TDI oil consumption

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speedfreak

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I've got a 2001 TDI which was serviced at 10,000 miles after I purchased it last year. At 17,000 miles the oil light came on, so I took the car to my local Audi dealer who told me that the oil level was low and it would need 1 litre of oil( at £10/litre and not readily available elsewhere!!). I was told by the dealer that this is quite normal, as the long service interval means that topping up the oil every 7,000 miles is quite normal, whilst on long journeys a top after 1,000 miles can be called for.
As I own a number of other cars which use fully synthetic oil and which are driven very hard (unlike the A2 :)) and rarely use any oil at all, I find this difficult to believe - although 30,000 miles is a long time!

Has anyone else found this and been told the same story by a dealer?

By the way, my original supplying dealer must win the prize for the most inept dealership ever - to the extent that they have seen fit to refund over £1,000 in compensation!!
 
Hi,

My A2 had done 8500 miles when I bought it, The first time I checked the Oil it was below the lower level mark (I did make a complaint to the dealer in writing - No response) however did speak to the local dealer on a Saturday afternoon who said that Halfords stocked the correct oil as there parts department was closed (£12/lrt)

I've checked weekly since and no need to top-up. 13500 miles still going strong..

Lee,
TDI SE,
Dolphin Grey,
6 Disc Changer (Fitted by me)
 
£10/Litre is not bad for a dealer - the recommended oil for the Petro engine is £35 for 4 Litres in Halfords - £8.75/litre. I do not know if it is the same oil for the diesel but you can probably get that there as well.

Ian

2002 1.4 Petrol SE, silver with climate control.
 
£10/Litre is not bad for a dealer - the recommended oil for the Petrol engine is £35 for 4 Litres in Halfords - £8.75/litre. I do not know if it is the same oil for the diesel but you can probably get that there as well.

Ian

2002 1.4 Petrol SE, silver with climate control.

Apologies for the finger trouble.
 
speedfreak - welcome to the forum!

I also have a TDi and have covered around 20,000 miles. I bought it as an ex-demo model when it had about 2,500 miles on it and I'm pretty certain it hadn't had any kind of service prior to me buying it.

During the last 15 months, the oil light (and scarily loud bleep) have come on around three times. So I guess what you have been told is possibly correct although sometimes I can't believe how quickly it consumes oil.

As for only buying oil from Audi, I went to Halfords and bought the best quality oil possible as recommended on their vehicle specific charts.

2001 TDi SE | Open Sky Roof | Kenwood Mask CD
It's not too late to register to come to the A2OC social!
www.Audi-A2.co.uk | www.A2Forum.net
 
According to the spec for the car, the only oil you should use is Castrol SLX 0 assuming you want the benefit of extended service intervals. This is available in Halfords at £34.99 per 4 litres.

My A2 used more oil in its early mileage than it does now. I think that the engine beds in and uses less over time.

Paul
1.4TDi, leather, Open Sky, BOSE, 6 CD, alu trim, cruise, DIS, etc. etc.
 
Hi everyone i also have a tdi the beep and the ligth of the oil level came up with 11.000 kms and i read on the manual and it says you have to increase the oil level as soon as possible and if you have a diferent oil as they recomended only put 0.5l.
And i phoned to my dealer he says that is quite normal at benning the 3 cylindres spend a little bit of oil.

TCasaca
 
Speedfreak - I cannot believe that you purchased a used car and then drove it for 7,000 miles before even thinking about checking the oil level. Regardless of this I do not believe its good to let the oil level drop down by 1 litre before doing anything about it.

Regards
John Disdale
 
Thanks everyone for your responses - its good to see this is 'normal'.

John you're right - should have checked, but just didn't figure the A2 would use any oil given its user maintenance free image and my experience of other cars. Lucky there was a warning buzzer!!
 
What I can't work out is which is the correct oil to use. having had the forsight to read this forum before I purchased my A2 I asked for a free bottle of oil from the dealer. I received 1 Lt of Shell Helix Synthetic. having driven 11000 in the past year I've managed to use up the 'free' oil. I'll try for another but expect to pay. I'll need it as the service indicator shows me 10600 miles to go with 21200 on the clock.

Regards - The Foghorn

2001 TDI SE Atantic Blue, Open Sky, 16" 6 spoke alloys, Satellite cloth & space box system. The "Dogs Twitchers"
 
Foghorn,

I guess you are at the mercy of your dealer, however I tend to totally disagree with the advice which presumably you have been receiving. It may well be the case that’s its possible to go 20,000 miles without a service, however I simply do not see this when using “Shell Helix Synthetic” because according to the owners manual this is ONLY possible if “Castrol Longlife” oil is used – or a similar specification (506.01). Shell Helix is not of that specification.

I suggest that if you use the “Helix” you opt for an oil change every 12 months or 12,000 miles which ever comes around first. Its true that I am guessing, but if you suffered major engine damage there could well be an investigation in terms of what grade of oil you have been using, and can you just imagine being told that your warranty was invalid because you used the wrong oil, or the wrong servicing period.

Regards
John Disdale
 
John
Just checked the oil container - its 'Shell Helix Ultra - X' and meets VW Spec 503 00 & 506 00. Having checked the handbook it would appear that this is acceptable (506 00/01 is okay). If any engine malfunction ensues because of the wrong oil its my supplying dealer I will be suing. I have no mention of oil brands in my manual.

Regards - The Foghorn

2001 TDI SE Atantic Blue, Open Sky, 16" 6 spoke alloys, Satellite cloth & space box system. The "Dogs Twitchers"
 
Foghorn,

If I am giving you poor advice I do sincerely hope that someone else quickly steps in to put me right. Perhaps the subject sounds confusing, but I repeat my firm belief that it is ONLY “Castrol Longlife” that has the specification to go for 20/30,000 miles between services. All other oils (from any part of the world) are only any good if servicing takes place around 10/12,000 miles.

There have been many past stories flying around of VW TDI (PD’s) where the engines have given up the ghost (or turbo’s have), and apparently VW acknowledge the fault as being attributed to the use of the wrong oil. Further intrinsic details are unknown, but I wonder if its not a case of synthetic oil being used by dealers, but not of a type that can retain its structure over 20,000 miles ?

You say that you could always take legal action against your dealer if they were proven wrong, but your dealer only has to say that they did not know how long you intended to go between services, and consequently its not their fault. Sure you and I might argue otherwise, but what I am saying is they would probably run a mile if a problem developed that was attributable to the quality of oil.

Regards
John Disdale
 
As a new owner I was given a free litre of castrol SLX loglife oil for my car. On a trip to Halfords just after Christmas I noticed offers on oil. I checked halfords oil manaul and saw that Castrol RS synthetic and several other oils exceeded the requirements for an Audi A2 TDI. When I got the oil home I read my owner manual and could not find the VW 506.01 standard on the oil canister. I checked out details on the audi site and they state that Castrol SLX is the only oil recommended for long life variable services (30K miles). I assume halfords documentation relates only to the oil required for fixed mileage services (10K or 1 Year). I'm going back to Halfords to upgrade the oil.

Incidentally a bar-room expert informed me that longlife synthetic oils over lubricate a new engine and so should not be used for running in a new engine. Sounds rubbish to me - any experts out there? My TDI has now completed 1600 careful miles and oil is still indicated at top of dipstick. I was expecting to use more during early mileage.

John (& Mary) Imber 2003 1.4TDI SE, metallic silver, open sky, black leather /alcantara, Bose, ECC, DIS, Winter pack, mud flaps
 
John,

I have been involved on another forum regarding the subject of an oil being “too good” for a new car which is running in, however I have two mixed comments to add. Firstly I did understand from “Maersk” that Audi add a series of additives at the factory, and that this was the reason that an oil change was NOT recommended within the first 5,000 miles – based presumably on the factor that the alleged additives would be exhausted after that period. As a second argument I cannot believe that VAG would request Castrol to develop an oil specifically for the new breed of TDI’s (being PD’s) if the end product was damaging for a new engine. I hear of references to glazed bores becoming a threat, but I do struggle to believe that Castrol would design a product that really was no good for the engine.

Alas I am not technically minded relative to engine engineering, however I believe that the VAG TDI PD engines are said to be manufactured to much higher standards, with much closer tolerances, and so I might have some argument that what applied 10 years ago is not applicable today.

Regards
John Disdale
 
From my early training running in of an engine was necessary may years ago because the machine tools of the time did not give a very good finish (at the microscopic level) and that WEAR was used as the final finish machining operation (superfinishing) for the moving parts hence the running in instructions you got with a new car or re-built engine. I also understand that Rolls Royces and Land Rovers did not need running in becase their engines were bench run for the appropriate time before fitting.

The machine tools used now give much better finishes so running-in is far less restrictive than it used to be - When did you last see a "Running in - please pass" sign in a rear window.

I presume that Audi know best in this case (I may be mistaken) but at least if you stick to their specified oil then the warranty will not be affected - the cost difference between the different synthetics is not likely to be that big.

My concern is that our A2 will not be doing high milages (8-10k/yr)and may see services at two year intervals. Every car we have owned has had an oil change every six months (company cars more often) and we have never had an engine problem, the longest we had a car was 9 years and 46k miles. I am wary of leaving the oil this long and am considering an interim oil change between services. Has anyone else had their A2 services on the two year cut-off rather than the indicator as most of you seem to do high milages? I would rather invest in an oil change than have to claim under the warranty because 2 years is too long.

Ian

2002 1.4 Petrol SE, silver with climate control.
Why are all the A2s in Lichfield are silver ? ? ?
 
German manual Long Life requires:

Petrol: spec VW 503 00 or VW 503 01
Diesel: spec VW 506 00 or VW 506 01

Fuchs makes oil for all major German Car companies see: www.fuchs-oil.co.uk

Their 0W/30 Titan Supersyn (SLPCX) will meet all Audi stds

Lukas

First A2 1.2 TDI in UK
Style pack + Chorus + Advance pack + winter wheels + iRiver MP3CD
 
Ecoangel – your link to “Fuch-oil” does not appear to work. I expect George Bush has taken over the oil field in order to liberate the people and save the world.

Regards
John Disdale
 
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