Excess Smoke

[Barry]

Hey Guys,

First time writter. Ive had my 07 GTI MkV for about 4 months now with around 40K on the clock. About 3 months ago i noticed my oil light come on. I have been topping up with Castrol Edge 0-40W Oil and i find it needs topping up enery 2-3000km. Is this normal? Also the other concerning thing is the small puff of black smoke coming out of the exhaust even with very slow take off's - and obviously more when wanting to get the speeds up quicker.

Ive seen a few threads on the subject and maybe an Oxygen Sensor may need replacing or the premium fuel i always put in may be making the car run a little rich. The car seems to smoke more even when more so i dont think its a cold issue, not to mention that the cold here is Aus is nothing compared to Easter Europe.

My questions are; Isnt the 98 Oct petrol the best to use anyway? Is ther anyway that the top up of oil, can be directly attributed to the excess smoke.

Any help anyone could give would be helpful

Thanks
Barry

[Frenchie]

Welcome on the forum Barry..

I am sure others will help direct you. Though in the meantime I must say that is alot of top ups, too many for my liking, best thing is to take it your VW dealer/ Mechanic to correctly diagnosed problems..
Don't wait for the problem to exacerbate..

Do you still have warranty ?

I would say yes to 98 premium is the best fuel to use for our cars...

[VR53KS]

Join the club of black smoke :) The car running a little rich can be attributed to a number of things, however I wouldn't have a clue if there is anything Mk5 specific - and if these things would start failing ALREADY. An injector might be stuck open and leaking, it could be as you said the oxgen sensor, maybe dud spark plugs/leads.. I'm certain that using a higher octane grade of petrol won't make the car run richer though, so the 98 premium shouldn't be a problem. How's your fuel consumption, has it been going down the drain since you've noticed the smoke?

[Pharkus]

In an R here, but have used BP ultimate since I got it, no issues whatsover!!! Take it to get checked out ASAP!

[Tim]

Is the car still under warranty? If so I would mention the oil usage to your dealer.
There have been many VWs traded in due to excessive oil consumption and the official line from VW is that up to 1L per 1000kms is within tolerance.
Most GTIs do use a little bit of oil though. I think mine used to use 1 litre every 5000 - 7500kms depending on how hard I drove it. Would normally need a topup before the 7500km oil change interval.


In regards to smoke if anything is out of tolerance then a vagcom scan would show up something normally. GTIs do tend to run quite rich at times so black smoke isnt always cause for concern.

It is possible if you have topped up oil too far to cause smoke. But it wouldnt normally be black.

[VTECMACHINE]

I would say that the burning of oil is attibuted to the PCV (Positive Crank Ventilation) Valve. Not sure if Golf's have a weak PCV, but it'll make you burn oil. The PCV valve would be the cheapest thing to change if wanted to do a process of elimination.
I wouldn't say that your piston rings are worn, as it hasnt done very many KM's.

Here is a guide for smoke colour:
Black = Fuel (which is good, rich is safe!)
White = Coolant (careful not to confuse condensation on cold start on cold day)
Blueish = Oil (Bad, you are burning oil - most likely piston rings)

[HCGTI]

Piston rings have been known to be a weak link in these engines.

i would take it back to the dealer!!

[VTECMACHINE]

Also, it doesn't necessarily have to be 'burning' oil. It can be leaking from the sump bolt, oil filter, sump gasket, rear main seal...
Check to see if's wet anywhere under the car.

[Tim]

I would say that the burning of oil is attibuted to the PCV (Positive Crank Ventilation) Valve. Not sure if Golf's have a weak PCV, but it'll make you burn oil. The PCV valve would be the cheapest thing to change if wanted to do a process of elimination.
I wouldn't say that your piston rings are worn, as it hasnt done very many KM's.



A dodgy PCV is usually accompanied by a very poor idle which is another very common problem on the GTI.

[Barry]

Thanks for the warm welcome Frenchie. The mode car in under Man Warranty until July this year so id best get a move on. Ive heard they almost have a standard line respnse to this issue as another fiend of mine with a 2006 GTI has similar issues but the car drives fine. Dont know what your opinion is regarding fuel types but i find the Caltex 98 Oct is far better than the BP Ultimate - longer Km and more responsive. I will continue on the Premium track as once put the ordinary stuff into it because i was in the middle of nowhere and ther was a noticable difference in performance.

[Barry]

VR53KS - Hey thanks for the reply - fule consumption has been directly attributed to driving style. Our other car is a 2003 Commodore Acclaim which i can drive further in on one tank, than the GTI. But not nearly as much fun to drive.

[Barry]

Hey Tim - yeah the car is under Warranty till July this year. 1L every 1000 km if tolerable from VW's POV but I wonder how that compares with similar cars on the market? Focus XR5? Impreza?

I top up the oil when the car is cold and take it to the max indicator line on the dip stick.

Another concern how often should we be changing oil on a 2LT anyway? Some car manufaturers have a 5K interval but the Service on the VW is 15,000? Oil from 15,000km ago would'nt be as good as 5000km ago i would think?

[VTECMACHINE]

Mobil 98 Fuel for Turbo's, and BP Ultimate for NA's is the way to go. My car has always pinged with Caltex, and Shell fuel.
There was an independant test done years ago on the fuels, and Mobil and BP proved to be the cleanest, and gave the most power, then Shell then Caltex.

[Barry]

VTECMACHIN - Under the car is completley dry...

[Tim]

Hey Tim - yeah the car is under Warranty till July this year. 1L every 1000 km if tolerable from VW's POV but I wonder how that compares with similar cars on the market? Focus XR5? Impreza?

I top up the oil when the car is cold and take it to the max indicator line on the dip stick.

Another concern how often should we be changing oil on a 2LT anyway? Some car manufaturers have a 5K interval but the Service on the VW is 15,000? Oil from 15,000km ago would'nt be as good as 5000km ago i would think?

Im not a huge fan of the 15000km service intervals on Turbo cars. Ive always done my own oilchange between services.

In regards to the oil consumption. The official line is 1L per 1000kms is acceptable but I have heard of a few people arguing the point and getting engines rebuilt. At the end of the day there may be some other issue causing your oil consumption but at least if you make the issue known to VW now, and its recorded on your service history that you complained whilst the car is in warranty, you may have a leg to stand on if it drags out beyond your warranty period.
I know that topping up 1L every 2000kms would piss me off.

Perhaps even consider the Genuine VW extended warranty. Costs around $1500 I believe? Be careful not to be sold one of those uselss third party warranties though.