My last VW was 36 yrs ago..2015 Passat observations

I'm new to TDI CLUB...so here's some random background/observations of my life with VW:

In 1978, I was a 23 y/o kid looking for cheap transportation (the "gas shortage" of 1973 was fresh in my mind)....so after college I bought:
- 1978 VW Rabbit diesel (no such thing as a TDI, just a 4 cyl diesel w/o a turbo
- It had no air conditioner - but you could "add on" an aftermarket unit which I did and installed it myself. The A/C was pathetic
- You rolled up the windows by hand
- 4 speed stick was standard. There was no automatic
- Diesel fuel was 55 cents in 1978
- The Rabbit would freeze up when the temp approached zero...so I would drive to work and leave it running all day in the parking lot (just like the truckers) with the heater going full blast. At the end of a 9 hour day I came out to a warm car. Then I would fill up...only 2 to 3 gals used all day running!
- The Rabbit always got 50 + mpg...one time I got 59 on a trip
- It was fun to "smoke" other drivers. Flooring the Rabbit would cause it to blow clouds of nice black smoke.
- The Rabbit was sloooow.

I never lost my affection for VW diesels, so on Oct 27th, I bought a 2015 Passat SE w/sunroof. What a difference from 1978! A few observations so far.
- As a "do it yourselfer" I have an oil change pit in my garage. I pulled the Passat onto the pit and climbed underneath for a look how the engine/oil filter looked. Surprise...you can't see the engine from below because the entire belly of the car and wheel wells have plastic shields covering the sheet metal. The plastic shields are a great feature....ordinary vehicles have little or no underbody protection. Gravel hits underneath...paint is chipped off....rust begins....can't happen with a Passat! Winter road salt is common after snow....what happens when salt finds chipped paint? Besides the plastic shields, the other thing you see it LOTS of aluminum heat shields...all the way from the engine to the tailpipe. THIS CAR IS BUILT LIKE A TANK!
- I found out the high flow diesel pumps (large nozzle) don't play nice. I ordered a VW/AUDI adapter from Amazon
- Since a new engine typically burns some oil, I ordered a case of Castrol 507.00 oil to keep it filled. 10,000 miles is a long ways off!
- I paid $27,083 plus tax
- It's great being in a Volkswagen again!

If you like it now, just wait until you realize that it won't be burning any oil in 10,000 miles. This isn't your Rabbit.

Have fun!

my CKRA eats threw a quart and a half in 10k, Hope the EA288 does better! Yes lots of heat shields as exhaust temps exceed 1200F during regenerations. I too have a older VW diesel that I still love- see link below

My last VW was a '74 Super Beetle. Was the first year emissions control. No A/C, had a sun roof though. new spark plugs every 10K miles, no oil filter until I put an EMPI kit on it. Drove it 10 years.

My 2013 didn't use any appreciable oil during the 10k internal. It stayed in the full section of the dipstick the whole way through.

My first VW diesel was a green 79 Rabbit. Still kinda miss that car and slow is an understatement. I did however get it once up to 54 mph! No AC at all in mine and I lived in Arizona.

Our Passat had no oil consumption on the castrol, it eats half a quart every 10 k on Pennzoil though. Moving to another brand next change perhaps.

Our CKRA Passat has used NO oil in 21,XXX (using the dealer-installed Castrol 507.00 stuff). Just had the 20K done day before yesterday.

Three NMS TDI's in the family right now and actually a forth that was taken back because of a massive turbo failure. Not any appreciable oil used by any of these cars.

The Pennnzoil post worries me a bit. I'm unaware that Pennzoil makes an oil formulated for our TDI's. In any case a quart in 10k miles on a new (or even VERY experienced) TDI is way too much in my opinion.

nord said:

Three NMS TDI's in the family right now and actually a forth that was taken back because of a massive turbo failure. Not any appreciable oil used by any of these cars.

The Pennnzoil post worries me a bit. I'm unaware that Pennzoil makes an oil formulated for our TDI's. In any case a quart in 10k miles on a new (or even VERY experienced) TDI is way too much in my opinion.

Click to expand...

Here you go, the Pennzoil Ultra Euro L:

http://www.idparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=4303

Unaware as I said. Not that they don't.

A quart of oil disappearing over 10k miles? I'd be checking my turbo seals at minimum. Methinks probably quite a collection of oil at the lower intercooler hose as TDI's aren't known to pass oil. Rather they're known to have oil passed to them via failed or failing seals.

nord said:

Unaware as I said. Not that they don't.

A quart of oil disappearing over 10k miles? I'd be checking my turbo seals at minimum. Methinks probably quite a collection of oil at the lower intercooler hose as TDI's aren't known to pass oil. Rather they're known to have oil passed to them via failed or failing seals.

Click to expand...

No argument there. Not normal for any vehicle to be using that much oil with those low miles.

jrm said:

my CKRA eats threw a quart and a half in 10k, Hope the EA288 does better! Yes lots of heat shields as exhaust temps exceed 1200F during regenerations. I too have a older VW diesel that I still love- see link below

Click to expand...

How many miles on this engine? Have you done a UOA?

Your engine's oil consumption is way out of the norm here. I'm sure there are many of us that would like to know the reason why!

Worried here to, had the 30K done last week. I Had lifter tick on a few cold starts over the summer- I added 1 quart around 22k but I think it was under filled at the dealer during the 20k service. It was another half quart down at 26K though, but on the full mark the night before the 30k service so that is 4k with zero usage- Will keep a solid eye on this one, plus sending another sample in from last weeks change. Its the wife's car and she isn't a slow driver (why we get along so well) sometimes when following her in my civic im floored from 1st to 4th and she still pulls away!

About to have 50k done on mine at the end of the week. I have yet to add any oil to mine.
My rings must have seated well. On a side note, even without oil consumption, I did have a turbo start to make noise at around 37k, changed out before total failure.

JRM, Maybe your rings are finally sealing, rather slow to seat if that's the case though.

OP, welcome and enjoy the ride. Today's diesels, as you are experiencing, are significantly modern from those of yesteryears. No more black clouds of soot or the loud rattle or the slow acceleration.

My first VW was also a Rabbit diesel. It was an 80 1.5L IDI with a 4 speed (this was around 1987). It actually did have factory AC. Man, did that blow cold!

I didn't have that much of an issue with its slowness. I was even pulled over in eastern WA once on a road with a 70 limit. I pointed out to the trooper that not only was it a VW diesel, not only did I have the AC blasting (it was almost 90 outside) but I had 3 passengers with me and it was highly unlikely that I was going as fast as he thought. Didn't get a ticket

Bought it with the engine in pieces. Overheated and warped the head. Fixed the head and drove it about 50k miles before I discovered the overheating had also cracked the block. Installed a new short block and drove it another 60k before selling it to a co-worker for his son. Had about 240k on the car by then. Good little car!

And is good to remember that some diesel will go into the oil pan (when the car runs a DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) Regeneration, it injects diesel that wont get burned late in the ignition and will burn in the DFP; but some of it gets into the cilinder walls, and from there to the oil), so you will have some liquid source for keeping your oil level up. The engine and oil are designed to handle that, so do not worry. However, this is one reason for not using biodiesel concentrations above 5% (in the 2012 Passat, at least).

Did the 60k on mine a month ago or so. No oil consumption at all in the life of the car. Only regular changes and ad blue adds every 10k, fuel filter at 20k and dsg at 40k.

It looks like Blackstone has finally figured out that the "abnormal" aluminum is from the new aluminum EGR system.