Polo GTI High Oil Usage - Discussion Thread

[danielv10]

Anyone know why this should happen?

Someone took it for a long, slow, sedated cruise
Did the oil light come on or did you go by the dip stick?

I finally got off my ass and checked the oil level yesterday for the first time. Just shy of 8,000 km on it and no light had come on so I was thinking it must be all good. I really should have checked sooner. There wasn't even oil on the ball at the end of the stick. I topped it up with almost 3L of oil today so the light must have been close to coming on. Not as bad as a lot of people on here but I'm not impressed either.

3L?? Holy...
Thought the dip stick measures the top 1L?

[Yaks1974]

The light is meant to come on when you lose about 1L I believe. There must be something wrong with yours I'd get it checked out, loosing close to 3/4 of your oil with no warning is not good.

[Mikefc]

mmm...i Had mine topped up at 8000K with the CTHE engine 2 weeks ago. Just found that the dealership had forgot to put the oil cap back on. Epic fail. Just written them an angry email.

[Proximak]

The light is meant to come on when you lose about 1L I believe. There must be something wrong with yours I'd get it checked out, loosing close to 3/4 of your oil with no warning is not good.

I wondered but thought I read someone on here saying that it comes on when your are down to 1L. Would be just my luck that the oil light is buggered. definitely didn't overfill it though, I checked the dip stick 3 times when I was done and the oil was just between the B and A section. Engine was warm too.

[kevinctr]

I have a habit of making sure I go on full boost or high revs for a few secs and high rev engine braking on every trip the engine has been fired up. Only when engine oil has reached at least 80 degrees. CAVE engine with 18,000km done and almost zero oil consumption for
1000km after service. Will check again at 2000km on this Mobil 5W30ESP oil and update.

[noone]

1L left is likely bad... Its designed for around 4L, 1/4 of that is likely not lubricating components properly.

I'd be calling Monday morning and recording every conversation, report, etc. Get everything in writing, get them to comment on if damage could have occurred with 1L of oil left, you don't want a car thats prematurely aged because it has a unique issue that you the consumer should not really have to be so cautious about.

Good luck.

[BLN355]

Umm you've way over filled it. The light will come on with 1 litre gone.

I finally got off my ass and checked the oil level yesterday for the first time. Just shy of 8,000 km on it and no light had come on so I was thinking it must be all good. I really should have checked sooner. There wasn't even oil on the ball at the end of the stick. I topped it up with almost 3L of oil today so the light must have been close to coming on. Not as bad as a lot of people on here but I'm not impressed either.

[Disciple]

Umm you've way over filled it. The light will come on with 1 litre gone.

Agree with this.

I had to help my neighbour a few weeks ago who put too much oil in his Hyundai Getz. He said he saw the oil light come on, so he just put in 5L of oil. Started it up, started billowing MASSIVE amounts of white smoke, then it conked out at the top of his 10m long driveway. I then drained about 4.5L of oil out of his sump, pulled the plugs out and cleaned them in metho, started the car without the plugs in to blow out all the oil above the pistons (!). Eventually it started and was still billowing white smoke. It eventually stopped blowing white smoke after a days driving. Car still works and that was quite a few weeks ago now. I think he got very lucky.

Moral of the story: Please check your oil level immediately. Maybe post us a picture of the level. If you've stated the level wasn't even at the ball, it's possible you got a false reading the first time.

[Yaks1974]

The guy said that he did not overfill, adding 3 L got him sitting between the A and B mark.

[alexz]

i don't think a polo would run with less than 1 litre in the sump...

[Proximak]

OK, let's just clear this up a little. I said I put in nearly 3L and I just re-checked how much was out of the 5L bottle I bought and I may have misread it previously and exaggerated that slightly. It was actually less than 2.5L which still aint great.

I also definitely didn't overfill it because I have checked it several times in the last few hours and it's not over the A level.

[Proximak]

Agree with this.

I had to help my neighbour a few weeks ago who put too much oil in his Hyundai Getz. He said he saw the oil light come on, so he just put in 5L of oil. ...

Also, I didn't just pour 2.5L of oil straight in. I am familiar with the process of topping up oil. I did about 1L yesterday and was getting pretty nervous when I checked and re-checked that it wasn't making any real difference so I decided to leave it overnight. I checked again this morning and it was the same so I kept adding at about 200-300 mls at a time.

I will be ringing my local dealership tomorrow for a please explain session to see what they have to say.

[alexz]

when are you checking the level? it needs to be within 5-10min of turning off the engine (obviously has to be driven for a bit)

[scobb]

when are you checking the level? it needs to be within 5-10min of turning off the engine (obviously has to be driven for a bit)

Is that correct? While I'm not saying your technique is equally valid, I always consistently check mine when it is stone cold, typically after it has been stood overnight. Wouldn't this also give an accurate and valid reading?

[gavs]

Is that correct? While I'm not saying your technique is equally valid, I always consistently check mine when it is stone cold, typically after it has been stood overnight. Wouldn't this also give an accurate and valid reading?

So long as you know where it is when when hot in relation to cold then it will be fine. That way you can always referenc eback to where it should be when hot.

And once again (god I'm getting sick of writing this) the dipstick only measures the top ~1L of oil in the sump. If you are below the level detectable by the dipstick, you already have problems.

Don't wait for the bloody light to come on people! You have all read this thread, is it really that hard to pop the bonnet and check your oil when you fill up with petrol? Especially if you don't know exactly how much oil your engine burns?!
In all honesty, I don't have nay sympthy for those who ocmplain about the light coming on because in reality, if you're already a member on here then you know about the problems. It's just lazyness.