Guest gtiking08 Posted February 5, 2008 My GTi is using so much oil. It had an oil change 3 weeks ago and i have topped it up last week, it now needs topping up again!!! Every time i check it's used loads in a short space of time. Does anyone now why this is? Cheers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
welshpug 1,657 Posted February 5, 2008 because its burning/using it all up, either worn piston rings or valve stem seals, or a bad leak. mine doesn't use a drop between oil changes Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob_the_Sparky 9 Posted February 5, 2008 As said worn rings or valve seal or it could be a major oil leak. Valve stem seal are most commonly the problem though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest gtiking08 Posted February 5, 2008 As said worn rings or valve seal or it could be a major oil leak. Valve stem seal are most commonly the problem though. How difficult job to change the seal? How costly? Cheers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fast Road Jay 0 Posted February 5, 2008 i assume you cant see any signs of leaking?? my 1.6 had a habbit of loosing loads of oil from around the dizzy cap, now it just uses a tiney bit - only know it does from smoke and never had to top it up! valve stem seals to do a complete job is head off and go through the valves and re-seat etc all at the same time, worth skimming the head as well Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
simonb 0 Posted February 5, 2008 Is it smoking? The easiest thing to do would be to get the engine nice and hot and get a mate to follow you up a long stright road with plenty of hard acceleration. If oil is getting past the rings then it will probably smoke when driving hard. If it's the valve guides or stem seals, it will smoke after idling for a while and on the overrun. If you are still not sure try a compression test to see if it's the rings and if you still have no joy - get a "leak down" test done. This will tell you how quickly air is escaping and a garage should be able to determine the most likely cause. On the leak front, have you checked underneath? The most common leak areas are the distributor, camshaft oil seal, dipstick and the sump area. HTH Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob_the_Sparky 9 Posted February 6, 2008 How difficult job to change the seal? How costly? Cheers Not sure about price (I do all my own work). If the garage has the kit they can do it with the head in place but otherwise it is a cylinder head off job so I doubt it will be cheap. Make sure you diagnose the problem properly first... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GLPoomobile 958 Posted February 6, 2008 Could also be a split in the oil filler/breather hose. If you get a split in that one low enough (i.e. right near where it is jubilee clipped to the block) it can leak oil. I'm not ruling it out, but if you are losing oil to the extent that you are concerned about it, and it is indeed being lost via the rings or stem seals, then I'd be very surprised if you'd not noticed the smoke clouds in your mirror at some point! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
luggy 13 Posted February 6, 2008 My 1.9 used to leak oil and I used to have to top it up every 3 to 4 weeks, stem seals were fine and no excess emissions and there was no obvious leaks and no oil patches underneath the car. Turns out it was the headgasket, rear offside of the block underneath the exhaust manifold, however there was no cross contamination between oil or water. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
