Oil consumption on 1999 A6 Avant 2.4 SE

[blockat]

I have a 99 A6 Avant 2.4SE with 101000 on the clock, which I bought 6 months ago. The car has a full service history. Having had a full service in October at an independent Audi specialist, including a full health check for my peace of mind, I was a little surpised when the oil warning light started to come on a week ago. Having checked the level - which was v low - I had to put in a whole 4 litres of Castrol Magnetec to get to the full indicator on the dip-stick. I have driven 5000 miles since the service.

Does this seem like normal oil consumption, or might there be a problem?

Thanks

[Peter D]

You do not know the oil level was correct after the service but assuming it was then 4 lts in 5000 is high. First thing to check is the crank case pressure. If the breather system is bunged up the engine pressurises and causes the engine to use excessive oil.
First check is for someone to hold the engine at 2500 rpm and you undo the oil filler cap and see if it is under pressure. If you post back please include your engine code from the ID label in the spare wheel bay like AKA. Are you seeing any smoke. Regards Peter

[blockat]

Hi and thanks for the reply. The oil pressure seems fine, so I guess I'll just monitor it up to the next service and see what happens. Just wondered if anyone who's run one of these for longer has any info about how much oil they use? Thanks again.

[NickPicks]

Mine's a 2.4 SE (AML engine). When I first had it serviced, the oil level light came on after about 1500 miles, so I was worried that I'd used 4 litres in that time, but after topping up, it wasn't anywhere near as bad, so I assumed it wasn't fully filled at the service.

I don't have an exact record of miles between top ups, but I think it's around 1 litre per 2000 miles for me, which isn't too bad considering that I have a leaking cam chain tensioner gasket and have done 170,000 miles.

There's a thread here where 2.4 oil consumption is mentioned by one of our very knowledgeable regulars.

[blockat]

Hi NickPicks and thanks. That's very helpful.