Oil Consumption.....is this normal ?

hey all,

Leaving for a long haul trip from Philly to St. Louis on Saterday. I did the once over on the TDI and had to top off the oil. I have about 4k miles on the oil change and it needed half a quart to bring it up to full? I normally use Mobil 1 Truck and SUV. But Since i couldnt find it I substuted Rotella Synthetic (Blue Bottle) for diesels.


When i ran the Mobil....I never remember seeing any oil consumption. I got the car last year with 74k miles on it. It now just turned over 94k miles...still new if you ask me!

What do you think? Do I need to be worried ?

Nick

IIRC mobil 1 truck and suv is now 5-30, in my experience any engine will drink thinner oil faster than a thicker oil. Top it off and go on your trip, but keep a close eye on it.. btw 1 qt per 10k is pretty normal consumption for cars with miles on them.

Very Normal

My experience with my B4 Passat is half a quart every 5,000 miles, so you are in the neighborhood, maybe just a little high...nothing to worry about.

Hope your talking about Mobil 1 Truck and SUV 5w40 and Not 5w30. The 5w30 is gasoline oil and not diesel oil. If you have the 5w30 in there I would get it out asap, like tonight!

Oil consumption again !

Hello,

Well i am back from my Kansas trip...

I checked my oil on the last fill of fuel and after 2500 miles it required ~ 1/2 quart of oil!

I see no blue smoke....mileages was better then ever and no oily spots on my car or leaks!

So where is all the oil going ? I never had to fill with oil after oil change using Mobil 1 Truck and SUV...but since using Rottela T Synthetic (Blue bottle) I have used one quart and only put about 6800 miles on the oil change.....

Car has about 97k one it now...and runs liek a champ!

What gives ?

SyNtAxx said:

Hello,

Well i am back from my Kansas trip...

I checked my oil on the last fill of fuel and after 2500 miles it required ~ 1/2 quart of oil!

I see no blue smoke....mileages was better then ever and no oily spots on my car or leaks!

So where is all the oil going ? I never had to fill with oil after oil change using Mobil 1 Truck and SUV...but since using Rottela T Synthetic (Blue bottle) I have used one quart and only put about 6800 miles on the oil change.....

Car has about 97k one it now...and runs liek a champ!

What gives ?

Click to expand...

Same here, running with Rottela T and I put roughly 3000 miles on the car in 2 weeks and it will now need roughly 1/4 quart to bring it back into the etched mark of happiness.

02 model, w/ 37k mi....

Should I expect this to worsen with age?

saitoh said:

Same here, running with Rottela T and I put roughly 3000 miles on the car in 2 weeks and it will now need roughly 1/4 quart to bring it back into the etched mark of happiness.

02 model, w/ 37k mi....

Should I expect this to worsen with age?

Click to expand...

I would say no. But sometimes other diesels (detroits) like to find a happy spot where they will find their own level and stay there. Your close to Richmond, Me, so I would consider making the trip to have Herm check out things.

wny_pat said:

I would say no. But sometimes other diesels (detroits) like to find a happy spot where they will find their own level and stay there. Your close to Richmond, Me, so I would consider making the trip to have Herm check out things.

Click to expand...

heh, "close" is a relative term. Herm saw it at 34k and did the oil and dealership cleanup. I might be in the area later this month and deal with it then.

I dont notice any spots under it in the driveway and it would be *easy* to tell where I live, so I'm not worried about a serious leak just yet. Thanks for the input.

SyNtAxx said:

Hello,

Well i am back from my Kansas trip...

I checked my oil on the last fill of fuel and after 2500 miles it required ~ 1/2 quart of oil!

I see no blue smoke....mileages was better then ever and no oily spots on my car or leaks!

So where is all the oil going ? I never had to fill with oil after oil change using Mobil 1 Truck and SUV...but since using Rottela T Synthetic (Blue bottle) I have used one quart and only put about 6800 miles on the oil change.....

Car has about 97k one it now...and runs liek a champ!

What gives ?

Click to expand...

If this is really an issue just change back to mobil 1 now and see what happens. It might be prudent just to finish the 3200 miles on this oil and keep an eye on the amount your using, then make the switch back to mobil 1.

My B4 TDI runs ELF DID 5w40. Goes through just under 3/4 of a quart in the equivalent of 2700 miles. At almost 160K miles, I think it's normal consumption. Some have told me to switch to 15w-40 full synthetic to allieviate the problem....the majority on this board disagrees.

I don't have a problem with this level of consumption. My Audi V8 went through a full 4.4 litres of oil in 600 kms. Never found out why...

One way these cars consume oil is through the CCV system. The more volatile an oil is the more oil will be carried into the vapor and into the intake tract. Does anyone know how Rotella T compares to Mobil 5W40 volatility-wise?

Switch back to Delvac 1 (M1 TD Truck 5w-40) and see if it slows consumption.

If not, pull the hose of the bottom of the intercooler.

If you have a whole $hitolad of oil there, it could be coming from the turbo.

Our two TDIs using Delvac 1 now have very close to 300,000 miles combined. I'm only adding about 8 ounces btw 10K oil changes.

Doesn't hurt to start oil analysis and see if you have excessive heavy metals.

In the 1Z engine in the B4 Passat TDI if the timing is set too early you will get turbo boost surges which will over pressure the CCV system causing oil to be dispelled in the intake . This can cause an increasase in mpgs but can really go through oil , by the gallon . I've seen B4 Passats use a qt of oil every 500 miles from this early timing caused overboost .