consuming a lot of oil.

Asked by michellls Apr 29, 2008 at 01:47 PM about the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I've owned my 03 jetta for 2 1/2 months, just check oil, and it was down 3 quarts.  The dealership told me this consumption level was normal for vw's.  Not sure I believe that.  Anyone?

8 Answers

200

Are there any obvious leaks? How many miles in the 2.5 months?

3 people found this helpful.
200

Here is some more information: "In March 2001 VW issued Technical Service Bulletin 1701-01, "Oil Consumption, Evaluating." (WRITE DOWN THAT NUMBER FOLKS!) It describes a process for testing the oil consumption in your 2.0 engine. Pretty simple, bring it to the dealer and have a "tech" pull the dipstick every 1,000 miles. While they will tell you 1 quart per 1,000 miles is "within range", there is a fix if it higher than that, (or you wave a lawyer in their face). The warranty fix is called "Cylinder de-glazing and ring replacement" and amounts to a serious ripping apart and rebuilding of your engine, apparently to fix piston rings that are defective, or instaled upside down." http://www.myvwlemon.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000756.html

10 people found this helpful.
65

i also own a 2003 jetta with a 2.0.. I have found that the oil does go rather quick but it is completely normal.. VW's are notorious for going through oil quickly, to keep my car in good condition i do an oil change every 2 months.. it helps keep the car running well and prevents worrying doing it that way.

3 people found this helpful.
75

Car talk guys also got this question about a v-dub. Basically, it was the same answer - they consume lots of oil, but still recommend a 3rd party check up. Funny, I hear this all the time, but my '96 jetta GL doesn't have this problem.

2 people found this helpful.
95

Nick is correct. A vast majority of 2.0L VW's have had their piston rings installed upside down. VW denies this but it is true. In addition they have terrible valve stem seals which doesn't help. Although it is not a good thing that it does this, it's not out of the ordinary.

4 people found this helpful.
85

Dropping a $100.00 every 2 months on a synthetic oil change for an 08 Eos is a little pricey. If you have to add a liter of oil every 1000 kilometers then the motor has a design flaw. Volkswagen should step up to the plate and make it right.

3 people found this helpful.
3,515

the 2.0L engine was by far the biggest mistake Volkswagen made, I've own 12 different vdubs and 2 of them were 2.0L's both used oil in my opinion was unacceptable compared to vdubs 1.8,1.6,1.9 not too mention the electrical problems with oil sensors on the 2.0L I do not recommended it, if anyone looking to buy a vdub stay away from the 2.0L's.

4 people found this helpful.
90

i had the same problem for close to two years and then i finally sprung for a more expensive oil and now i hardly burn any. with the cheap synthetic oil i was burning like a quart every 500-700 miles and now i have used like a quarter of a quart in over 5500 miles. i switched to a castorl synthetic

9 people found this helpful.

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