Normal oil consumption?

turbobrick240

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Yeah, it's definitely possible that some of the internal sealing surfaces could have had some light oxidation from sitting for an extended time. As that oxidation wears off, the seal improves and less oil is consumed. As long as the consumption is trending downward I wouldn't worry about it too much.
 

740GLE

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keep an eye on it, and if you want, see if you can find Mobile 1 5W40 ESP, it's a slightly thicker (non 507 rated oil) but it's DPF compliant per MB and BMW certs. It may help in cutting oil consumption.
 

turbobrick240

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Mobil no longer makes that oil. But I agree that a 5w40 that meets the 229.51 spec might be worth trying at some point. I believe Pennzoil and Valvoline among many others have those options and are pretty easy to find.
 

Tom in PT

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Q. About regen: How would I know how often the car is going through a regen cycle? I have heard the fans running full blast, after shutting the car off, 2 or 3 times. However, my son and wife primarily drive the car, so I don't really know.

A. Regen is hard to impossible to detect while you are driving. It is very noticeable (fans, as described above) when the engine is shut off.


Q. Lastly, the oil consumption seems to have gone down considerably over the last thousand miles or so. At this point, I think I'll do an oil change and track the consumption a bit more closely. Would anyone suggest I actually take the car into my local dealer for the oil change and to start an oil consumption test?

A. No, don't take it to a dealer yet. Do the oil change and closely track and document the consumption. A quart over 2000 miles (per post # 30) is probably not going to stimulate VW to do anything at all. If the car was mine I would track consumption, keep it topped up, use only approved 507 oil (just in case something more serious occurs), and motor on.
 

Fixmy59bug

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Q. About regen: How would I know how often the car is going through a regen cycle? I have heard the fans running full blast, after shutting the car off, 2 or 3 times. However, my son and wife primarily drive the car, so I don't really know.

A. Regen is hard to impossible to detect while you are driving. It is very noticeable (fans, as described above) when the engine is shut off.
Agree and disagree.

If the car is 100% stock with nothing added on, I would agree that it is difficult to detect a DPF regen in progress. If you are paying attention though, you would notice a slightly increased idle. Normal idle is approx 840 rpm's if I remember correctly, but during a regen you may seen an increase to approximately 1,000 rpm's.

If you are not opposed to adding a small module like the Auto Polar PF04, you can get all sorts of information in the MFD display. I like to monitor the Miles since last regen, and DPF soot load. I keep an eye on the soot load because when it gets up to 24 grams, it will start counting backwards. At that point I know for sure that a regen is in process. Once the load gets to about 5.4 grams, it usually stops declining and the Miles since last regen will reset to 0 and I know the regen is finished. Miles will also help me keep track of the mileage trend. I usually get between 250 - 350 miles between regens depending on how much city or highway driving I do. If I start to see that number decrease, I can start planning for an impending failure.

Q. Lastly, the oil consumption seems to have gone down considerably over the last thousand miles or so. At this point, I think I'll do an oil change and track the consumption a bit more closely. Would anyone suggest I actually take the car into my local dealer for the oil change and to start an oil consumption test?

A. No, don't take it to a dealer yet. Do the oil change and closely track and document the consumption. A quart over 2000 miles (per post # 30) is probably not going to stimulate VW to do anything at all. If the car was mine I would track consumption, keep it topped up, use only approved 507 oil (just in case something more serious occurs), and motor on.
This is true. Vw will start an oil consumption test at your request at any time. However, Vw has explicitly stated that up to 1 quart of oil consumed every 1,000 miles is "acceptable".
 
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740GLE

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Would you mind doing a full write up on the AutoPolar for the '15 Passat?

you stated only the EGT's don't work but many of the other features do?
 

740GLE

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turbobrick240

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That looks like an excellent oil. I wonder why it doesn’t have MB 229.51 approval. Too new?
 

IndigoBlueWagon

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I don't think an oil with a 40 top number will meet the FE requirements for 229.51 or 229.52.
 

Fixmy59bug

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Would you mind doing a full write up on the AutoPolar for the '15 Passat?

you stated only the EGT's don't work but many of the other features do?
Sure. I have the slightly older PF03+, so I dont know if the PF04 would be the same or would be able to actually read more sensors.

But I will get a list of all the sensors that the PF03+ will read and will do a write up for you tonight.
 

turbobrick240

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I don't think an oil with a 40 top number will meet the FE requirements for 229.51 or 229.52.

It looks like it was developed specifically for Corvettes. So the formulation probably isn't ideal for diesels. I believe it's just the 229.52 that can't be a Xw40.
 

bobthefarmer

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Fuel Economy, Shmony

I don't think an oil with a 40 top number will meet the FE requirements for 229.51 or 229.52.
That is what seems to be killing this car. Lack of Lube. I agree with going to the higher viscosity oil and upon starting the engine, rev it to 2500 for a short 5 second duration. Keep it running at 2000RPM, even when driving in light traffic. I sympathize with this guy. I have had low consumption, but my car is making metal now at 109K miles. I am going to switch to 0W-40 and after warranty, do something more dramatic!
 

Racin4ds

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I personally think a 30wt oil in these little high output diesels is what is causing most of the issues with the engine and turbo, it isn't sufficient enough to create the boundary lubrication levels that a diesel needs. I refuse to run a 5W30 oil in a diesel. Too many VII's to shear down and too thin of base oil to take the fuel dilution these things have due to the post injection. Run a diesel rated 40WT in them and I'm betting many issues will go away. I'd even try a 10W30 TRUE diesel oil but prefer 5W40 myself. Rotella T6 5W40 and Delo 400 5W40 is all I'll run in mine. I'd rather replace the DPF than the engine or turbo out of warranty.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

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All modern Mercedes diesels use 5w30 or 0w30. I havenen't heard of any oil consumtion problems with those engines. And the 2.1L OM651 in a Sprinter or E-Class is working pretty hard.
 

740GLE

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And don't get started with Gen3EA888 VW 2.0T TSIs now using 0W20, all in pursuit of MPGs
 

Racin4ds

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And don't get started with Gen3EA888 VW 2.0T TSIs now using 0W20, all in pursuit of MPGs
I just bought my '13 TDi CPO last week from the dealer and the window sticker clearly stated 0W20 Castrol.... I panicked as soon as I seen that and dumped the oil. I'm praying that isn't what they actually put in it.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

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I just bought my '13 TDi CPO last week from the dealer and the window sticker clearly stated 0W20 Castrol.... I panicked as soon as I seen that and dumped the oil. I'm praying that isn't what they actually put in it.
One could hope that that was simply the sticker they had available.
 

turbobrick240

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I personally think a 30wt oil in these little high output diesels is what is causing most of the issues with the engine and turbo, it isn't sufficient enough to create the boundary lubrication levels that a diesel needs. I refuse to run a 5W30 oil in a diesel. Too many VII's to shear down and too thin of base oil to take the fuel dilution these things have due to the post injection. Run a diesel rated 40WT in them and I'm betting many issues will go away. I'd even try a 10W30 TRUE diesel oil but prefer 5W40 myself. Rotella T6 5W40 and Delo 400 5W40 is all I'll run in mine. I'd rather replace the DPF than the engine or turbo out of warranty.
In general there are more viscosity index improvers in a 5w40 than a 5w30. There's nothing wrong with the 507 spec, imo. I ran probably a dozen different motor oils of various specs in my golf and noticed no difference between them. I'm pretty convinced that most of us overthink the issue to a ridiculous extent.
 
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