Oil Consumption

[hugothebear]

Hello, I have an Octavia 2.0 litre Ambiente Estate. It's done 27,000 miles from new and is nearly 3 years old. I use it for average motoring and usually just with self and large dog... so its hardly ever fully loaded. When new it used about litre and half of oil in first 10K miles, from about 15,OOO miles it started to use a little more... now it seems to get through a litre every 1,000 miles (or less) and I always use the proper lifetime service stuff bought from my Skoda dealer.

My dealer is pretty patient and I have discussed this issue with them (I ramble on about the oil consumption every time I go to buy more oil...... that is every 1,000 miles.) he says that with lifetime service I save money the pay-off being that the car is meant to use oil.... fine I understand that concept but it seems to be using a lot. I would rather take the car to the dealer once a year for an old fashioned serivce and not make the monthly trip to buy more oil (yes I could buy lots all at once but then I couldn't annoy my dealer by asking him if the level of oil consumption is ok). I am also afraid that after the end of the warranty I will discover that the engine need new "O" rings or something and get a massive bill....

Everybody seems to say that it should improve after the "run-in" period.... mine has got worse. Of course at the moment the car is under warranty so any corrective work is covered (until end Feb this year !) I wont go on any more or you will die of boredom at my ramblings but I would like to know if there really are lots of other Octavia drivers who think it is ok to use this much oil in a papmered car that is 27,000 miles old and still under warranty.

I am not particularly bothered about topping up the oil if this is normal... I like the car very much and I want to keep it going at its best for as long as possible (i.e. until I have saved up for new Octavia)

Many thanks if you have read this far,

regards from Gregory (Hugothebear)

[mellowyellow]

I'm no expert , but a litre every 1K miles does seem a lot to me , haven't heard of anyone else who's car uses that much .

[stopan1j]

I had a 2.0 in an Oct from new it used used all but within VAG limits, IIRC I read somewhere there was an issue with some 2.0 engines that did give really excessive oil consumption. If I remember correctly it was a piston ring assembly problem.

[humsk]

Sounds excessive to me too - similar to my mate's Alfa 147, but they are known for their oil consumption.

I know mine's a different engine, but I would assume it's made with the same component tolerances and it does not use any oil between services (10k miles).

If it's not leaking out, do you notice any blue smoke in the rear view mirror?

[greg2302]

1 litre every 1,000 miles does sound really excessive. I've never even had to put that much oil into some of the old bangers I used to drive. I've got a 1.8T, 25,000 miles on the clock, and I'm on fixed interval servicing, but I have never needed to put any oil in it yet.

[mannyo]

Variable Service 1.8T here, never needed to put any oil in since about 4k miles. Time between last service and previous was 18K miles and it never needed topping up, this includes many track miles (high rpm for extended periods). Even the mondeo with 113K miles on the clock hardly uses any.

[DGW]

My car uses LongLife oil and no topping up has been needed so far in 7000 miles. The Owner's Manual says that Depending on the style of driving the (oil) consumption can be as much as 1 litre/1000km. As yours is less than that, Gregory, I wouldn't have thought that Skoda UK would be concerned in your case. But as the oil consumption of a new engine should decrease rather than increase over the mileage your car has done, why not write to Skoda UK expressing your concern that there may be a developing problem and that if this proves to be the case, you would reasonably expect that problem to be fixed free of charge by Skoda UK. You've got nothing t9o lose in doing so.

[msoames21]

You do have a problem 1 litre for every 1000 miles is not right, ask them to do something about it before its too late. The job takes 8 hours to fix (piston rings) and you don't wanna be charged for that much work!! Don't annoy, get them to fix it, ask for a wet test*!!! I personally think your dealer is trying to work one over on you!! If your local dealer won't do it find someone who will!!

Matt

*Wet test, they top the oil and make a note of the mileage and the oil level, then 1000 miles later you bring it in and they check it again

[SilveRS]

Greg, speak to your dealer about the problem. This would seem excessive to me.

I once had a 1.6 Astra with 130k on the clock, which had probably never been serviced. It had more coke deposits in the engine than a blast furnace, valve seals were non-existent and it had a tendency to belch more smoke than a bus, yet it still only used about 1 pint of oil every 600 miles, which is only marginally more than your new Octavia.

In comparison, my 1.8T has now done 27k and has still not used a drop, with a single service at 18k.

[Dutch4x4]

The Owner's Manual says that Depending on the style of driving the (oil) consumption can be as much as 1 litre/1000km[/i'].

Saw that too, and found it a very curious statement. 1 litre/1000km is hugely excessive for any car. What driving style would that be then? One like this?

Variable Service 1.8T here, never needed to put any oil in since about 4k miles. Time between last service and previous was 18K miles and it never needed topping up, this includes many track miles (high rpm for extended periods).

Doesn't seem to apply...

Anyway, I've just done 20k kms (12.5k miles) and have topped up once at 18k with a quarter litre, just to be on the safe side, as the level was approaching the bottom line of the 'no problem' section.

[hugothebear]

thanks for replies and words of support.... I think I will approach dealer firmly but politely and ask for this to be investigated further so that even if I do not complete a further 1000 miles before the warranty expires I will have "officially" got them to recognise the problem....

will request a "wet" test as suggested..

Also have noticed orange/brown mouse gathering under oil filler cap, there is no sign of oil in coolant but dealer also dismissed this....

I have been very very pleased the car. Skoda have re-packaged themselves and now make serious real world cars, I chose mine in preference to a Volvo Estate after being a loyal Volvo owner for years not only because it was a bit cheaper to buy but I thought it was a more solid and generally nicer car. I hope I am not going to be let down by dealers who are not going to give support in line with the "new" Skoda image.

thanks again for quick responses and suggestions

Gregory

[hugothebear]

oooppppsss...

ok... my spelling is not good on keyboard... I meant orange/brown mousse not mouse :eggface: Engine rocker box cover would be very hostile environment for mouse to live in...

Gregory

[humsk]

Also have noticed orange/brown mouse gathering under oil filler cap' date=' there is no sign of oil in coolant but dealer also dismissed this....

[/quote']

Gregory,

If the "colourful rodent" is an oil/water emulsion, then a faulty cylinder head gasket could be a possible cause - could also account for the excessive oil consumption.

What sort of driving do you do? Regular very short journeys would lead to more piston ring wear and a build up of condensation in the engine (especially at this time of year).

[humsk]

Just had a thought - would a compression test not show up a faulty cylinder head gasket, incorrectly torqued down head or even worst a warped cylinder head ?

Any comments on this idea folks ?

[stopan1j]

..

Also have noticed orange/brown mouse gathering under oil filler cap' date=' there is no sign of oil in coolant but dealer also dismissed this....

[/quote']

The sludge is quite normal on the 2.0 8v 115bhp engine, its normal to have to clear this from cap seal and area pipework. Mine did it from new and dealer advised it common with this engine.

[robmawer]

orange/brown mousse

Does said mousse look anything like:

That's on a 1.6 with 42k on the clock about 1.5k after it's service. And on a cold morning before use...

Rob.

[hugothebear]

thanks for replies... ok so the sludge may be just due to condensation under the rocker... thought that may be the case as there are no other of the usual signs of faulty gaskets (supposedly almost unknown on this engine anyway)... local dealer has been most helpful and agreed to check oil consumption so presumably will perform whatever tests are possible to identity something which may be cause,

gregory

just seen picture of Rob's filler sludge... yes it does, also quite a bit of same if you run cloth around rim of filler hole.... yes I guess at this time of year I always see it cold before use so would tend to be when this stuff has gathered,

... would make interesting mystery picture on TV daytime quiz

regards and thanks again

[robmawer]

... would make interesting mystery picture on TV daytime quiz

Actually the picture was taken because Tavia4x4 had a query about it on a 1.6 he was checking out...and who says picture messaging has no application?

One thing I do notice, and is visible in the picture - on the engine cover in the background, there is actually a damp patch in the area around the filler hole. I suspect this is just cause by condensation...

Rob.

[vladimir]

The sludge is quite normal on the 2.0 8v 115bhp engine, its normal to have to clear this from cap seal and area pipework. Mine did it from new and dealer advised it common with this engine.

True about the sludge!

I also have it on my Octavia 2.0 (engine code is AQY).

I have 78.000 km done and my oil consumption is average for this type of engine, about 1 litre per 15.000km.

[r.carder]

My 2.0L Octavia uses about 1 Ltr every 1000 miles and also has the yellow

sludge around the oil filler cap. This seems to be common for the 2.0 engine

and apart from the oil expense I would not worry to much.

I did get mine s/h from a dealer and I love the car but for the first 5 months after topping up the oil I did think it was a bad engine and was worried it was a dog !!!

Cheers Roger.

Linton,Cambrige

P.s. 51,000 miles on her now.

[hugothebear]

Have had my car checked by dealer when it when in for its first MOT- it is running beautifully and yellow sludge seems not to appear when weather milder and car gets decent run - also when I completed journey through Europe nearly 1000 miles total it hardly used any oil at all... so maybe it all depends on motoring - lots of short journeys in cold weather not ideal for any car I suppose...

I have extended warranty through dealer and continue to enjoy my Octavia.