Oil consumption

[Brian McG]

Hi

 

I have a 2023 A6 Avant.  I find i need to top up the oil every 5000km.  Is this normal?

[Magnet]

Welcome Brian,

How much oil are you adding every 5000kms? 
What mileage has the car done to date? 
Have you owned it from new, and has it always used the same quantity of oil? 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 
p.s. Where is Ork? 

[Brian McG]

Hi Gareth

There's 30K km on the clock.  I top up a litre each time.  I bought the car when it was a year old.

Cork is what I meant to put in the location box.  I'll fix that.

 

Regards 

Brian

[Magnet]

Many thanks for coming back on this Brian. 
Apologies for translating to miles, so members on here can get a better understanding. 
30K Kms. equates to around 19K miles, and in my book, this car should be thoroughly ‘run in’ by now, and its oil consumption should have settled to a lower extent than what it is - currently around 1,500 miles/ pint. 
We take it the oil you are topping up with is the correct grade and specification, and if so, I would be doing possibly 2 things:- 

Check in your handbook what the oil consumption rate should be.

Request your dealer to conduct an oil consumption test on the car. 
Has the car had a service yet?  If not, then it should be due.

Perhaps you could let us know how you get on Brian.

Kind regards,

Gareth. 
 

[Brian McG]

Thanks Gareth 

 

I'll do that and get back ro you.

 

Regards 

Brian

[jammy]

2 hours ago, Brian McG said:

Thanks Gareth 

 

I'll do that and get back ro you.

 

Regards 

Brian

For comparison, I have a 2021 2.0 40tsi petrol. Currently on a smidge over 30k miles. Besides one oil change at 20k I’ve never had to top up and it doesnt use oil according to the electonic oil level check.

[Magnet]

Thanks again Brian.

The used-to-quoted (not sure if it still is) ‘acceptable’ oil consumption in the hand book, was never acceptable to me, but….

Have you checked to see what is quoted, and what is the to-date service history on the car? 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Brian McG]

Thanks Gareth

I can't find a reference to acceptable oil consumption in the manual.

Regards 

Brian 

[jammy]

7 minutes ago, Brian McG said:

Thanks Gareth

I can't find a reference to acceptable oil consumption in the manual.

Regards 

Brian 

Page 315 of the manual 😊

[Brian McG]

Thanks

So it looks like this is usual.  

Regards 

Brian

[Magnet]

As you see Brian - ‘….can be up to….’. This is the catch all statement I was referring to.

I think yours is unusual and Gary’s is normal. It’s unreasonable to expect to have to top up with a litre of oil every 3K miles. 
Do you not want to share its service history with us Brian? 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Brian McG]

Hi Gareth

It was serviced at 12k km (when i bought it) and 26k km.

Regards 

Brian

[jammy]

9 minutes ago, Brian McG said:

Hi Gareth

It was serviced at 12k km (when i bought it) and 26k km.

Regards 

Brian

Which engine?

[Magnet]

Thanks again Brian,

So you have driven this car over 18K Kms, and I think what we now need to gauge is, has it always used that amount of oil consistently over that mileage, or has its consumption increased or decreased over that time. 
What we are getting to Brian, is its oil consumption now worse or better than it was when you bought it? 
If it’s worse, at what mileage did it start to get worse? 
All this information will be useful to document for when you approach your dealership. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Brian McG]

Thanks Gareth 

Good suggestion. 

I did the calculation.  The consumption is actually 1L/6,500km.  I'll monitor this.

 

Regards 

Brian

[Magnet]

Thanks Brian, but you are not giving us any answers to the questions in the last post. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Brian McG]

Do you mean the engine type?

It's a 2L Diesel.  I also see the same note in the manual on fuel consumption shown above (up to 500mL/1000km).  

 

Right now I'm getting 75mL/1000km.  I'll keep an eye on it using the level monitor in the dash.

[Magnet]

I’m talking oil consumption Brian, not fuel. 

[Brian McG]

Same here

75mL of oil every 1000km

 

[Magnet]

Thanks Brian,

Have a read of my post of 19 hours ago, and let me know what you don’t understand about the questions asked, or hopefully just come up with all the answers. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Brian McG]

 

Thanks Gareth

The answer there is i don't yet know the oil consumption rate change as I only recorder the start and finish odometer reading and the total volume of oil consumed.  

I have begun recording the consumption rate now and should know within a few months whether it has increased or reduced.

Regards 

Brian

[cliffcoggin]

21 hours ago, Brian McG said:

Same here

75mL of oil every 621.37 Miles

 

I am confused. 75 ml of oil every what? Month? Year? 1000 miles?

[Magnet]

I’m reading 75ml as 750ml.

I’ve unmarked this thread as ‘Solution’ since the history is vague, and the future is certainly uncertain.

[jammy]

39 minutes ago, Magnet said:

I’m reading 75ml as 750ml.

I’ve unmarked this thread as ‘Solution’ since the history is vague, and the future is certainly uncertain.

🤭

[Optimus]

I add roughly a litre every 2k-3k miles. I do a lot of motorway miles this is normal to a degree.

The oil is very very thin, it’s less durable because of its viscosity. Therefore it burns and evaporates far easier.

oil loss is as a result of the above. It’s normal on modern vehicles compared to 10 years ago. 
 

new vehicles will burn oil as things settle in piston and cylinder liners including o-rings.

Id say this is normal for a new car it wouldn’t be normal after 6k miles to burning through 1litre every 1000-2000 miles what ever the usage.