TDI Oil

vwdan · Post by **vwdan** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 7:33 pm

Hi
You might have seen on one of my earlier posts I ran low on oil and had to top it up.
Its now on the max if not slightly under. Still says "oil service" on the trip but havent done the reset yet!
Im worried about an oil leak. It doesnt seem to have moved from when I topped it up yesterday although it looks a very small fraction lower but this might just be me.
I cant see it being something like that as it was last serviced about 3ish months ago when I bought it.

Anyone had an oil leak and if so would it be really noticable?
This sounds a really dumb question to ask I know but am just concerned. Not had my car long and on my old car it hardly drank any oil whatsoever.
TDIs burn quite a bit of oil anyway dont they? or is that just random rant?

Ollie_R · Post by **Ollie_R** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 7:53 pm

What oil did you use?

If I'm not mistaken, the Pumpe Duse diesels use a unique type of oil. Maybe you could go to your local dealership and see what they say. I think the oils have to meet VW's 50501 standard.

vwdan · Post by **vwdan** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 8:18 pm

It was the 50501 Special Plus for PD Engines
Its the correct oil. I got it from the VW garage where I got my car from so its even genuine.
From what Robinsons told me, the trip just needs resetting. I was concerned about there being an oil leak but the reason it was low was prob due to me neglecting not to check it the last 3 or 4 weeks and also its been fairly cold the last few weeks. Im guessin thats why the oil has gotten fairly low. It was in the middle of min and max when I bought it

matty2767 · Post by **matty2767** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 9:30 pm

i have a tdi and the oil service indicator which comes on where your trip mileage is is not connected to the oil level. that is just to remind you to have the service done.

i dont generally top it up over the year i normally add about 1 litre between service. my car has done 52k on a y plate. so as for them burning oil i wouldnt agree.

just check where you have parked it for staining on the floor.

let us know.

vwdan · Post by **vwdan** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 11:17 pm

Yeah the guy at the garage said something about it needing a service as it has come up with that message. But as he looked it up on his computer he could see that it wasnt due. August 07 is when its next due or 10,000 miles.
He said it shouldnt be anything to worry about and that it needs resetting. I will check like you say in the the morning when I pull away to see if there is any leaked onto the floor. I dont think personally there is a leak but I might aswel check just incase and to be sure.

matty2767 · Post by **matty2767** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 6:45 am

if like me your car doesn't do 10k miles are year, but I do get it serviced once a year then the oil service will come on at 10k intervals. which may be only a short time after you actually had the service.

I found that vw technicians really struggle with reseting the service indicators.

loud · Post by **loud** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 1:08 pm

yea the oil service indicator has nothing to do with leaking oil, just check your dip stick now and again to see if it's going down at an accelerated rate

polo power · Post by **polo power** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 4:22 pm

i check my levels once a week after i cleaned the car.

vwdan · Post by **vwdan** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 6:13 pm

Checked this morning and there is no sign of a leak on the floor matty2767 and the oil hasnt moved any more since I topped it up a couple of days ago
I think its all safe and I just need to get the trip reset.

Excuse my ignorance but you get two types of messages dont you?
Oil Service and Inspection Service

Surely I would have thought Inspection Service would be the one every year or every 10k miles and Oil Service would be to say your oil was low?

matty2767 · Post by **matty2767** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 7:49 pm

unfortunately the computer isnt that clever

. you need to check your service intervals manual (it is the one with the spanner on the front). i read it as

the tdi requires an inspection service every 12 months. in addition to this if you drive 10k in less than a year then the oil service also needs to be done.

vwdan · Post by **vwdan** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 8:21 pm

Yeah just had a look at the book
Oil Change Service as per Service Interval Display every 12 months or every 15000km

Looking at the service history the oil change service was done on the 28/03/06 and at that time the mileage was 39702

When I bought the car they serviced it and the Oil Service wasnt done as it was only a few months after. It was last serviced roughly a couple of days before I got it by the garage on 25/07/06 with a mileage of 41059

Its now done around 43000 which isnt a huge amount over

Surely it wouldnt need an oil service this early on? How much would it cost if need be roughly or arnt you sure?

matty2767 · Post by **matty2767** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 9:13 pm

vwdan as i read it you may never need the oil service done if you drive less than 10k in a year. the inspection service incorporates the oil service elements. so there would be no point in having the oil service done in say month 11 and then the inspection service done at month 12. unless you were doing loads of miles and hitting 10k at month 6.

the only thing i see as definite is the inspection service is done every 12 months.

matt

vwdan · Post by **vwdan** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 11:43 am

All Sorted
Took it to my local VW dealer this morning and they looked up all the service history and someone came out with thix examiner style system and reset it.
Apparently it is possible it wasnt reset correctly last time
Worry over

VDUB_CHICK · Post by **VDUB_CHICK** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 12:25 pm

vwdan wrote:All Sorted
Took it to my local VW dealer this morning and they looked up all the service history and someone came out with thix examiner style system and reset it.
Apparently it is possible it wasnt reset correctly last time
Worry over

You really didnt need to take it to a dealership to get it reset. You could have done that yourself. All that you have to do is hold the trip button down, keep hold of it and turn on the ignition until it resets its self then its sorted.

the reason its came on is exactly what you just did, reset the indicator without changing the oil. You should have just waited until you got it fully serviced (which i would recommend doing every 12 months, you dont need to faff on with the oil service and inspection service separatly just get a yearly full service)

Your oil service indicator will now come on again in 10k time even though you might have just had it serviced.

Indicators only mean something if they get reset at the time you have a service done, so yours are going to be out everytime unless you leave them untilyou actually get a service done.

eg... my indicator came on in may but i knew it did not need a service until july so i left the indicator on and when it was serviced in July, i reset the indicator the same day. Now the indicator will come on at the correct time when service is due.

I recommend you do this or just ignore the indicators when they come on and go off your service book

vwdan · Post by **vwdan** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:08 pm

Yeah you have a fair point VDUB_CHICK
I have the date down of when my next service is due. I dont due more that 10k a year so should all be ok.

Thanks! I got it done at the dealership mainly cause I was in the area and thought it would be easy to drop in.
I not been driving long so little things like that get to me lol sounds petty I know but yeah you are right its just an indicator

wouldnt they reset all the indicators anyway after a service so they would then be right?