Oil Consumption

[Krupnation]

I've been following this thread and its quite interesting to me as I've just purchased an '04 S4 Avant and drove it from Chicago to Seattle (a little over 2k miles). The car just finished it's CPO and the dealership gave me the maintenance records from what they had done to it. The car has 74k on it and it drove beautifully all the way home. I did not get the low oil light but had the air bag light come on, then go off, and also the ESP light comes on from time to time?

Anyway, after bringing to our local Audi dealership to have them check the car out and do an oil change, they called me with some bad news. All the work that was done (engine out to fix cam adjuster) was put back with the wrong sealant. Apparently, Audi uses a "black" sealant and the dealership that performed the work used the incorrect "white" sealant. They then told me that they would have to take the engine out, do all the work over again, but this time with the correct sealant. Has anyone ever heard of this? They told me there is an oil leak and that changing the sealant will fix the leak. I'm going to pick up the car here in about 1/2 hour and will get more info. I've never heard of anything like this. Are they just trying to sucker me out of some cash?

[Capt.Canuck]

Just got the word from my dealer this morning - my short block is being replaced under CPO.

[halik]

I've been following this thread and its quite interesting to me as I've just purchased an '04 S4 Avant and drove it from Chicago to Seattle (a little over 2k miles). The car just finished it's CPO and the dealership gave me the maintenance records from what they had done to it. The car has 74k on it and it drove beautifully all the way home. I did not get the low oil light but had the air bag light come on, then go off, and also the ESP light comes on from time to time?

Anyway, after bringing to our local Audi dealership to have them check the car out and do an oil change, they called me with some bad news. All the work that was done (engine out to fix cam adjuster) was put back with the wrong sealant. Apparently, Audi uses a "black" sealant and the dealership that performed the work used the incorrect "white" sealant. They then told me that they would have to take the engine out, do all the work over again, but this time with the correct sealant. Has anyone ever heard of this? They told me there is an oil leak and that changing the sealant will fix the leak. I'm going to pick up the car here in about 1/2 hour and will get more info. I've never heard of anything like this. Are they just trying to sucker me out of some cash?

That story sets off the BS flag for me. Where is the oil leaking to?

[SoCalS4Avant]

Chalk another victory for CPO.

Nice to hear Captain. Any idea on how long for repairs? What did they say was the cause?

[Capt.Canuck]

Chalk another victory for CPO.

Nice to hear Captain. Any idea on how long for repairs? What did they say was the cause?

The short block has to come from Germany so they're estimating 10 days before they have it in hand. I'd expect 2 weeks or so from now until I get it back.

Not sure what the cause was yet - I'll get as much detail as I can when I pick up the car and post it here.

[JohnBanks]

Who cares if it is using oil if it is running fine. A few of you probably have real problems, but some of you are wasting your time trying to fix something that isn't an issue. If the car still has power, leave it alone.

This is all caused by goofy green people who make us use ultra low tolerances and crap to save green house gases which makes our cars run like crap and cost everyone money and time.

[sappermk2]

I've been following this thread and its quite interesting to me as I've just purchased an '04 S4 Avant and drove it from Chicago to Seattle (a little over 2k miles). The car just finished it's CPO and the dealership gave me the maintenance records from what they had done to it. The car has 74k on it and it drove beautifully all the way home. I did not get the low oil light but had the air bag light come on, then go off, and also the ESP light comes on from time to time?

Anyway, after bringing to our local Audi dealership to have them check the car out and do an oil change, they called me with some bad news. All the work that was done (engine out to fix cam adjuster) was put back with the wrong sealant. Apparently, Audi uses a "black" sealant and the dealership that performed the work used the incorrect "white" sealant. They then told me that they would have to take the engine out, do all the work over again, but this time with the correct sealant. Has anyone ever heard of this? They told me there is an oil leak and that changing the sealant will fix the leak. I'm going to pick up the car here in about 1/2 hour and will get more info. I've never heard of anything like this. Are they just trying to sucker me out of some cash?

its a mildly bs vw/audi tech bullitin. apparently they found out their supplier of "black" was sub standard.. so in order for VW/Audi to cover, VW north america has to conform to sealant changes.. IMO crap. remeber there's 22psi boost s1it boxes with autozone "orange" high temp sealing intakes and gaskets.

[sappermk2]

Who cares if it is using oil if it is running fine. A few of you probably have real problems, but some of you are wasting your time trying to fix something that isn't an issue. If the car still has power, leave it alone.

This is all caused by goofy green people who make us use ultra low tolerances and crap to save green house gases which makes our cars run like crap and cost everyone money and time.

umm amen. its a 40 valve aluminum small block fitted with many timing cahains and accesoory gear drive.. and there's a reson for 10 quarts per service. thats more oil than a navistar or cummings. they're highly boosted and are called "oil-burners"

[FWP!]

I drove my S4 home from NJ to where I live in NY (about 370 miles) going about 75 the whole way at 3k rpm and I didn't lose any oil at all, ran like a top the whole way.

[CHECKERED]

I’m confused why all these people are freaking out about oil consumption, if there is no puddle under the car and no blue smoke out of the exhaust there is no problem.

If it’s annoying to add some oil once in a while switch over to some super thick oil + oil stabilizer, I use Mobil 1 15W-50 with 1 Quart of Lucas oil stabilizer (the original stuff that has the consistency or warm honey, not the synthetic stuff) I burn half a quart every 4,000 miles I know this because I change the oil every 4,000 miles and always end up draining half a quart less then what I put in, and these miles aren’t your 30 miles to work and back, it’s running up and down canyon roads all day long, 130mph freeway pulls, cruising on highway at 90+

[SuperAvant]

I’m confused why all these people are freaking out about oil consumption, if there is no puddle under the car and no blue smoke out of the exhaust there is no problem.

If it’s annoying to add some oil once in a while switch over to some super thick oil + oil stabilizer, I use Mobil 1 15W-50 with 1 Quart of Lucas oil stabilizer (the original stuff that has the consistency or warm honey, not the synthetic stuff) I burn half a quart every 4,000 miles I know this because I change the oil every 4,000 miles and always end up draining half a quart less then what I put in, and these miles aren’t your 30 miles to work and back, it’s running up and down canyon roads all day long, 130mph freeway pulls, cruising on highway at 90+

Dont agree with this at all. I have no puddles, no smoke, and I burn a quart ever 200 - 250 miles. Nothing wrong? I think not...

[Capt.Canuck]

Dont agree with this at all. I have no puddles, no smoke, and I burn a quart ever 200 - 250 miles. Nothing wrong? I think not...

+1.

Funny, I had no puddles or smoke but Audi is replacing my short block. I guess we were all imagining it and Audi is happy to drop thousands of $ for fun.

[CHECKERED]

Dont agree with this at all. I have no puddles, no smoke, and I burn a quart ever 200 - 250 miles. Nothing wrong? I think not...

Oil doesn’t just disappear, if you have a friend follow your car while you WOT it, I bet you will see some smoke, it might not be a plume but it should be noticeable.

[SuperAvant]

Oil doesn’t just disappear, if you have a friend follow your car while you WOT it, I bet you will see some smoke, it might not be a plume but it should be noticeable.

I have had someone follow me many times. Smoke does occur, but rarely and it isnt blue. More black in color like the car is running very rich...

[sappermk2]

thats what WOT triggers... "full rich". hook it up on dyno and u will see ignition timing advance too.

[Blackcoog]

Update:

I'm still have some oil consumption but I think it has gotten better. I've added about 2qts in 6k miles. I pulled my intake off yesterday for the hell of it and suffice to say I was very pissed. Half of the bolts holding the intake together were finger tight or completely loose. When I split the intake open the small bolts in side that hold the internal parts together were only threaded into the holes one or two turns. Wow! Stay the fuck away from Carousel Audi in Minneapolis, MN. I know they pulled the intake off as they told me they took it off to clean it. I do still have some oil puddling up in the intake so I'm sure the consumption is from the PCV valve. I may run an oil catch can to prevent it from going into the intake. Then I can monitor the amount that is coming out of the PCV. Supposedly the dealer replaced that valve....

[Capt.Canuck]

My short block was replaced a couple of months ago under CPO warranty.

Cost me $100 deductible...they said it was a ~$20k job.

I was always kind of sceptical about extended warranties. Not any more!

[homeychan]

Since my short block replacement the oil light only comes on every 10+ tanks of fuel instead of 4, this is within Audi specs I guess. The guy above that says no puddle, no smoke, no harm, I can't agree with. My cylinders were filled with so much carbon buildup from the oil that it had low compression, if your car consumes oil at a high rate it isn't good unless you're running a two stroke. My car also did not have noticeable smoke or puddles but every 4 tanks I needed to add oil. Running thick oil isn't really a great idea either, that could potentially end up causing harm to the motor and rob power because of increased windage (yes windage). If you have to run thick oil to stop the oil consumption you have a problem and are only bandaiding the issue. Good news for you guys that Audi honoured your CPO, mine was taken away on some weird technicality.

[FarmerBob]

Blackcog, did you end up finally replacing the pcv valve, and did that work for you?

[AngeloB5.5]

What warantee company do you have?

My short block was replaced a couple of months ago under CPO warranty.

Cost me $100 deductible...they said it was a ~$20k job.

I was always kind of sceptical about extended warranties. Not any more!

[UnstableOS]

Since my short block replacement the oil light only comes on every 10+ tanks of fuel instead of 4, this is within Audi specs I guess. The guy above that says no puddle, no smoke, no harm, I can't agree with. My cylinders were filled with so much carbon buildup from the oil that it had low compression, if your car consumes oil at a high rate it isn't good unless you're running a two stroke. My car also did not have noticeable smoke or puddles but every 4 tanks I needed to add oil. Running thick oil isn't really a great idea either, that could potentially end up causing harm to the motor and rob power because of increased windage (yes windage). If you have to run thick oil to stop the oil consumption you have a problem and are only bandaiding the issue. Good news for you guys that Audi honoured your CPO, mine was taken away on some weird technicality.

They took your CPO warranty away on a technicality? What happened?

[homeychan]

They took your CPO warranty away on a technicality? What happened?

They said my car was registered Aug 28th 2006 and the policy for CPO changed Aug 1st 2006, so they sent me back a refund check for the transfer (after they sent we the welcome to CPO docs). I have those docs posted on my blog and on flickr. The previous owner imported the car in March 2006 had all inspections completed by Audi in March but did not send the paperwork for the transfer I guess till August. I called Audi and the dealer and they all assured me the warranty was transferable prior to purchase. In the end I was left holding the bag and Audi said my dealer had "missed opportunities". I got lucky though and the dealer fixed it saying they had to do what was right.