A3 1.8T too thirsty for oil?

[Jay]

Since an oil change approx 1k miles ago. I have had to top up almost every other week.

Car is used for mostly local trips with the odd motorway journey. The odd thrashing in low gears every now and again. (Surely this shouldn't be a problem?)

I'm on my 2nd 1 litre top up bottle now after the initial 4 litres. So have almost used 6 litres after an oil change.

The oil i'm using is Castrol Edge 5W30.

Nothing showing on vag com either.
Is this normal or is something horribly wrong?

 

[TheSpaceCowboy]

I dont have a Turbo but I hear turbos can use a little oil, dont think you should be using that much oil though. Definatly worth checking there are no obvious oil leaks. Leave your car parked somewhere overnight and see if any fluid is on the floor when you come out, should be easy to spot oil.

 

[S3 Rav]

im no expert or anything near but i dont think ur car should be using that much oil unless ur absolutely thrashing it all over the place. turbos do use up alot of oil but not that much

 

[simch]

You have to guve us an idea of what your oil consumption is, ie in litres per 1000 miles for example.

If you have 1litre / 1000 miles, that is far more than most but not too bad all things considered. Any more sounds like you have a problem.

how many miles has the car done, what year is it, any engine mods?

There are some things you can do to see if any oil consumption is due to turbo or rings, neither cheap to fix but turbo is easier (new one!).

A bit more info will help

 

[Turbo Lag FTW]

Wow thats a lot of oil and an expensive oil at that too, Im using Edge for my A4`s 1.8T and its only used a quarter of a litre and its done approx 3000miles since I changed the oil. So Im guessing you have a problem somewhere, Id get a trusted garage to have a look before something serious happens. Last thing you want is the oil pressure warning light popping up.

 

[Jay]

The car is a 2000 plate, approx 86K miles and totally standard. I'm thinking about getting it reampped but this has made me think twice.

Am I right in thinking that an oil change will use 4 litres?

I have done approx 1000 miles since and have used 1 1/2 litres on top.

£13.99 a litre isn't cheap for me aswell so not too happy about this.

I've had the oil light flash up on the motorway a couple of weeks ago...again a top up made it disappear.

Any thoughts?

 

[Clach]

I would check to see if the sump plug is on correctly first....

 

[ash_s3]

The car is a 2000 plate, approx 86K miles and totally standard. I'm thinking about getting it reampped but this has made me think twice.

Am I right in thinking that an oil change will use 4 litres?

I have done approx 1000 miles since and have used 1 1/2 litres on top.

£13.99 a litre isn't cheap for me aswell so not too happy about this.

I've had the oil light flash up on the motorway a couple of weeks ago...again a top up made it disappear.

Any thoughts?

Get underneath, check for leaks, get a mate to follow you down the road or get a mate to drive it and you follow, check for smoke when you boot it, if theres blue/dark smoke your engine is burning oil, could be head, head gasket, valve seals, turbo... etc....

 

[Jay]

Doesn't seem to be any leakage and definately no smoke.

Would it be worth changing oil, maybe to something thicker?
Using 5W30 at the moment

 

[simch]

Sounds like a turbo seal or bearing is going.
Check your coolant too, see if there is any oil or sludge in there.

I think you will have used near 4.5 litres for the change, but to have had the oil liight come on is a very bad thing, it means it is very low!
Have a look in the pipework from the turbo to the intercooler and see if there is a lot of oil in it.
What was your coinsumptiojn like prior to the oil change? How long have you had the car? It is possible if this is the first oil change, that the previous owner had some very heavy weight oil in it to hide a problem and putting in your 5w, you are now using it.
You could try a 10w 40, but you may be masking another big problem.