterT.

suki · 14 Nov 2006 at 19:27

i've just been topping it up. i think i better get it serviced, hopefully that will sort out the problem.

thanks guys

Matt82 · 14 Nov 2006 at 19:37

how many miles do you recon youve done over the last 2 years?

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17649043&highlight=missus

Tumbletop · 14 Nov 2006 at 20:56

The VW diesel engines all use quite a lot of oil, its just the way they are (not as much as the Mazda RX8 though!). The petrol models shouldn't though. I'm a bit concerned that you used 1.5 litres to go from the minimum mark to the maximum, this sounds like quite a lot? You're not filling the engine right to the top of the cylinder head are you?

suki · 14 Nov 2006 at 23:04

Matt82 said:
how many miles do you recon youve done over the last 2 years?

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17649043&highlight=missus

guess i've done around 18k

moss · 15 Nov 2006 at 00:51

VW's seem to use quite a lot of oil, mainly the 1.9TDi's though, for what its worth my mate (now an Audi mechanic, ex VW) say they generally use 5w30 fully synth, even though they recommend 0w30 they hardly ever use it.

hardkore · 15 Nov 2006 at 01:06

i have a 1.4mpi seat ibiza (2001) and that also drinks oil. As far as i know it's the same engine thats in your golf unless i am corrected.

god knows why :confused:

When the car was only 4 years old my sister took it in for a MOT and on the certificate it said "numerous oil leaks". I'm yet to find any sign of a leak either in the engine bay or on my driveway.

MNuTz · 15 Nov 2006 at 10:21

my missus has a 03 mk4 golf 1.6 match and i must say that its very good oil wise. I think its had 2 services since we've had it (just over 2 years and 20K+) both times the oil has been changed and its not due to be until late next year. I do keep an eye on it and the level is fine.

Only once, while down south on holiday did the oil light come on, i was forced to stick some decent off the shelf stuff in but wasnt bothered as the second service was due when we came back.