High oil consumption in 2001 4.2 V8s?
05-24-2006, 07:10 PM
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High oil consumption in 2001 4.2 V8s?
I have owned my car from day 1, had the oil changed with AMSOIL 10W40 (with Audi oil filter change) every 5,000 miles and dealer serving every 10,000 miles.
The car now has 145,000 miles on it and it burns anywhere from 1 to 2 quarts of oil every 1,500 miles.
Am I crazy, or must there be something terribly amiss?
Any thoughts/help with how I can help hold my local Audi dealer (or Audi) accountable will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all!
The car now has 145,000 miles on it and it burns anywhere from 1 to 2 quarts of oil every 1,500 miles.
Am I crazy, or must there be something terribly amiss?
Any thoughts/help with how I can help hold my local Audi dealer (or Audi) accountable will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all!
05-24-2006, 07:19 PM
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While Amsoil is a great oil...
It's not on the VW/Audi approved list. That fact alone probably kills any recourse you may have with Audi.<ul><li><a href="http://www.audiusa.com/common/images/Audi_Approved_Oil_Chart.pdf">Approved oils</a></li></ul>
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05-24-2006, 08:52 PM
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Some ideas but a summary of what you're hearing in all the replies
Plain and simple, at 145,000 miles, your problem, not Audi's. You are way past the point where you should be thinking, gee my car has gone a pretty good distance.
On your problem, three possibilities: it's going on the ground, it's getting past the rings or it's getting past the valves. If it's #1, you'll see the mess at that consumption rate. Fix is simple--find leak and deal with it. Might be cheap, might be expensive. If it's number 2 you are close to where you should be seeing it out the rear view during rapid acceleration. You are also likely fouling plugs, O2 sensors and converters. That's engine rebuild territory and expensive. If it's number 3, it's a probably a torn or worn valve stem seal, possibly coupled with worn valve guides. Could be one or several or many of the 40 valves. On a tired engine, likely a number of valves. If the car smokes only on start up, perhaps when it's tilted left right, uphill or downhill all depending, it's likely a stem seal. A fouled spark plug in one specific or a few cylinders is more proof if it ONLY smokes on start up or deceleration. If it's intake side it will likely smoke on deceleration as the vacuum pulls oil past the seals. If it's #3, you may choose to live with it. The seals are literally a buck each on sale, but it's a whole lot of labor to change. It can be done without removing the engine; best time is if you ar servicing the cam belt.
The poor man's fix: give up on the 10-40 and kick it up to 15-50, at least for non-winter months. Maybe forget the synthetic too, particularly if you think you have some regular leakage around the crank seals too (oily mess under engine). Especially if you are burning a lot, you don't want to foul the expensive converters and O2 sensors. By your mileage I would have gone to that grade probably anyway; here in the SF Bay Area 20 years ago the dealers used that as their standard year around grade in Castrol back then. Again, if it's smoking only on start up, you may find it's affected by parking on slopes.
You ask how I know? On my car at 72K, I just saw a rise in oil consumption, which I traced pretty much to an exhaust valve in cylinder #7. Smoke on start up only, fouled #7 plug, no smoke on decel or normal acceleration. If I park uphill or toward a right hand slope, it seems more likely to happen. Why? That cylinder is toward the back of the motor on the passenger side. Exhaust valves are toward the outside of the motor, which is the low side gravity wise for oil flow with motor off. So far, stepping the grade up a bit and with warmer weather thickening the oil some at start up, it isn't smoking much at all on start up now.
On your problem, three possibilities: it's going on the ground, it's getting past the rings or it's getting past the valves. If it's #1, you'll see the mess at that consumption rate. Fix is simple--find leak and deal with it. Might be cheap, might be expensive. If it's number 2 you are close to where you should be seeing it out the rear view during rapid acceleration. You are also likely fouling plugs, O2 sensors and converters. That's engine rebuild territory and expensive. If it's number 3, it's a probably a torn or worn valve stem seal, possibly coupled with worn valve guides. Could be one or several or many of the 40 valves. On a tired engine, likely a number of valves. If the car smokes only on start up, perhaps when it's tilted left right, uphill or downhill all depending, it's likely a stem seal. A fouled spark plug in one specific or a few cylinders is more proof if it ONLY smokes on start up or deceleration. If it's intake side it will likely smoke on deceleration as the vacuum pulls oil past the seals. If it's #3, you may choose to live with it. The seals are literally a buck each on sale, but it's a whole lot of labor to change. It can be done without removing the engine; best time is if you ar servicing the cam belt.
The poor man's fix: give up on the 10-40 and kick it up to 15-50, at least for non-winter months. Maybe forget the synthetic too, particularly if you think you have some regular leakage around the crank seals too (oily mess under engine). Especially if you are burning a lot, you don't want to foul the expensive converters and O2 sensors. By your mileage I would have gone to that grade probably anyway; here in the SF Bay Area 20 years ago the dealers used that as their standard year around grade in Castrol back then. Again, if it's smoking only on start up, you may find it's affected by parking on slopes.
You ask how I know? On my car at 72K, I just saw a rise in oil consumption, which I traced pretty much to an exhaust valve in cylinder #7. Smoke on start up only, fouled #7 plug, no smoke on decel or normal acceleration. If I park uphill or toward a right hand slope, it seems more likely to happen. Why? That cylinder is toward the back of the motor on the passenger side. Exhaust valves are toward the outside of the motor, which is the low side gravity wise for oil flow with motor off. So far, stepping the grade up a bit and with warmer weather thickening the oil some at start up, it isn't smoking much at all on start up now.