A few issues

[shimee]

Hi All
Looking for some suggestions, I've had a bit of run of bad luck with the car the past 2 weeks. Firstly, I left the key in the ignition at work for the day (our private car park requires attendant to move car from time to time). Key was inserted but turned off but with all the systems and stuff that come alive even just when inserted the battery died. I had to get a jump start, thought nothing of it.

Following week I got a tyre pressure light on dash. Inspected the wheels found a massive screw through front right on the conrner of sidewall and tread. Pressure a bit low, 30PSI, so I thought a slow leak. I needed new fronts anyway so this was a good excuse and on Saturday got 4 new tyres. When the old tyres came off there were 3 nails in the rear tyres as well but in the the tread...no pressure issues.

Drove up to the country on Sunday, oil warning light comes on. I checked my oil about 3000km ago and it was 3/4 towards max. In the first 15,000km my car used less than .5l so I haven't checked it more frequently than every 5000km. This time it was JUST above min. I was soo stressed, immediately bought VW504/507 oil and topped up.

Driving home tonight, the coolant system warning light has come on flashing. The oil temp is normal, actually a bit lower than normal. Im freaking out again.

THing is, all this has started with a flat battery and now its got me wondering what might be going on. The tyre warning seemed legit, though considering the only 2psi drop and the fact there were nails/screws in all the tyres I wonder...

The oil warning is obviously legit, but why such a sudden drop in oil?

Coolant system - coolant is below Min line.

The car was serviced at 15,000 which is 7000kms ago. There have been no issues to date.

Obviously the next step is to get it to a mechanic, and therein lies the problem, I've done the Full TBE, Intake, ECU stage 2, Stereo, KW Coilovers. If this becomes a warranty discussion Ill be going through the dreaded back to stock exercise.

Does anyone car to guess if this might just be electrical system playing up or someone much more serious?

Cheers

[tino]

probably be better off bringing your car back to where you got it tuned (or a workshop you know and trust) and have them run some diagnostics coz VW will probably try and talk their way out of warranty and or take the opportunity to rip you off.

could be the flat batt resetting the ECU and somehow the tune you've done vs. stock settings could be working against each other thus throwing up error messages??

just my 2 cents worth but i hope you get the issues sorted mate...

[shimee]

Thanks Tino, and tend to agree, ill give volkspower a call in the morning and see what can be done.
Fingers crossed it isn't anything serious. I edited my post above as I rechecked the coolant when I had a torch and it is actually under the minimum.
Strange that my oil and coolant both bottomed out within two days..or maybe that isn't strange?

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[AdamD]

A small amount of oil use is perfectly fine. Check your oil every 2 weeks or 500km. It's normal for this engine to consume a moderate amount of oil - don't be alarmed. Keep a 1L bottle of VW-approved 504.00-507.00 in the garage, and top up as required. Remember - it's not a sudden drop in oil if you last checked it 3,000km ago!

It's also normal for the coolant level to drop over time, to below the min level (see this thread in the Mk6 section: Coolant levels). Top it up to between the min and max levels with a mixture of G12+ and water.

When you drive over nails, flat tyres will ensue. This is not unusual - it happens.

None of what you have described warrants taking your car to a mechanic or the dealer. It's not faulty and warranty does not come into it. It's part and parcel of owning a car and performing basic maintenance!

[shimee]

Thanks AdamD,
I definitely hear what you're saying and as a forum member should probably know better re the oil consumption of these cars. However, for the every day car owner, having to check oil every two weeks is unfathomable in modern vehicles. 3000km, even 10,000km, in any car I have owned previously would have shown no discernible reduction in oil level. But, can't deny it's a good practice and I am aware of VW being infamous for this so will definitely be more diligent in future.

The reason for mentioning tyres was that after 22000km with no events, in the space of 1 week I had 3 electrical warnings all following a flat battery. When the tyre pressure wasn't much lower, and when I found out I'd been driving around with nails in all tyres for god knows how long, I started to think maybe the electrics were playing up.

Anyway, I feel a bit better with your reassurance, now if you could just underwrite that with a monetary guarantee Ill go for a drive

[Bain]

A few issues

Thanks AdamD,
I definitely hear what you're saying and as a forum member should probably know better re the oil consumption of these cars. However, for the every day car owner, having to check oil every two weeks is unfathomable in modern vehicles. 3000km, even 10,000km, in any car I have owned previously would have shown no discernible reduction in oil level. But, can't deny it's a good practice and I am aware of VW being infamous for this so will definitely be more diligent in future.

The reason for mentioning tyres was that after 22000km with no events, in the space of 1 week I had 3 electrical warnings all following a flat battery. When the tyre pressure wasn't much lower, and when I found out I'd been driving around with nails in all tyres for god knows how long, I started to think maybe the electrics were playing up.

Anyway, I feel a bit better with your reassurance, now if you could just underwrite that with a monetary guarantee Ill go for a drive

You shouldn't need to check your oil every 2 weeks, or at all.

Your will get a flashing oil can indicator when you turn on the car or as you are driving If you require a top up.

If oil can goes red, you stop driving and get it filled ASAP. This should never happen though.


In the 60000ks since getting the car in jan 2011, the oil indicator has come on twice and both of those were within days of a service period. The only warranty issue I've had is the abs sensor failing. 2 day turn around with courtesy car for my wife,

[AdamD]

The reason for mentioning tyres was that after 22000km with no events, in the space of 1 week I had 3 electrical warnings all following a flat battery. When the tyre pressure wasn't much lower, and when I found out I'd been driving around with nails in all tyres for god knows how long, I started to think maybe the electrics were playing up.

The TPMS on these cars is based on the ABS sensors. If there were electrical gremlins (which are possible when you have a near-dead battery), you'd be seeing strange faults and serious errors, based on systems that draw a lot of current or are otherwise very sensitive to fluctuations from the battery prior to, or just after, it being started. A TPMS warning (especially when accompanied by nails in the tyre(s)), coolant and oil level lights are actually all fairly common occurrences, and of course are easy to verify yourself in all cases.

Don't forget that a nail doesn't mean the tyre will deflate immediately - it may have been an extremely slow deflation that could have taken weeks to manifest in a flat tyre that you'd notice by feel. The sensors are obviously more sensitive, but even they need to see a significant shift in rolling circumference, over kilometres of driving, before they'll alert.

You shouldn't need to check your oil every 2 weeks, or at all.

Your will get a flashing oil can indicator when you turn on the car or as you are driving If you require a top up.

It all depends on your attitude toward proactive maintenance. The warning on the dash is just that - it's highlighting that the oil level is too low and needs to be remedied immediately. If you're checking the level via the dipstick, it's much easier to track oil consumption visually over time, and top it up as required well before the point at which a warning would be triggered.

The owner's manual does highlight the importance of checking these things manually, despite the presence of electronic warning systems.

[nightphotographer]

You shouldn't need to check your oil every 2 weeks, or at all.

Your will get a flashing oil can indicator when you turn on the car or as you are driving If you require a top up.

[Bain]

No need to face palm, you obviously think that your car is some old carby fed, pushrod cast iron block monolith from the 80's if you think it requires regular checks for oil. Or perhaps you think it's an old 90's magna?

For the enthusiasts, sure they do the checks if their cars are modified but for the layman off the street who wants the car to start, stop and go they should be able to accurately rely on the notifications that get displayed to them.

You guys seem to think the cars of today need to be babied or something. There's so much smarts in a car now that it's designed for the layman. Why do you think everything is colour coded under the bonnet now should there be a need to undertake some emergency fluid top ups.





2014 Audi S3 Saloon - Audi exclusive colour, performance pack.
Build date: week 22-23.

[sports racer]

Love my 1990 non-whizbang GTI.

If the oil light stays on I add oil. If the temp guage goes up I add water. If it coughs I add petrol. It doesn't have an annoying buzzer whenever it thinks I haven't turned on/off/adjusted something that the Legal Dept thinks I need to know so I won't sue them.

When something is wrong it still gets me home without having to find the closest mechanic. That's why I love the old stuff, the cars are so easy to fix.

Cheers

Paul

[nightphotographer]

It's just so lazy though...I'm disappointed there are VW Enthusiasts who can't take 30 seconds out of their day every couple of weeks to look over their car and then hate on the people who actually care enough about their car to do so.

[shimee]

It's just so lazy though...I'm disappointed there are VW Enthusiasts who can't take 30 seconds out of their day every couple of weeks to look over their car and then hate on the people who actually care enough about their car to do so.

There's no hate here just a discussion

I also don't think this is about laziness. Well, once one becomes aware that their car from this millennium does what all their cars from this and the previous millennium haven't done (ie use unusual and unpredictable amounts of oil) I agree it becomes incumbent on the owner to change their behaviour. Is it reasonable that this is required - I'd say no.

When most people purchase new vehicles they expect the car to get them through service intervals without upkeep except at times of failure. They expect this because 90% of cars do in fact do this. Perhaps this is hard for an automotive enthusiast to accept but for a driving enthusiast in 2014 it is not.

I think it's a fair assumption made by a previous poster, that the warning systems in cars COULD be enough to avoid damage. Manufacturers would hopefully be smart enough to set things like minimum levels at a point where it prevents damage. We could then regain the 30seconds every 2 weeks and use it for something constructive :p

I have to say I see far worse examples of laziness every day that have far greater repercussions e.g smokers tossing cigarette butts into the streets rather than keeping in their precious car (FYI if I see you I report you)

Anyway, my car is leaking coolant, as evidenced by the warning indicator and now since refilled the pink puddle under the car. Off to the mechanic I go!

Cheers all.

[Diesel_vert]

A visual oil level check should take no more than a minute. If the level is between 3/4 and MAX, I simply leave it at that. If it's looking lowish, I then take the time to perform the check properly according to procedure in the owners manual.

The area between the MIN and MAX level on the dipstick represents about 0.5 L (or 1.0 L, depending on what you read on the internet) of the total oil capacity.

It is not uncommon for engines to consume oil between services, especially intervals as long as 15 000 km or more. One of the provisos with such service intervals is for the owner to perform basic vehicle checks and maintenance (the owners manual usually provides instructions), which the owner would have otherwise paid a workshop to do so when service intervals were only 5 000 km, 7 500 km or 10 000 km apart back in the old days.

I prefer the long-service-interval-and-doing-my-own-interim-checks model myself.

You shouldn't need to check your oil every 2 weeks, or at all.

That's more of an expectation from the modern consumer's point of view, but the reality is that some engines consume more oil than others, and one should make allowances for this as part of vehicle ownership experience.

Your will get a flashing oil can indicator when you turn on the car or as you are driving If you require a top up.

If oil can goes red, you stop driving and get it filled ASAP. This should never happen though.

A yellow symbol usually means the oil level is low, or there is a fault with the oil level sensor.

A red symbol usually means low oil pressure, which is serious, and is not always related to the oil level, depending on the nature of the problem.

There is nothing wrong with relying on the electronic warning systems, but they're not infallible, so a visual confirmation (if possible) every now and again won't go astray.

[shimee]

Good points diesel.

Glad mine was showing the yellow oil symbol in this case. Now just hoping the coolant issue is not going to be too serious ie expensive.

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[sports racer]

Anyway, my car is leaking coolant, as evidenced by the warning indicator and now since refilled the pink puddle under the car. Off to the mechanic I go!

Have you tried to find where the leak is? It could be something as simple as a loose hose clamp (hopefully).

Hope you don't have a mechanic who rips you off and tells you it's a major issue when it's a 1 min job with a screwdriver.

Cheers

Paul