CTMechE

At the moment, I have 54k miles on my car. When I was @ 48k miles, I switched to Mobil 1 5w30 from conventional oil. I changed it again at 51k miles to flush out some of the conventional oil remnants. 3k miles later, I checked my oil level, and I'm at the 'MIN' line on the dipstick. I know I definitely didn't burn oil before the Mobil 1 changeover, since I changed the conventional oil every 3k miles and when I checked it, it was exactly the same level as right after I changed it. Nothing indicates I'm leaking it anywhere either... so what gives? Is Mobil 1 more prone to burning up? Is this acceptable, or should I go back to conventional oil and the steady 3k changes? Just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on it.

hman_a4

i have about 70k on my '01 and have used Mobil-1 since day one...

i lose about 2qts every 1200mi or so. in fact my 'LOW OIL' warning came 2 wks ago. no sign of leaking or anything. my dealer says there is nothing wrong and it's 'normal'. that's been essentially the feedback on this forum as well. but yea, i'd love an explanation of this phenomenon.

maybe i'll try dinasour oil next time and see if there is a consumption difference...

ryoung

Mobil 1 or not. Something is wrong.

B5Davem

I top off engine about every 2000 to make sure it never gets too low.Thats with 55k on the odometer.Everyone says that the 30v engine uses oil but every 600 mi is excessive.I use 5w30 for winter and 10w30 in summer.Someone said I should go back to OE suggested 10w40 weight.

Colorado

My car has a 2.8 with 54K and I'm planning on going to 0-40 per the dealer's suggestion. Using that much oils is not good. Synthetic doesn't burn. What is it doing to the cat?

AudiMick

.. for a turbo they are acceptable.

Audi Junkie

No.

Audi Junkie

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/27563/visc2.jpg"></center><p>
Mobil 1 5w-30 is ok for 1.8t, but too thin for 30v. Use M1 SUV 5w-40. I have owned 12 Audis and service about 6 friend's and family Audis now. The only dino oil that works well is 15w-40. I use Mobil Delvac 1300s in summer and consumption is as low as 1q/4000mi. When I had cars that burned oil, I thought it was the engine, now I know it was the crap oil I used. Here is a list from a previous post:
For a V6...

Mobil 1 5w-40, 0w-40, 15w-50

Syntec 0w-30 (German), 5w-40, 5w-50

Syntec Blend 10w-40

Mobil Delvac 1300 Super 15w-40

Motul 0w-40, 5w-40

Shell Rotella T Synth 5w-40

Kendall 5w-40

Motorcraft 5w-30 is a syn for $1.50

Anyway, those crap dino oils leave major deposits when they burn off, caking ring packs, increasing blow-by and looseing compression. Right now, I say take off your lower cowl and leave it off till winter. Change your own oil (short intervals, like 3000mi) once or twice to Delvac 1300 ($1.75/q) which will clean it up, until it gets too cold, than switch to M1 SUV 5w-40. When you switch to 30wt Mobil 1, consumption will increase for a while as it cleans false seals, etc., consumption will normalize but not much better than original. With the M1 SUV, consumption will be minimal, your engine will be cleaned, and you can go 7500-10,000 miles between changes. Here are some engine internal pics from my buddy's V6 with 110k on Syntec 5w-50. Auto-Rx.com is not a bad idea either. PS I have been repeatedly going 6mo/up to 11k on German Syntec before I switched to Delvac for my Auto-Rx treatments. Fell free to ask any questions of me or try the oil Forum.<ul><li><a href="http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=005119#000000"> http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=005119#000000</a</li></ul>

DoubleDose

My mechanic said not to use M1 cuz they make V-Dub engines start smokin'. Said Castrol was a good choice, and since I just wore out my rod bearings after only 55K on M1 5w-30 every 3K I'm inclined to believe him.

Audi Junkie

repeatedly. Audi engines come with German SLX "Syntec" from the factory. The only dino oil that is usuable is 15w-40 for diesel engines. More robust base stock and extra-high detergents. Chevron Delo 15w-40 actually carries the obscure Euro ACEA A3 gasoline engine spec, any other 15w-40 would pss if they cared to test for it. I seriously cannot tell the difference between $1.75 Mobil Delvac 15w-40 and high-end synths. Whatever you heard from your machanic is, well, very dated info. Probally the M1 shot past the valve seals in their old VW air-cooled. Oh, well mechanic make me laugh and know far, far less about oil than they should. One experiment on an old Bug and they concluded M1 was bad, not their pos car! Check out the oil forum, dino oils are for chug-a-lug American cars. Basicly, synthetic 30 weights are fine for 1.8t but the 2.8s need thicker 40 weight synth that is less common. Anything 5w-40, 0w-30, 0w-40 or 15w-40 works depending on outside temps. FYI, as you see in the graph in my post, a group of newer oils are on the 30/40 borderline, so in that case a 0w-30 is not a light oil, it behaves more like a 40 does after it has been sheard.