Help! Losing A LOT of oil!

[tydaddy]

Had a strange occurrence last night. 2014 v6 tdi with 162k miles. Never an issue, I'm anal about maintenance.

Ive been away at training for 4.5 months. I live in upstate NY. I drove the 1000 miles or so to south GA. No issues. Ive been there for 4.5 months - only driving the vehicle about 1.5 miles to and from the dining hall once per day. Once a week, id drive 15-20 miles around the local area.

Yesterday I began the drive back to upstate NY. No issues, nothing out of the ordinary. I was driving a bit over the speed limit, but under triple digits, moving with a group of cars, when, after about 250 miles, my oil light came on. Checked the maintenance display - sure enough, it says to add 1 1/4 qts. I pull over. Added a qt that I always keep on hand. Looked around. No obvious leaks. Hopped back in and started driving. Same type of driving, about 250 miles later - same exact issue. Luckily there was a Walmart right there. So I do a more thorough check for leaks - nothing. Add another qt and off I go.

At this point, I still had a bit over 280 miles, so I decided see if my driving was somehow related. I kept it 70-80 mph the rest of the way. It might be a coincidence, but didn't have a single issue the rest of the way. I checked the oil level many times along the way, and it remained at the full line.

My only thought would be the turbo, but ive noticed no smoke, no oil smell, nothing out of the ordinary.

I still have about 350 miles remaining to drive tomorrow. Any thoughts, guesses, suggestions?!

Thanks!

Tyler

 

[TurboABA]

Walmart sells the correct oil for your CNRB?
Using the vehicle with that pattern for 5 months means that it never ever completed a regen...... regens do consume oil..... I'm sure that was part of it.
How often do you check your oil level? Do you replace your drain plug crush washer with each change?

 

[TurboABA]

From the owner's manual

Depending on the way the vehicle is driven and the operating conditions, oil consumption can be
up to half a quart per 1200 miles (0.5 liter per 1000 km).

 

[tydaddy]

Walmart sells the correct oil for your CNRB?
Using the vehicle with that pattern for 5 months means that it never ever completed a regen...... regens do consume oil..... I'm sure that was part of it.
How often do you check your oil level? Do you replace your drain plug crush washer with each change?

No. But ive been using schaeffers 5w40 as recommended by frank06 and others for years without issue. The first quart was the same, the second was a bit different. But some oil is better than none. I'll do a full change once I get home. There's no dipstick in the T3's - only digital monitor.

As for the regens, that was in the back of my mind with all of those short trips - but I had no other choice. I also didn't realize regens used oil. If the DPF was super sooty, I'm sure it would've had to undergo more than normal in an attempt to clean it.

 

[TurboABA]

No. But ive been using schaeffers 5w40 as recommended by frank06 and others for years without issue.

Cool, but I don't see anything that says it meets the 507 spec.... does it?

There's no dipstick in the T3's - only digital monitor.

I'm well aware.... I don't see where I suggested that there was one. You can add one if you really want to, or you can use a calibrated tool to check since the dipstick tube is already there. How often do you check the RNS display? Or do you only check it when you get a low oil warning?

 

[tydaddy]

All the time.

 

[TurboABA]

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10165055-0001.pdf

 

[tydaddy]

Drove the 300 miles from PA to upstate NY without issue. So weird.

 

[DivineChaos]

Drove the 300 miles from PA to upstate NY without issue. So weird.

Do these have an oil cooler? Pull the splash sheilds and look for oil.

 

[TurboABA]

Typical physical leaks are in the cylinder Valley where you can't see or get to anything without taking a lot of things apart.
Rear main seals are also known to leak, so they can be a contributor.
The engines also *use* some oil as per my post above.

All these combined with the fact that he's been using (what I believe to be) an incorrect spec oil, can easily explain the need for the top up requirement, presumably from normal wear/tear (plus his use pattern, milage, etc), without actually having a massive, physically oil leak that can be easily spotted when parked, etc

 

[tydaddy]

Typical physical leaks are in the cylinder Valley where you can't see or get to anything without taking a lot of things apart.
Rear main seals are also known to leak, so they can be a contributor.
The engines also *use* some oil as per my post above.

All these combined with the fact that he's been using (what I believe to be) an incorrect spec oil, can easily explain the need for the top up requirement, presumably from normal wear/tear (plus his use pattern, milage, etc), without actually having a massive, physically oil leak that can be easily spotted when parked, etc

So this is my 10th tdi, 3rd touareg. The 507 spec is strictly to increase mpg's. It actually provides inferior protection. There are many threads there and on bitog. Again, 162k miles, and until now, ive never lost a drop - 10k mile oci's, sent to Blackstone every other change.

 

[TurboABA]

In sorry I missread the post. Clearly you know everything and you were actually schooling the rest of us. Thank you for the education! I love learning from experts in the field.

 

[DivineChaos]

I thought there was a reason why there's specs for oils. We could go back to 3k oci and engines that are shot at 100k. There is a reason why a certian oil spec is supposed to be used. The main one is the emissions standpoint. Second is additives for that specific motor to help it last.

Lighter 0w-15 oil if for better mileage (reduced friction) you nitwit. Remember the older tdis wiping the cams clean. Improper oil caused them to fail faster..
Through your thought I should just use any oil in my wet clutch bike I had. Because oil is oil right?
There is a reason why the manufactor reccomends a certian spec oil. Don't have to use it. But if you don't. It voids your warrenty.

 

[tydaddy]

Welp. Boy was I wrong. Ran to do some errands this afternoon. When I pulled in, I noticed a huge oil spot on the driveway. Like 2'x2'. So I checked the digital oil gauge again. It said "oil level ok". After staring at it for about a minute, it changed to "too full, remove some oil". So I drained it all. Sure enough - about 10.5 qts. I noticed it looked like the oil was draining put of one of the intercooler pipes on the passenger side. The lower one.

I'll run out and get some oil tomorrow and refill - and I guess cross my fingers no damage has been done in the last 750 miles. Pisses me off there isn't a damn dipstick. Anyone have a link or part number for the cnrb?

 

[DivineChaos]

Welp. Boy was I wrong. Ran to do some errands this afternoon. When I pulled in, I noticed a huge oil spot on the driveway. Like 2'x2'. So I checked the digital oil gauge again. It said "oil level ok". After staring at it for about a minute, it changed to "too full, remove some oil". So I drained it all. Sure enough - about 10.5 qts. I noticed it looked like the oil was draining put of one of the intercooler pipes on the passenger side. The lower one.

I'll run out and get some oil tomorrow and refill - and I guess cross my fingers no damage has been done in the last 750 miles. Pisses me off there isn't a damn dipstick. Anyone have a link or part number for the cnrb?

So the sensor just misread.

 

[tydaddy]

So the sensor just misread.

Weird though. It showed a quart 1/4 low. Added a quart and the light went off. 250 miles later. Same warning light. Same notification on the digital display. Makes zero damn sense.

 

[DivineChaos]

Weird though. It showed a quart 1/4 low. Added a quart and the light went off. 250 miles later. Same warning light. Same notification on the digital display. Makes zero damn sense.

Good old electronics.

 

[tydaddy]

In sorry I missread the post. Clearly you know everything and you were actually schooling the rest of us. Thank you for the education! I love learning from experts in the field.

Schaeffer's 8008 vs pennzoil euro lx 0w30

I havent been able to locate much about the schaeffer's. I've seen the spec sheets of both. I love schaeffer's as a company and have used their fluids in all of my vehicles. It seems the 0w30 might be better? schaeffer's- about $6.75 qt Pennzoil - $10 qt 2014 touareg tdi. Was hoping Bob...

forums.tdiclub.com

 

[TurboABA]

Take this with a grain of salt as I'm only on my first Touareg and only my 2nd TDI..... so I'm probably talking $h1t

 

[TurboABA]

And this
059115611AM

 

[TurboABA]

Lastly... you have a DPF, you need 507 because of that..... but once again, I'm probably wrong since it's only my 2nd DPF CR, so I don't have any other irrelevant experience with non DPF diesels to build on like others.

Which engine oil to use for common rail Audi VW TDI engines

Why engine oil is important for the DPF filter system on VW and Audi TDI engines to prevent clogging

www.myturbodiesel.com

.

 

[tydaddy]

Lastly... you have a DPF, you need 507 because of that..... but once again, I'm probably wrong since it's only my 2nd DPF CR, so I don't have any other irrelevant experience with non DPF diesels to build on like others.

Which engine oil to use for common rail Audi VW TDI engines

Why engine oil is important for the DPF filter system on VW and Audi TDI engines to prevent clogging

www.myturbodiesel.com

.

Yes. Mid saps are typically fine. .8 and under are whats usually recommended on bitog.

 

[oilhammer]

OIL WARZ!!!!

On the DPF requirement: I have Sprinters here with over a half million miles with their original DPFs running Pentosin HP2 5w40 that is "only" 502.00, 505.00, and 505.01 VAG spec (not 507.00). But since it meets the MB 229.51 spec, it is DPF-compliant. So.... (But we do run 507.00 in CR TDIs, Pentosin SP3 5w30..... but I doubt any 5w40 505.00 oil would kill their DPFs).

 

[TurboABA]

OIL WARZ!!!!

<insert>whatever kind of</insert> WARZ and you know I'm in

Why are you guys bothering to use the pricey premium 507.00 in the CRs if it doesn't actually do anything, or it's not required? Seems counter intuitive no? Especially for a shop that probably has the rest of the offerings laying around, etc. (aka 505.00 or 505.01)

 

[oilhammer]

It is the exact same price. However, because we go through SO MUCH of the HP2, we buy that in big drums, so we get that slightly cheaper. If we went through as much of the SP3, we'd buy it like that too, but we don't. So we stick with the more manageable 5L jugs (although it is also available in 20L jugs).

The 2.7L Sprinter holds 9.5L. The 2.1L holds 11.5. And the 3.0L holds a whopping 12.5L. So we go through a LOT of the HP2.