2003 VW Golf GL Oil Consumption Question

[Marcus24]

I recently purchased a 2003 VW Golf GL with the 2.0 engine.

Right now it has 91,200 miles on it. I got an oil change on it about 3 weeks ago. In that time I've driven about 1100 miles. I used Mobil 1 - 5w30. Since the oil change, my car has burned through the oil and I'll have to add at least 1/2 a quart within the next 100 - 200 miles.

Any suggestions on what to do? Use a different oil?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is my first VW.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Mobil 1 5w-30 and frankly all M1 is notorious for consumption. Try a 10w-30 dino, or 10w-30 Hi-Miles. Quit buying Mobil 1, it is a waste of money and performs poorly. If you still have consumption, 10w-40 will improve the situation. There are some things you can do to clean the piston rings, which are likely installed upside down (another discussion).

Try a piston soak, a mix of light oils and solvents, 2-3 oz poured into the clean sparkplug holes, crank w/o plugs and let sit overnight, crank again. Then do an intake cleaning and before all that, maybe an engine flush with some kero or diesel mixed into the old oil at idle for 10 minutes.

Check and clean the PCV.

 

[finalyzd]

Lol get your flame suit on audi junkie the mobil lovers are going to like that hahaha

 

[Marcus24]

Audi Junkie - Thanks for the information! I'll switch oils next oil change and see what kind of outcome I get. I read somewhere online about the piston rings that you talked about being installed upside down, and thought that might have something to do with it.

If nothing else, I'll try the piston soak.

I'll keep you updated on my results in the future.

 

[Quattro Pete]

I used Shell Rotella T 5w-40 in our 01 Jetta. It was still consuming about a quart of it every 4k miles.

Your consumption seems pretty normal unfortunately.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Originally Posted By: finalyzd
Lol get your flame suit on audi junkie the mobil lovers are going to like that hahaha


Coming from the RSX forums, when people had extreme consumption and smoking, inevitably the oil in use was Mobil 1 5w-30. When they changed to dino oil, consumption decreased notably.

As far as the Mobil 1 fanbois, the truth hurts.

 

[newpassatt]

I'm not trying to defend Mobil 1, but I've used it in my 1.8t almost since day 1 with excellent results (0w40). No top off needed between 5k oci's. Has 130k on it now.

 

[BobFout]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
I used Shell Rotella T 5w-40 in our 01 Jetta. It was still consuming about a quart of it every 4k miles.

Your consumption seems pretty normal unfortunately.


Ding ding ding. Mobil 1 is not the issue.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Originally Posted By: BobFout
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
I used Shell Rotella T 5w-40 in our 01 Jetta. It was still consuming about a quart of it every 4k miles.

Your consumption seems pretty normal unfortunately.


Ding ding ding. Mobil 1 is not the issue.


Are you joking?

Mobil 1 is definately part of the issue. To say Mobil 1 5w-30 would produce the same consumption rate of a 15w-40 is not only comical, but would require a direct comparison, that I'm willing to bet 15w-40 HD would win.

Pete did not compare the two oils, but you jumped to a conclusion. Unless you have specific experience with these oils or engines, your perpetual speculation serves only to confuse members looking for specific information, not a biased opinion.

 

[Bugzii]

The 2.0L is known to be a burner and VW even acknowledged it. 1/2 quart every 200 miles is way too high. You should check for leaks, smoke from the tail pipes. There's no need to use synthetic in this engine. In fact, I'm not sure the seals in this engine were designed for synthetic oil. If the previous owner used dino oil, switching to synthetic will have oil seeping through the seals.

Mobil 1...

It could be production variance but my '01 1.8T NB also burnt oil when I switched over to M1 at 24k. With OCI at 5k, I never needed to add oil when using Castrol dino. With M1 5W-30 or 0W-40, it's about 1/2 quart 5k. Now at 171k, it's about 1.5 - 1.75 quarts per 7500 miles depending on the season. There's some oil seeping through the pan though. I don't worry about it. Recently, the car passed Smog Inspection with flying colors.

 

[Finklejag]

My mothers 01 Beetle 2.0 has burned oil using the following oils.

Mobil Delvac 1 5W-40
Mobil 1 TDT 5W-40
76 Synthetic 5W-40
Castrol Syntec 5W-40
Shell Rotella T 5W-40

I call hogwash on AJ's Mobil 1 comment! The VW 2.0 8V will burn whatever oil is in the sump. You just need to find a oil that will slow it down. The next oil to try in this motor is Maxlife 10W-40. We will see if a High Mileage oil will help.

 

[BobFout]

Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
Originally Posted By: BobFout
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
I used Shell Rotella T 5w-40 in our 01 Jetta. It was still consuming about a quart of it every 4k miles.

Your consumption seems pretty normal unfortunately.


Ding ding ding. Mobil 1 is not the issue.


Are you joking?

Mobil 1 is definately part of the issue. To say Mobil 1 5w-30 would produce the same consumption rate of a 15w-40 is not only comical, but would require a direct comparison, that I'm willing to bet 15w-40 HD would win.

Pete did not compare the two oils, but you jumped to a conclusion. Unless you have specific experience with these oils or engines, your perpetual speculation serves only to confuse members looking for specific information, not a biased opinion.


You sure PP wouldn't be better?

The 2.0 NA sparker is known to burn oil for those engines where the oil rings were installed upside down at the factory. This a well known issue and has been for years. Lack of this knowledge on your part really seems to question your understanding of the issue at hand.

You will learn a LOT talking to VW technicians.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Originally Posted By: BobFout

The 2.0 NA sparker is known to burn oil for those engines where the oil rings were installed upside down at the factory. This a well known issue and has been for years. Lack of this knowledge on your part really seems to question your understanding of the issue at hand.

Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
There are some things you can do to clean the piston rings, which are likely installed upside down (another discussion).


Again, you failed to see what is right in front of you. More reading, less posting might be a good approach going forward.


Originally Posted By: BobFout
You will learn a LOT talking to VW technicians.


Doing > talking, just like reading > posting, just like owning a VW 2.0 for 16 years > jabbering on the internet.

 

[Tornado Red]

Originally Posted By: Marcus24
I recently purchased a 2003 VW Golf GL with the 2.0 engine.

Right now it has 91,200 miles on it. I got an oil change on it about 3 weeks ago. In that time I've driven about 1100 miles. I used Mobil 1 - 5w30. Since the oil change, my car has burned through the oil and I'll have to add at least 1/2 a quart within the next 100 - 200 miles.

Any suggestions on what to do? Use a different oil?


Do you have any idea what oil was used before? That might be a factor.

Also, it is possible that this engine has been babied too much. You might seek out some isolated roads and really exercise your engine, making repeated accelerations and decelerations, working to improve the piston ring seating.

Ignore those who tell you to switch back to conventional oil. What you might do, however, is switch to M1 5w40, a slightly more viscous oil that is approved for both gasoline and diesel engines.

 

[Jorge]

At 91K you could have valve stem seal, guides and possible piston ring issues causing an increase in oil consumption. VW recommends 5W-40 on the newer models so I'd try that to start.

While Mobil 1 oils have been known to have higher consumption rates in many engines, that may not be the primary issue in an engine with 91K on it.