Omega Owners Forum

Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: pauls on 17 October 2017, 20:38:39

Title: couple of questions
Post by: pauls on 17 October 2017, 20:38:39
Audi 1.8 turbo petrol. I bought this back in april and the guy said it drinks a bit of oil. Since may i have been in somerset and my daily commute is 48 miles round trip  over 2 a roads. Over the summer i think i topped the oil up once but over the last several weeks the warning light has come on saying min oil. The first time i put about 3/4 of a litre in which had it half way up the dipstick. Today the light came on again so i topped it up to max on the dipstick.

question 1. How far could i safely travel when the light comes on.
question 2. It is standard for a petrol turbo to burn this much oil.

I couldnt see any oil leaks also isnt smokey when you hit the loud peddle.
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: zirk on 17 October 2017, 20:50:39
Audi 1.8 turbo petrol. I bought this back in april and the guy said it drinks a bit of oil. Since may i have been in somerset and my daily commute is 48 miles round trip  over 2 a roads. Over the summer i think i topped the oil up once but over the last several weeks the warning light has come on saying min oil. The first time i put about 3/4 of a litre in which had it half way up the dipstick. Today the light came on again so i topped it up to max on the dipstick.

question 1. How far could i safely travel when the light comes on.
question 2. It is standard for a petrol turbo to burn this much oil.

I couldnt see any oil leaks also isnt smokey when you hit the loud peddle.

Not very far, assuming you not carrying oil in the car then only to the next Pit Stop.

Some will probably say otherwise, but I always work on the principle if the oil light has come on it maybe too late any way.
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: Bigron on 17 October 2017, 21:09:14
The oil light is there for a reason - don't ignore it, don't risk it.
If you are not burning the oil, could you possibly be painting the road surface with it?
If there's no evidence of that on your driveway, maybe it only leaks when under power?

Ron.
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: Viral_Jim on 17 October 2017, 21:15:44
Some of these Audi engines do drink a fair bit and can still be considered "within tolerance" Vag say upto 1L/1000miles.

Whether you believe VAG or not is another matter  ::)
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: johnnydog on 17 October 2017, 21:52:23
Audi 1.8 turbo petrol. I bought this back in april and the guy said it drinks a bit of oil.

You don't say how old your car is.
Sorry to sound patronising, but if the seller said it drinks a bit of oil, why did you buy it? I would have been put off straight away. Surely there must have been other Audi A3/4 or even 6's with this engine for sale at the time?
There has been a more recent issue with the 2.0T engine using excessive oil, and Audi have replaced the pistons under goodwill, even if the car is out of warranty, but unfortunately this won't be applicable to your car (I presume your car is 'older' anyway).
Some Audi's display an orange oil warning light which advises to top up as soon as possible, but if the oil light displayed is red, then the engine should be switched off immediately.
The handbook should explain the relevant action with your particular oil light.
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: LC0112G on 17 October 2017, 23:58:32
Dunno about Audi turbos, but I know a bit about a certain Vauxhall Petrol turbo.

If the dash lamp is amber/yellow then it's probably an oil level sensor whinging. If this comes on then stop at the next garage/supermarket and buy a 5L can and tip around 1L in. That should shut the lamp up. Then next morning take a look at the dipstick and make sure it's filled to the top.

If the dash lamp is red, then it's probably an oil pressure sensor/switch. If this comes on you may as well carry on to your destination as carefully as possible because the engine will be toast by the time you've stopped and found some more oil to put in anyway. If the sensor has failed then you won't be fixing it at the side of the road anyway and therefore if you get to your destination without the engine sounding like a bag of spanners then that suggests the pressure sensor/switch is faulty so replace it ASAP.

The owners manual for my car says 1L/1000miles, although they don't use anything like that amount unless the engine is on it's last legs or the turbo is using oil.
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: Doctor Gollum on 18 October 2017, 09:14:00
How far are you travelling between top ups? If around a thousand miles, then I wouldn't worry too much, but if it's notably less, then it could be a sign of impending turbo issues...

How many miles has the car done?
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: tunnie on 18 October 2017, 12:25:59
My VW CC never used a drop in oil in 15k, it had although it two oil changes in that time. Fairly sure 1,000 miles is basically arse covering by VW.
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: Pmacca2000 on 18 October 2017, 12:36:58
I had a VXR and that weaped a small amount through the top breather pipe but I never needed to top that up between services.

Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: Mr Gav on 18 October 2017, 13:02:37
My VW CC never used a drop in oil in 15k, it had although it two oil changes in that time. Fairly sure 1,000 miles is basically arse covering by VW.

The V8 RS4 was known for using oil, EVO magazine had one on long term test and that did use 1l every 1k, so much for German engineering.
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: Sir Tigger KC on 18 October 2017, 13:22:19
Rather than waiting for the oil light to come on, a better practice  would be to check the dipstick regularly and top up before it goes below halfway.  ::)
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: Viral_Jim on 18 October 2017, 13:28:27
My VW CC never used a drop in oil in 15k, it had although it two oil changes in that time. Fairly sure 1,000 miles is basically arse covering by VW.

The V8 RS4 was known for using oil, EVO magazine had one on long term test and that did use 1l every 1k, so much for German engineering.

A friend of mine hat the 3.0 S5 and that used about 750ml / 1k miles when driven enthusiastically. He knew something was up when he looked in the owners manual and the previous owner had highlighted the relevant line in the Oil specs table.  ;D

My M140i was the same, it even came with 1L of BMW branded oil in the boot. Didn't use any in the 5k or so I drove it though.  :-\
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: aaronjb on 18 October 2017, 13:45:45
My VW CC never used a drop in oil in 15k, it had although it two oil changes in that time. Fairly sure 1,000 miles is basically arse covering by VW.

The V8 RS4 was known for using oil, EVO magazine had one on long term test and that did use 1l every 1k, so much for German engineering.

It's not just ze Germans, the Japanese are at it too - Toyota quoted 1l/1k for the 1ZZ-FE in the MR2/Celica/Corolla etc; it's an arse-covering exercise to make sure they don't need to warranty anything but the most terminal of terminal cases, not a "expect this", really.

Of course the 1ZZ-FE is prone to gumming up the oil return holes (and then rings) on the pistons, as well as ingesting bits of ceramic from the pre-cats in MR2 guise, leading to oval scored bores and .. catastrophic oil consumption. Of course they usually last past the warranty period so Toyota never had to pay up ;) (but did revise the piston & oil control system from 2005, I think)
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: hoody on 18 October 2017, 13:51:41
Oil level sensor is a very common issue on these as well,very easy to change
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: Doctor Gollum on 18 October 2017, 14:11:13
In the case of VW, the 2.0 tdi lump is definitely capable of using at least a litre every 1,000 KM as per the handbook. A point that they had to reiterate when the then new Passat was released as they were routinely failing within warranty.

Beware the old end of lease cars and there maximium mileage intervals between services.

The CC wouldn't have shown any oil loss as it was changed so often, but you may have dodged a bullet there ;)
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: Kevin Wood on 18 October 2017, 14:56:14
Crikey! I remember my father complaining that the Morris Ital that I eventually inherited was burning oil when it was new. It was a darn sight better that 1K / 1L back in 1981, and it continued to burn a little oil until I sold it 14 years later. In fact, I think most of the oil was dripping onto the exhaust and smoking!

Clearly we haven't come very far since then. ::)
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: Viral_Jim on 18 October 2017, 15:39:07

Clearly we haven't come very far since then. ::)

Other than now being able to comfortably make well over 100bhp/l of course, compared to an ital's....45bhp/l?  :y
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: pauls on 18 October 2017, 16:46:10
I didnt take much notice the last time i topped the oil but i believe it was about 500 miles. Iam only asking as over the first few months of doing the same run in warm weather it never used a drop. Now all of a sudden in the space of about 6 weeks and 1500 miles i have put about 3ltrs in. When the oil min display comes up i have checked the dipstick and both times it was showing just below a quarter on the gauge so i dont thing its a sensor. I asked about how far can i drive because on the a roads i travel on its a bit hard to pull over straight away. I filled it up last night and will start to check more often.
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: Kevin Wood on 18 October 2017, 16:51:50

Clearly we haven't come very far since then. ::)

Other than now being able to comfortably make well over 100bhp/l of course, compared to an ital's....45bhp/l?  :y

Indeed. Modern cars have re-kindled one trait, though: stalling every time you're waiting at a junction. ;)
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: Nick W on 18 October 2017, 18:13:39

Clearly we haven't come very far since then. ::)

Other than now being able to comfortably make well over 100bhp/l of course, compared to an ital's....45bhp/l?  :y


Considerably thinner oil must be a factor, which is one of several reasons I don't use 5/30 in the Omega. Of course, there's no way that VAG's German engineers cocked up the engine design and oil specs ::)
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: TheBoy on 18 October 2017, 19:09:46
Crikey! I remember my father complaining that the Morris Ital that I eventually inherited was burning oil when it was new. It was a darn sight better that 1K / 1L back in 1981, and it continued to burn a little oil until I sold it 14 years later. In fact, I think most of the oil was dripping onto the exhaust and smoking!

Clearly we haven't come very far since then. ::)
My Ital van, right up until the moment it finally disintegrated and they had to give me another, needed 2l per 200 miles (my daily average).

It also needed a new alternator every 2 weeks in winter, for a never diagnosed reason other than "don't use your wipers, headlights and heater fan at the same time, just use only 1 of those at a time"
Title: Re: couple of questions
Post by: Kevin Wood on 20 October 2017, 10:00:18

Clearly we haven't come very far since then. ::)

Other than now being able to comfortably make well over 100bhp/l of course, compared to an ital's....45bhp/l?  :y


Considerably thinner oil must be a factor, which is one of several reasons I don't use 5/30 in the Omega. Of course, there's no way that VAG's German engineers cocked up the engine design and oil specs ::)
My Omega rarely needs a top up at 214K and I use 5w30 in that. That's old hat now, though, with many modern cars specifying 0w20 oils! :o