1.4tdi - oil level rising?!

mikkey180

Member
Hello all, I seem to be having a strange issue with my A2 SE 1.4TDI

When I purchased the car it appeared to be dangerously over the max mark on the dipstick, so instinctively I drained some oil out. Around a litre of oil was drained before the dipstick was reading 1st the maximum mark. I have checked my oil level again today (after covering around 600 miles or so) and it looks to be dangerously over full again, how can this be? It's done 150k miles with no real service history so wondering if diesel is getting in to the sump somehow.

Regards,

Mike
 
Sorry to ask this but are you sure that you are measuring it on level ground and at the same temoerature. (Oil expands when hot (and becomes thinner too which is quite an achievement).

The only way that it would genuinely increase is if you have a head gasket leak allowing water in.
But you would spot the gunge.

There is an outside chance that you are somehow getting fuel in there but that would be very rare and there would be other symptoms.

The only other thing would be if the dipstick was not fully home last time you dipped it and it is now????

Steve B
 
Last edited:
Hello guys,

I checked the car from being sat over night on level ground so should be consistent, No oil / water mixing as far as I can tell as everything looks clean enough. I checked the dipstick was fully inserted last time as it seems to have gone up by around a litre or so according to the dipstick?! I think I will just get it serviced and hope for the best, it runs and drives well enough.

Mike.
 
... There is an outside chance that you are somehow getting fuel in there but that would be very rare and there would be other symptoms. ...

I've heard of that happening sometimes on (non-A2) TDIs ... potentially quite dangerous since you can get a runaway engine if the levels rise too much. Possibly caused by worn turbo bearings (is there black smoke?). Watch the oil levels closely and keep draining it if it goes too high.


http://www.myturbodiesel.com/wiki/diesel-tdi-engine-runaway-engine-causes-how-to-stop-and-repair-it/

The most common cause for more recent TDIs (which isn't relevant to us) is the DPF regeneration cycle overfuelling the engine on a short-trip-only vehicle in an attempt to get the DPF to regenerate. But since we don't have DPFs it can't be that.
 
I've heard of that happening sometimes on (non-A2) TDIs ... potentially quite dangerous since you can get a runaway engine if the levels rise too much. Possibly caused by worn turbo bearings (is there black smoke?). Watch the oil levels closely and keep draining it if it goes too high.


http://www.myturbodiesel.com/wiki/diesel-tdi-engine-runaway-engine-causes-how-to-stop-and-repair-it/

The most common cause for more recent TDIs (which isn't relevant to us) is the DPF regeneration cycle overfuelling the engine on a short-trip-only vehicle in an attempt to get the DPF to regenerate. But since we don't have DPFs it can't be that.


Not wishing to contradict but where would the extra oil be coming from????

The oil going to the turbo comes out of the sump so how can it increase the level by leaking back into the sump?

Forgive me if I am not understanding your point?

Steve B
 
A leaking vacuum pump can leak diesel into the engine, which leads to the oil level rising as diesel is mixed in. If this is the case, the oil will smell strongly of diesel and if you remove the fuel filter element it will be black and contaminated with oil. However, the only way to tell for sure is to have the oil analyzed and checked for diesel.
 
Hello guys,

I checked the car from being sat over night on level ground so should be consistent, No oil / water mixing as far as I can tell as everything looks clean enough. I checked the dipstick was fully inserted last time as it seems to have gone up by around a litre or so according to the dipstick?! I think I will just get it serviced and hope for the best, it runs and drives well enough.

Mike.

From the results of your dipstick test it's highly likely a significant amount of diesel fuel is entering the sump via one of the paths shown in posts 2 and 7.
As the oil is diluted by fuel, the key properties of the oil are lost (lubricity, viscosity etc) leading to elevated wear on bearing, cylinder bores and turbo.
I'd recommend you stop using the car until the problem is confirmed and corrected. An oil and filter change plus new fuel filter would be recommended.

Cheers Spike
 
Not wishing to contradict but where would the extra oil be coming from????

The oil going to the turbo comes out of the sump so how can it increase the level by leaking back into the sump?
...

You're right, the turbo bearing scenario is the other way round of course (dropping oil levels not rising). The main thing I was trying to warn of was the possibility of an engine run-away which can occur when the oil levels get too high, but I got distracted by that article lol.
 
Thanks for the information everyone,

Unfortunately I have had no choice but to continue using the car for the time being, and cannot afford to service it for another 2 weeks, I will check the oil for diesel smell and get back to you, there is no black smoke from the exhaust and the turbo appears to be boosting as it should, engine is running smooth with no starting or running issues.

Regards,

Mike.
 
I would advice you to let it checked, you can destroy your engine.........
If it is the tandem/ vacuum pump, the dealer can easily check this to put an 1 bar over pressure on the fuel side and perform a leakage test on the pump.
The pressure is not allowed to go down in a certain time period. (1 minute or so)
I had the same with my 2006 Passat and made my own leakage tester.
 

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