A4 guzzling oil but running fine?

StillGed

New member
Joined
Apr 9, 2012
Location
Sunnyvale, CA
TDI
2000 New Beetle (Automatic)
I'll admit I'm new to diesel engines, but this one is a bit of a puzzler.

I am the relatively happy new owner of a 2000 New Beetle, autotragic transmission, 76000 miles. When I got the car, I understood that it burned a little oil, but I never expected to go through a quart every 300 miles. The engine is quite clean, a couple of old leaks and road dirt but no fresh leaks or puddles on the ground under the car.

I'd suspect the engine, except for the mileage and the fact that I have no symptoms of compression loss - starting is easy, idling and running at speed are both smooth, and I think I have plenty of power (but have nothing to compare it against on this car). I do get a puff of smoke under heavy acceleration, visible in the mirror. No MIL or other obvious warnings, and that light does go on when I put the key in, so it's not disabled.

I wonder about the turbo, since that seems to be the other place that oil goes to disappear in these cars. The original turbo was replaced at 45000 miles because it was leaking into the exhaust. It was also mentioned to me by the last (second) owner that the EGR valve may need cleaning and that might help, but I don't necessarily see what difference that will make to the disappearing oil.

I took it to a local VW repair shop (not on the recommended list, I hadn't found that yet), and they diagnosed failed/ crystallized rings after failing to find any external leaks. I doubt I'll go back there, though, because I'd have expected at least a compression test to confirm that diagnosis.

Does anyone have any thoughts before I make an appointment with one of the two local recommended shops for a second opinion? I'm a competent shade-tree mechanic (as someone here put it, love that phrase) and have a decent set of tools.

Thanks! I'm enjoying learning the ins and outs of these cars; I just may have to stick with them for a while.

-Scott.
 

jonahkuzma

Active member
Joined
Aug 2, 2011
Location
Traverse City, Michigan
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI GL Platinum Grey
I am in the process of trying to diagnose a pretty serious oil consumption issue myself. I just drove 280 miles today and probably burned a 1/4 to 1/2 a quart of Mobile TDT oil!

So far...people who know what they are talking about are suggesting bad piston rings and possibly a bad head gasket. Also could be some other things going on in the head, but basically...you need to get into the head to really see what is going on.

We are heading that direction with my car very soon! Please keep us informed with your car...I will be doing the same.
 

halocline

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Location
San Antonio
TDI
04 Jetta Wagon
I would definitely check the boost side of the turbo for shaft wear, and I bet when you remove the pipe from the turbo to the intercooler you'll get a deluge of oil. I'm no expert, but a quart every 300 miles is ALOT and I can't imagine it going anywhere else without obvious signs. I suspect the turbo was replaced with a rebuilt one and that's your problem....just a wild guess.

edit: I would not drive it until checking the turbo shaft. I bet it's loose and leaking oil.
 

whitedog

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2004 Jetta that I fill by myself
I would definitely check the boost side of the turbo for shaft wear, and I bet when you remove the pipe from the turbo to the intercooler you'll get a deluge of oil. I'm no expert, but a quart every 300 miles is ALOT and I can't imagine it going anywhere else without obvious signs. I suspect the turbo was replaced with a rebuilt one and that's your problem....just a wild guess.

edit: I would not drive it until checking the turbo shaft. I bet it's loose and leaking oil.
Prothe turbo, maybe?
 

jonahkuzma

Active member
Joined
Aug 2, 2011
Location
Traverse City, Michigan
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI GL Platinum Grey
I am wondering about your list of maybe's:
2) If bad head gasket...does oil actually leak (like you see it on the garage floor) or just burn?
3) How do you check if rings are bad WITHOUT pulling head?
4) How do you check CCV and where is this on a 2003 Jetta
5) How do you know if your cat is blocked
6) How do you know if valve guides, stems and seals are bad? Again--do you have to pop head?

Thanks much!
 

StillGed

New member
Joined
Apr 9, 2012
Location
Sunnyvale, CA
TDI
2000 New Beetle (Automatic)
Well, I popped the hose off the intercooler, and there wasn't a lot of oil. So I assume the turbo seals are good.

Coolant looks clean, so I doubt it's the head gasket, but it'll take another free half-day before I can look any further. Grr.
 

halocline

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Location
San Antonio
TDI
04 Jetta Wagon
Did you feel the turbo shaft for play? If not, I'd suggest you go back and do that. It's easy and then you'll know for sure about the turbo.
 

whitedog

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2004 Jetta that I fill by myself
I'm probably overthinking it. I am imagining stuck oil rings allowing oil past them, then as the piston travels down, there isn't compression on the rings helping them seal, so the oil could go past them. As the piston comes back up on squeeze, the pressure in the cylinder seals the compression giving you a good compression number.
 

Dieselmad

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 22, 2011
Location
Fochville, South Africa
TDI
Jetta MK4 1.9Tdi,
I am wondering about your list of maybe's:
2) If bad head gasket...does oil actually leak (like you see it on the garage floor) or just burn?
3) How do you check if rings are bad WITHOUT pulling head?
4) How do you check CCV and where is this on a 2003 Jetta
5) How do you know if your cat is blocked
6) How do you know if valve guides, stems and seals are bad? Again--do you have to pop head?

Thanks much!
2) Head gasket can leak in many ways. Oil can leak out on the floor or it can leak into the water system or it can leak into the cylinder and burn. Same with water.
3) Oil rings can only be checked by taking the piston out. Take out glow plugs and see if there is allot of carbon built up. If it is only one cylinder with a bad oil ring then you should be able to see the carbon difference on the gp.
4) CCV is the breather pipes running from the block to the head. Normally its that one way valve on the top right hand side of the head(round black plastic thingy) that gets chocked up.
5) If the cat block then the turbo spool up is not so responsive as what it was and your car wont pull as good as what it was. Difficult to know if it is definitively blocked or not. Best would be to do a cat removal.
 

jonahkuzma

Active member
Joined
Aug 2, 2011
Location
Traverse City, Michigan
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI GL Platinum Grey
Thanks for the explanations. My CCV puck unit looks pretty oily and actually, so does the big rubber inlet pipe that runs into the manifold. We cleaned that whole thing out when we put my new turbo in. Could it already be getting caked in there again, restricting air after only 1 year? Especially if I have been burning LOTS of oil for the past year?
 

paramedick

TDIClub Enthusiast, Vendor
Joined
Jul 29, 2001
Location
Versailles, Kentucky
TDI
2015 Audi Q5 TDI
Thanks for the explanations. My CCV puck unit looks pretty oily and actually, so does the big rubber inlet pipe that runs into the manifold. We cleaned that whole thing out when we put my new turbo in. Could it already be getting caked in there again, restricting air after only 1 year? Especially if I have been burning LOTS of oil for the past year?
Read post #3 again.
 

StillGed

New member
Joined
Apr 9, 2012
Location
Sunnyvale, CA
TDI
2000 New Beetle (Automatic)
Thanks for all the help.... Just for an update, compression on #2 was low, so I wound up getting the piston rings replaced. #2 was actually broken in half! No wonder I was burning so much oil.

New rings, new seals, now the car is running great!
 

turbocharged798

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2009
Location
Ellenville, NY
TDI
99.5 black ALH Jetta;09 Gasser Jetta
Been dealing with a oil consumption issue with the 99.5 for years now. It burns through a quart per 3-5K miles which is neither good nor bad. Compression was very high across all four(600psi) so I think the oil rings aren't sealing like they should and is causing higher than normal compression readings.

Been keeping an eye on it and I'll probably pull it apart if it gets more than a quart per 3K miles. Rotella T6 is cheap so it hardly worth the effort right now.
 

kwong7

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Location
Southern Caifornia
TDI
2001 Golf GLS TDI / White
I'm having a disappearing oil issue in my 01 Golf with 258K miles. It's been 8K since my last oil change. Earlier this week, I checked my oil dipstick and noticed that it was on the low side so I added about 8 oz of Rotella T6 to get the oil to register in the middle of the high-low range. 3 days and 300 miles later, I'm driving home and decide to do an italian-tune up from 65mph-75mph in 5th gear at about 80% throttle. I see a little cloud of gray smoke in the rear-view and my car feels like it's a little smoother.

8 miles later, I turned onto my street and I noticed an unfamiliar sound that matches my engine revolutions. The engine starts to feel a little tired and runs little on the rough side. I coast home and check the dipstick, it was just below the minimum indicator. I added another 8 oz of oil and I'll check back tomorrow. I'd also note that when I got out of the car, there was an odor of exhaust and burnt coolant that I found curious. Everything else looked fine under the hood, but I might need to get a VW specialist to take a look.
 

belome

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 8, 2010
Location
Mid MI
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS TDI 5-speed
I realize this is probably too late, but if you 'lost' that much oil in that amount of time I wouldn't start it until you can verify the intercooler isn't full of oil.
 
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