Polo GTI high oil consumption?

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I wonder whether the people with the oil issues are babying the car during the "break in period", or waiting until it warms up (the oil, not the water) and then driving it enthusiastically (as you normally would)?

My observation is that the people who baby the cars during break in have high oil usage. The people who floor the gas as soon as they get it don't (not literally straight out of the dealer's drive away, but 10 minutes later once the engine oil is up to normal operating temp).

My observation too.

To get a good seal on the piston rings the car needs to be driven (once oil is at full operating temperature) at full throttle through the full rev range during the break-in period, contrasting the manufacturers recommendations.

Edit: Read this to get a good overview of why and how this needs to be done: http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

[gavs]

Thanks break, I was looking for that link to bookmark it!

[Coolio]

Guys guys guys....all this talk about winding the polo out to the redline and i have to wait till January...come on!

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Guys guys guys....all this talk about winding the polo out to the redline and i have to wait till January...come on!

The brightside is now you're informed on how to bed the piston rings in properly though... and it's going to be a fun process for you

[h100vw]

You don't need to wind it off the clock, just put it under load. Some nice long hills would be great. Slow down as much as you can in 3rd and then give it some and repeat.
Keep an eye on the temps.

Gavin

[Miles Away]

I've done just over 700km on mine and coincidently checked the oil levels tonight. It is using a decent amount of oil. I've been driving it a good mix of hard and soft. Either way i'm gonna have to top up the oil in the next few days.

[gavs]

mmm, might have to become a shareholder in mobil/elf/castrol/ etc....

[GTI Leo]

Just had this issue with my car over the long weekend only 2500km on the clock since buying.
Oil light came on and had to fill with 1L Shell Helix Ultra 5W-40 (which is VW 502 and specified along with vw 504 in the manual).
Went to the dealer the next day and they filled up the remainder for free and did confirm the oil i used is one of the oils specified for the Polo Gti's.

[Corey_R]

Did you show the service guys the bottle?
Or did you just tell them that you got "Shell Helix Ultra" ?
Cause even the Shell site thinks you got the wrong oil

[brad]

Did you show the service guys the bottle?
Or did you just tell them that you got "Shell Helix Ultra" ?
Cause even the Shell site thinks you got the wrong oil

If you look at page C3 of the TDS for Shell Helix Ultra 5w-40 you will find it is 502.00/505.00/503.01.

[brad]

BTW: Scan from the Owners Manual applicable to an EA888 1.8TSI.
Applicable box is on the LHS for QG0/QG2 service intervals (IOW 15,000km/12months).
501.01; 502.00; 504.00

[Corey_R]

This is the Polo forum so they're not using the EA888 engine.

Having said that, it's good to see that you can still use the older 502 oil in the EA888's. Though it's interesting that they caution you to only use 0.5L of the stuff and only once if you're on the flexible servicing due to it being inferior. Good reason to use the best oil available (504).

There are also threads elsewhere which show engine pull downs and why you should be using the 504 over the 502.

[brad]

This is the Polo forum so they're not using the EA888 engine.

Having said that, it's good to see that you can still use the older 502 oil in the EA888's. Though it's interesting that they caution you to only use 0.5L of the stuff and only once if you're on the flexible servicing due to it being inferior. Good reason to use the best oil available (504).

There are also threads elsewhere which show engine pull downs and why you should be using the 504 over the 502.

Sorry, didn't realise the GTI 1.4 wasn't in the EA888 family. EA113?

We don't have flexible servicing schedule in Australia, therefore any of the QG1 section is irrellevant for AUS & this thread. I wouldn't use any 502.00 in an engine that has the potential to be going 30,000km between changes either - yew

Please be aware that I do preventive maintenance planning/specifications on for a living. The lazy PM planners always just specify "the best" (usually the most expensive as well) with the shortest maintenance intervals. The ones (like me) that are trying to get a good balance between maintenance costs & equipment reliability often put our nuts on the block & back-spec a bit if the evidence shows over-servicing. (eg: the previous guy in my job never did any Used Oil Analysis & simply scheduled in 200L hydraulic oil changes every 12 months - for equipment that was getting used 20 hours per year). The cost was about $3000 and there were a lot of other risks (environmental, business) associated with doing an oil change. I now get a UOA done every 6 months. It costs ~$300 (inc labour/travel time). Big savings & better trend monitoring of the equipment.

I agree, 504.00 is a better oil (I've done oil analysis of 504.00 & there's almost no degredation after 15,000km of "normal" driving) but I get a bit frustrated when 502.00 is used as a top-up oil (or even a full-fill) and everyone jumps up & down & says it is wrong. Also, if your engine is an oil burner & you are finding it frustrating, sometimes it's better to back-spec on the oil a bit. It might help bed things in a bit quicker.

[Corey_R]

Sorry, didn't realise the GTI 1.4 wasn't in the EA888 family. EA113?

The 1.4TSI ("Twincharger") is actually based on the EA111 family - but that family started in the 70s! So I guess it's classed within the EA113. Funnily enough, the Service Training Self-study material doesn't state its family!

I agree, 504.00 is a better oil (I've done oil analysis of 504.00 & there's almost no degredation after 15,000km of "normal" driving) but I get a bit frustrated when 502.00 is used as a top-up oil (or even a full-fill) and everyone jumps up & down & says it is wrong. Also, if your engine is an oil burner & you are finding it frustrating, sometimes it's better to back-spec on the oil a bit. It might help bed things in a bit quicker.

Yeah, it's fine to be topping up with 502, but I just think that with the rate that some people are claiming that their cars are using oil, you'd be better off topping up with 504, as by the comments here, you're not going to have any "original oil" left by service time! eek!

[Gambit]

So it says that next scheduled service is 15k kms can I take it in at 1k kms and get them to apply that 15k km service at that interval if I am concerned ? I have net checked my oil consumption yet just find it disconcerting that there is no 1k km service for the initial run in period.