Typical oil consumption

congo_90

So I've recently taken on a Vw golf mkIII. She's 15 years old and taken a lotta mileage.
To top it off I'm putting the mileage on her like butter on toast. I'm using approx 0.5- 0.7L oil per 1,500 - 2,000 miles on her. Much a googlin' and searching other forums and i cannot get oil consumption figures or anything close.
Most mileage is motorway. I know a typical figure but wondering if any vag owner could confirm similar or actual (by the book) figures for oil consumption?
My oil is based on dipstick and nothing exact for now unless someone points out otherwise.

Bear in mind I'm clocking 500+ miles per week.


On a side note, Anyone know where I can download or get a copy of the user manual for this car? The exact model is a Vw golf L (the estate, 1.4..)

Slidey

The 1.4 petrol had a habit of burning a drop.

As long as it is not leaking (if you park in the same place evry night this will soon become apparent) then it is burning it and there is f**k all you can do about it given the age of the car.

congo_90

Ah bugger. Yea I even went about leaving a sheet of carboard under the engine a while back to confirm no leaks or anything suspisious going on.

I guess I'm burning into high mileage in a car that old I should just accept my faith and top up as required.

Anyone able to help re: manuals, service manuals?

marc1

Doesn't surprise me and to be honest it is probably a good thing as it will keep you engine safe.

I would check two things:

Do you ever get smokey exhaust fumes? Especially well you give max. acceleration in 3rd or 4th gear from low revs?

This will sound basic, but make sure you are putting in the right (recommended) oil... You could be putting in oil that is too light for your engine.

congo_90

The simple fact is that I seldom floor it but afaik there is no smoke when giving it beans. Usually I'll only accelorate hard for merging onto tight slip roads. Even so my attention isn't so much rear view as wing mirrors etc.

Should I be seeing smoke? Might test it out today. I'm using 10W40 which is pretty much your standard oil?

marc1

It should not be smoky!
Are you using fully synthetic oil?

congo_90

No smoke coming outta her. She's on semi synthetic. No need to be using fully synthetic on a high miler 15 year old imo.

Nonoperational

Sounds like its perfectly fine. Thats not that much oil to be using at that age at all.

PADRAIC.M

actual figures from the book are 1 litre to 600 miles, but in reality if a car was doing that it would be a problem. on a car burning oil i would usally put 10/40w in it to slow consumption..

Fishtits

Standard consumption for that model.

How VAG get away with it is another story... they have a history of dog engines and selling shed loads of them (especially in IRL)

Hats off to them.

PADRAIC.M

yeah for that model... if i had that car and it was only that,without being smokey i would be happy

marc1

congo_90 wrote: »

No smoke coming outta her. She's on semi synthetic. No need to be using fully synthetic on a high miler 15 year old imo.

Semi synthetic is absolutely fine, if you want to lower the consumption you could try the fully synthetic, but as it is more expensive it probably not worth it, even if the consumption drops a lot.

congo_90

Sound for all the replies I know that some vag's have a thirst for oil but I reckon she'll do. Just keep some oil in the boot and top up as required I guess.

To bring up an old thing: anyone got the user manual online or service manual?

Esel

marc1 wrote: »

Semi synthetic is absolutely fine, if you want to lower the consumption you could try the fully synthetic, but as it is more expensive it probably not worth it, even if the consumption drops a lot.

Out of interest, how would it use less oil if it was full synthetic?

marc1

esel wrote: »

Out of interest, how would it use less oil if it was full synthetic?

From what I understand synthetic oil has less impurities (all the way down to the molecule level). These impurities in semi-synthetic oil can burn away or get filtered out - reducing the amount of total oil that is available to lubricate and cool the engine, meaning that you have to top up more frequently.

That said, putting fully synthetic oil into an old engine is not always a good thing, the impurities in normal or semi-synthetic oil can help fill very small leaks and cracks that form over the years.

congo_90

Sitec wrote: »

My sister has a 97 1.4 Golf and its the exact same. My father owned a 96 and said from day one it always took a drop of oil.

There a brutal engine I drove my sisters one and its as dead as a doornail. Makes a 1.4 Astra seem like a Ferrari after driving it.

Meh she's only a commuter and the fuel economy is grand for the price I paid

I'm sticking with semi-synthetic though perhaps the weather lately isn't helping.