Hey guys Im brand new here so please forgive me for my negligence. I own a 2008 GTI FSI engine and have been burning through an excessive amount of oil since I bought it a year ago. It has 139k miles on it and I just replaced the turbo at 135k miles, thinking that was the source of my issue (it wasn't). I ran a dry and wet compression test on it today and got seemingly good values 175-195psi dry and 180-210 wet. Never saw any notable discrepancies. I'm curious about what to do next. I've read into replacing the valve cover and/or gasket or maybe the pcv valve. I rarely have smoke coming out of the exhaust, only when I'm hard on the throttle after not driving for a few days and I haven't seen any leaks. I run Castrol Edge 5W-40 oil and have been since I replaced the turbo. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Burning oil at 1qt per 400 miles
- Thread starter pman0324
- Start date
Latron
Master of oil top off
- Location
- Dallas, TX
- Car(s)
- 2015 GTI DSG
Valve cover and PCV would be the next step. I would replace the PCV valve, it is a common issue. Then the valve cover after that if that doesn't work. If that isn't the issue it could still be the piston rings. The FSI has oil ring issues. It will pass a compression test no problem but the oil rings could still need replaced.
I did it all...because it smoked when letting off throttle after a hard pull and if I came to a stop shortly after...it smoked again rolling away from the stop. Oil loss was down to 1L per 800 miles at the time I did all these following repairs.
Dry compression was 191 to 195. First thought was the PCV so went with a replacement. But it had no leaks and poor crankcase ventilation would cause high crankcase pressure and result in leaks or oil into the combustion.
Then thought it was the valve cover and did a valve cover replacement.
Ordered a new valve cover and found the old was slightly damaged but still it lost oil.
This is my valve cover discovery;
That left the valve guides and seals or piston rings. So I decided to rebuild the head and when it was removed we see very oily #3 and #4 combustion chambers. Decided to remove the pistons and replace the rings and the rod bearings as well. We found the second compression ring (middle ring) on the #4 piston was stuck in its groove and so piston #4 was replaced. You would likely see a difference by removing and looking at all four spark plugs...see if any are soaked with oil. The machine shop reported their findings; the valve stem guides were a bit sloppy/worn and its valve stem seals were hardened and loose.
This is the head showing the oily #3 and #4;
Dry compression was 191 to 195. First thought was the PCV so went with a replacement. But it had no leaks and poor crankcase ventilation would cause high crankcase pressure and result in leaks or oil into the combustion.
Then thought it was the valve cover and did a valve cover replacement.
Ordered a new valve cover and found the old was slightly damaged but still it lost oil.
This is my valve cover discovery;
That left the valve guides and seals or piston rings. So I decided to rebuild the head and when it was removed we see very oily #3 and #4 combustion chambers. Decided to remove the pistons and replace the rings and the rod bearings as well. We found the second compression ring (middle ring) on the #4 piston was stuck in its groove and so piston #4 was replaced. You would likely see a difference by removing and looking at all four spark plugs...see if any are soaked with oil. The machine shop reported their findings; the valve stem guides were a bit sloppy/worn and its valve stem seals were hardened and loose.
This is the head showing the oily #3 and #4;
Last edited:
Latron
Master of oil top off
- Location
- Dallas, TX
- Car(s)
- 2015 GTI DSG
ROH ECHT, When you did the rod bearings did you use the standard size or slightly over sized? I am about the mileage you are and I am re-doing my head and gonna replace rings and rod bearings while I am there.
Latron
Master of oil top off
- Location
- Dallas, TX
- Car(s)
- 2015 GTI DSG
Awesome! Thanks! I figured at 120,xxx wear still shouldn't be bad but with the oil issues you never know.