Oil Top-up?

Clown · 23 Jul 2010 at 23:53

2.0 non-turbo

Fuzz · 24 Jul 2010 at 00:04

Well it's either using it or losing it.
and no it shouldn't do either.
How low was it?

Matt82 · 24 Jul 2010 at 00:10

id expect that lump would be fine with 10w40 semi

BigglesPiP · 24 Jul 2010 at 00:17

Scubascorpion said:
Well it's either using it or losing it.
and no it shouldn't do either.
How low was it?

Surely consuming it is acceptable for a high mileage car? So long as it's no more than usual for the motor.

@OP, how long has it been since the last oil change? May well be worth replacing the lot.

Clown · 24 Jul 2010 at 00:21

I would have thought it was done at last service in March I think.
Milage is about 69k but it's all city driving. I'm getting like 250 miles per tank - does that mean the engine is working harder?

sigma · 24 Jul 2010 at 00:24

Have you checked the actual oil level? Or is it just the light that has come on?

BigglesPiP · 24 Jul 2010 at 00:33

Clown said:
I would have thought it was done at last service in March I think.
Milage is about 69k but it's all city driving. I'm getting like 250 miles per tank - does that mean the engine is working harder?

Oil replaced in March, and it's lost enough to make the light come on, city driving? How many miles have you actually covered? It's certainly old enough to be using a bit of oil, but there's alarm bells ringing that it's using a lot, or leaking.

Clown · 24 Jul 2010 at 01:12

I'll check the oil level tomorrow but when it happened originally it was just running on empty. There aren't any oil patches under the car and nothing under the bonnet looks mucky. I've probably covered about 750-1000 miles.

BigglesPiP · 24 Jul 2010 at 01:17

OK, that would definitely be excessive oil consumption, something is wrong.

Fuzz · 24 Jul 2010 at 08:55

BigglesPiP said:
OK, that would definitely be excessive oil consumption, something is wrong.

Agree, hence why I asked how low

Clown · 24 Jul 2010 at 10:43

I know I put some random oil in last time and that could be a reason it used it up so quickly? Why else would it be using oil so quickly, is it a big problem?

In the meantime, what's the best oil to put in? I need to go get some this morning

Duke · 24 Jul 2010 at 11:05

Clown said:
I know I put some random oil in last time and that could be a reason it used it up so quickly? Why else would it be using oil so quickly, is it a big problem?

In the meantime, what's the best oil to put in? I need to go get some this morning

AFAIK you put the correct oil in last time? So just double check what type you need from the manual.

Clown · 24 Jul 2010 at 11:12

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-744-vw-50000-oil.aspx
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-746-vw-50200-oil.aspx
My manual says I can use either of these grades of oil. I guess oil isn't all made equally so which is the good stuff?

Fuzz · 24 Jul 2010 at 13:13

You STILL haven't said how low it was (since the 1000 mile ago check)

Clown · 24 Jul 2010 at 13:20

Sorry, it was below the minimum mark, just hitting the tip of the dipstick. Pretty much the same as the last time the light came on and if I think about it, I probably did about the same milage too. At this rate I'll need 4 litres a year which is I thought was odd because my 1.6 Focus never needed oil and was only changed at service intervals.

I just bought some Castrol Edge Sport 0W40 rated, VW 502.00 standard. I went with that because 502.00 is a bigger number than 500.00, ergo and therefore it must be better

There are 30 miles showing on the car at the moment as filled the car with petrol yesterday so we'll see how many miles I get from this top-up of oil again.

Apart from the obvious, Scubascorpion, what does the below minimum reading of oil mean to you?

PMKeates · 24 Jul 2010 at 13:34

Clown said:
Sorry, it was below the minimum mark, just hitting the tip of the dipstick. Pretty much the same as the last time the light came on and if I think about it, I probably did about the same milage too. At this rate I'll need 4 litres a year which is I thought was odd because my 1.6 Focus never needed oil and was only changed at service intervals.

Different cars, different engines. My old 330i used about 1 litre every 2000 miles, and that was within BMW specification, even though a little controversially. rG-tom's 330i uses about 1 litre every 25 feet.

Fuzz · 24 Jul 2010 at 13:47

Clown said:
Apart from the obvious, Scubascorpion, what does the below minimum reading of oil mean to you?

That your choice of oil is the least of your worries.

No engine in a good state of repair should use that much oil in a 1000 miles.

Clown · 24 Jul 2010 at 13:51

Should I buy a new car? What might be causing it?

Fuzz · 24 Jul 2010 at 14:21

You've already stated it isn't dripping out the bottom of it so it has to be using it.
There is only two places it will be doing this.

1. Rings
2. Valve stem seals

If you are finding a big repair bill hard to swallow, top it up, stick on ebay and go buy something else. IMO

Clown · 24 Jul 2010 at 14:22

* Clown is now known as DannyW