2.0 FSI oil usage

How much oil should a 2.0 FSI engine get through?

Normal driving (commuting mainly) and (very approximately) it's getting
through around 1L every 1000 miles, although I'm going to do a proper
test on a longish trip next week. This seems excessive to me although
I've been told by my tame mechanic that it isn't necessarily so.

So, anyone else getting this and is it normal? Does it just need a
service or is there likely to be something more sinister?

Cheers,
--
Chris

"CT" > wrote in message
...
> How much oil should a 2.0 FSI engine get through?
>
> Normal driving (commuting mainly) and (very approximately) it's getting
> through around 1L every 1000 miles, although I'm going to do a proper
> test on a longish trip next week. This seems excessive to me although
> I've been told by my tame mechanic that it isn't necessarily so.
>
> So, anyone else getting this and is it normal? Does it just need a
> service or is there likely to be something more sinister?
>
> Cheers,
> --
> Chris

1L per 1000 miles is within spec according to Audi. How many miles has the
car got on it? Did you break the engine in gently or break it in hard? If
is is still low mileage and you drove it gently in it's early days then you
can expect the oil consumption you are seeing.

> "CT" > wrote in message
> ...
>> How much oil should a 2.0 FSI engine get through?
>>
>> Normal driving (commuting mainly) and (very approximately) it's getting
>> through around 1L every 1000 miles, although I'm going to do a proper
>> test on a longish trip next week. This seems excessive to me although
>> I've been told by my tame mechanic that it isn't necessarily so.
>>
>> So, anyone else getting this and is it normal? Does it just need a
>> service or is there likely to be something more sinister?
>>

> 1L per 1000 miles is within spec according to Audi. How many miles has the
> car got on it? Did you break the engine in gently or break it in hard? If
> is is still low mileage and you drove it gently in it's early days then you
> can expect the oil consumption you are seeing.

I've noticed high oil consumption in my AUdi A3 turbo too. It has 8000
miles on it currently. At 4000 miles I had to top off the oil I got
the 5000 maintenance service and I assume Audi left a full complement of
oil Yet 3000 miles later I had to top it off again. Both times the oil
level was low enough to trigger the "low oil pressure" warning.

I've had many cars before, including an Audi A4. Until my new A3, I've
seldom had to add oil between regular maintenance service and certainly
not at 3000 miles. My driving habits have not changed in the past decade.


Bill T

Bill T wrote:
> Westy wrote:
>
> > 1L per 1000 miles is within spec according to Audi. How many miles
> > has the car got on it? Did you break the engine in gently or
> > break it in hard? If is is still low mileage and you drove it
> > gently in it's early days then you can expect the oil consumption
> > you are seeing.

It's done 12.5K, give or take a bit, of which I've done around
4200 (I got it in Dec '05 but it's a March '04 model). I haven't
driven any differently to what I would normally and nothing was brought
to my attention by the dealer when I picked it up.

> I've noticed high oil consumption in my AUdi A3 turbo too. It has
> 8000 miles on it currently. At 4000 miles I had to top off the oil
> I got the 5000 maintenance service and I assume Audi left a full
> complement of oil Yet 3000 miles later I had to top it off again.
> Both times the oil level was low enough to trigger the "low oil
> pressure" warning.

More research (mainly 'net based) seems to show that this is not
an isolated problem and definitely seems to be more common than I
thought it would be. I guess that's why Audi put an oil carrier in the
boot as standard.

> I've had many cars before, including an Audi A4. Until my new A3,
> I've seldom had to add oil between regular maintenance service and
> certainly not at 3000 miles. My driving habits have not changed in
> the past decade.

Exactly, hence my original query.
--
Chris

"CT" > wrote in message
...
> Bill T wrote:
>> Westy wrote:
>>
>> > 1L per 1000 miles is within spec according to Audi. How many miles
>> > has the car got on it? Did you break the engine in gently or
>> > break it in hard? If is is still low mileage and you drove it
>> > gently in it's early days then you can expect the oil consumption
>> > you are seeing.
>
> It's done 12.5K, give or take a bit, of which I've done around
> 4200 (I got it in Dec '05 but it's a March '04 model). I haven't
> driven any differently to what I would normally and nothing was brought
> to my attention by the dealer when I picked it up.

Ok so it's still fairly low mileage. I have an A4 which I have had from
new and it has always used oil - it used to use around 1L per 1000 miles
like yours but it is getting better with more miles and I now seem to use
around 1L every 3000 miles.

I have read many posts on this subject and it seems to be that the modern
synthetic oils used these days coupled with the very hard piston rings used
by Audi mean that proper seating of the piston rings can take a very long
time - especially if the car is not driven very hard in it's early miles.
This seems to be the cause of the high oil consumption.
>
>> I've noticed high oil consumption in my AUdi A3 turbo too. It has
>> 8000 miles on it currently. At 4000 miles I had to top off the oil
>> I got the 5000 maintenance service and I assume Audi left a full
>> complement of oil Yet 3000 miles later I had to top it off again.
>> Both times the oil level was low enough to trigger the "low oil
>> pressure" warning.
>
> More research (mainly 'net based) seems to show that this is not
> an isolated problem and definitely seems to be more common than I
> thought it would be. I guess that's why Audi put an oil carrier in the
> boot as standard.

Yes I thought this was very generous of them - little did I know that I
would use it in only the first month and then have to buy gallons more of
the stuff!
>
>> I've had many cars before, including an Audi A4. Until my new A3,
>> I've seldom had to add oil between regular maintenance service and
>> certainly not at 3000 miles. My driving habits have not changed in
>> the past decade.
>
> Exactly, hence my original query.
> --
> Chris

Mine did that - now got 43k on it and it's a lot better - can't give
quantities, but I no longer "notice" it and just throw some oil in when the
light comes on.

Mike

"Westy" > wrote in message
...
>
> "CT" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Bill T wrote:
>>> Westy wrote:
>>>
>>> > 1L per 1000 miles is within spec according to Audi. How many miles
>>> > has the car got on it? Did you break the engine in gently or
>>> > break it in hard? If is is still low mileage and you drove it
>>> > gently in it's early days then you can expect the oil consumption
>>> > you are seeing.
>>
>> It's done 12.5K, give or take a bit, of which I've done around
>> 4200 (I got it in Dec '05 but it's a March '04 model). I haven't
>> driven any differently to what I would normally and nothing was brought
>> to my attention by the dealer when I picked it up.
>
> Ok so it's still fairly low mileage. I have an A4 which I have had from
> new and it has always used oil - it used to use around 1L per 1000 miles
> like yours but it is getting better with more miles and I now seem to use
> around 1L every 3000 miles.
>
> I have read many posts on this subject and it seems to be that the modern
> synthetic oils used these days coupled with the very hard piston rings
> used by Audi mean that proper seating of the piston rings can take a very
> long time - especially if the car is not driven very hard in it's early
> miles. This seems to be the cause of the high oil consumption.
>>
>>> I've noticed high oil consumption in my AUdi A3 turbo too. It has
>>> 8000 miles on it currently. At 4000 miles I had to top off the oil
>>> I got the 5000 maintenance service and I assume Audi left a full
>>> complement of oil Yet 3000 miles later I had to top it off again.
>>> Both times the oil level was low enough to trigger the "low oil
>>> pressure" warning.
>>
>> More research (mainly 'net based) seems to show that this is not
>> an isolated problem and definitely seems to be more common than I
>> thought it would be. I guess that's why Audi put an oil carrier in the
>> boot as standard.
>
> Yes I thought this was very generous of them - little did I know that I
> would use it in only the first month and then have to buy gallons more of
> the stuff!
>>
>>> I've had many cars before, including an Audi A4. Until my new A3,
>>> I've seldom had to add oil between regular maintenance service and
>>> certainly not at 3000 miles. My driving habits have not changed in
>>> the past decade.
>>
>> Exactly, hence my original query.
>> --
>> Chris
>
>

I love the discipline of the underbonnet checks that you obviously do. Have
you ever considered what would happen if the alarm malfunctions and your oil
level disappears to a critical level or below. Alarms are there to warn you
in the case of an unexpected occurrence i.e. sudden heavy loss of fluids,
not as an alternative to lifting the bonnet every now and again! Most
remiss, chances are it will cost you heavily at some point.


"Mike" > wrote in message
...
> Mine did that - now got 43k on it and it's a lot better - can't give
> quantities, but I no longer "notice" it and just throw some oil in when
> the light comes on.
>
> Mike
>
> "Westy" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "CT" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Bill T wrote:
>>>> Westy wrote:
>>>>
>>>> > 1L per 1000 miles is within spec according to Audi. How many miles
>>>> > has the car got on it? Did you break the engine in gently or
>>>> > break it in hard? If is is still low mileage and you drove it
>>>> > gently in it's early days then you can expect the oil consumption
>>>> > you are seeing.
>>>
>>> It's done 12.5K, give or take a bit, of which I've done around
>>> 4200 (I got it in Dec '05 but it's a March '04 model). I haven't
>>> driven any differently to what I would normally and nothing was brought
>>> to my attention by the dealer when I picked it up.
>>
>> Ok so it's still fairly low mileage. I have an A4 which I have had from
>> new and it has always used oil - it used to use around 1L per 1000 miles
>> like yours but it is getting better with more miles and I now seem to use
>> around 1L every 3000 miles.
>>
>> I have read many posts on this subject and it seems to be that the modern
>> synthetic oils used these days coupled with the very hard piston rings
>> used by Audi mean that proper seating of the piston rings can take a
>> very long time - especially if the car is not driven very hard in it's
>> early miles. This seems to be the cause of the high oil consumption.
>>>
>>>> I've noticed high oil consumption in my AUdi A3 turbo too. It has
>>>> 8000 miles on it currently. At 4000 miles I had to top off the oil
>>>> I got the 5000 maintenance service and I assume Audi left a full
>>>> complement of oil Yet 3000 miles later I had to top it off again.
>>>> Both times the oil level was low enough to trigger the "low oil
>>>> pressure" warning.
>>>
>>> More research (mainly 'net based) seems to show that this is not
>>> an isolated problem and definitely seems to be more common than I
>>> thought it would be. I guess that's why Audi put an oil carrier in the
>>> boot as standard.
>>
>> Yes I thought this was very generous of them - little did I know that I
>> would use it in only the first month and then have to buy gallons more of
>> the stuff!
>>>
>>>> I've had many cars before, including an Audi A4. Until my new A3,
>>>> I've seldom had to add oil between regular maintenance service and
>>>> certainly not at 3000 miles. My driving habits have not changed in
>>>> the past decade.
>>>
>>> Exactly, hence my original query.
>>> --
>>> Chris
>>
>>
>
>

"CT" > wrote in message
...
> Bill T wrote:
> > Westy wrote:
> >
> > > 1L per 1000 miles is within spec according to Audi. How many miles
> > > has the car got on it? Did you break the engine in gently or
> > > break it in hard? If is is still low mileage and you drove it
> > > gently in it's early days then you can expect the oil consumption
> > > you are seeing.
>
> It's done 12.5K, give or take a bit, of which I've done around
> 4200 (I got it in Dec '05 but it's a March '04 model). I haven't
> driven any differently to what I would normally and nothing was brought
> to my attention by the dealer when I picked it up.
>
> > I've noticed high oil consumption in my AUdi A3 turbo too. It has
> > 8000 miles on it currently. At 4000 miles I had to top off the oil
> > I got the 5000 maintenance service and I assume Audi left a full
> > complement of oil Yet 3000 miles later I had to top it off again.
> > Both times the oil level was low enough to trigger the "low oil
> > pressure" warning.
>
> More research (mainly 'net based) seems to show that this is not
> an isolated problem and definitely seems to be more common than I
> thought it would be. I guess that's why Audi put an oil carrier in the
> boot as standard.
>
> > I've had many cars before, including an Audi A4. Until my new A3,
> > I've seldom had to add oil between regular maintenance service and
> > certainly not at 3000 miles. My driving habits have not changed in
> > the past decade.
>
> Exactly, hence my original query.

Don't count on it getting better. My 2000 A4 uses 1litre/1600 miles and has
done since I got it. It now has 105,000 miles and it hasn't changed.

'Thicker oils' tend to use less but the oil I use is 0W 30 spec and live
with the consumption. I have to check it weekly though.

Richard

Hamblin wrote:
> I love the discipline of the underbonnet checks that you obviously do. Have
> you ever considered what would happen if the alarm malfunctions and your oil
> level disappears to a critical level or below. Alarms are there to warn you
> in the case of an unexpected occurrence i.e. sudden heavy loss of fluids,
> not as an alternative to lifting the bonnet every now and again! Most
> remiss, chances are it will cost you heavily at some point.

Well, until this car, I've checked the oil every 5000 miles or so and
have never found the oil to be low. Obviously, my new car requires more
frequent checks, and I guess I should plan on every 1500 miles from now on.


Bill T

"Bill T" > wrote in message
.. .
> Hamblin wrote:
>> I love the discipline of the underbonnet checks that you obviously do.
>> Have you ever considered what would happen if the alarm malfunctions and
>> your oil level disappears to a critical level or below. Alarms are there
>> to warn you in the case of an unexpected occurrence i.e. sudden heavy
>> loss of fluids, not as an alternative to lifting the bonnet every now and
>> again! Most remiss, chances are it will cost you heavily at some point.
>
> Well, until this car, I've checked the oil every 5000 miles or so and have
> never found the oil to be low. Obviously, my new car requires more
> frequent checks, and I guess I should plan on every 1500 miles from now
> on.
>
>
> Bill T

I agree it is not a good idea to wait for the warning light before adding
oil - much better to keep it somewhere between min and max on dipstick.

I check mine every 1000 miles now, and reset the trip counter each time so I
know the distance i've travelled.