Oil consumption rate?

Mine didn't change noticeably in 500 miles - was a Saxo 1.1

peter

Depends on the engine.

Some Alfas use a litre of oil every 500 miles, some use bugger all. One of my Rangies uses bugger all oil per 1000 miles, the other one leaks a litre a week - or seems to.

"Alex Buell" wrote

It depend on the car but I would say that is excessive. Is the car smoking or showing any sign of leakage?

On Mon, 1 May 2006 17:13:22 +0100 "Pete M" waved a wand and this message magically appeared:

My car's an ancient[1] Audi cabriolet with 2.6 V6. Do your advice change given that information?

Depends on the manufacturer's specifications. Most manufacturer's state what's an acceptable amount for warranty reasons, but 1 litre per 1000miles although maybe excessive, may well be well within the manufacturer's spec.

"Alex Buell" wrote

The mileage might make a difference but the body style would not.

I would say it was excessive if the exhaust visibly smoked or stank the district as you passed through. Think carefully about how much money you wish to spend on a car that is worth about £50 assuming an MOT certificate. I am not saying that you should not spend to rectify it, just that you should weigh the pros and cons.

Huw

My Capri would use roughly that. My Rover 600 didn't use a drop between services.

I think you'll find an Audi Cabrio is worth a f*ck load more than 50 quid, regardless of age and mileage. It's probably a good few grands worth.

I wouldn't worry about it.

If you're using fully synthetic oil, consider moving to semi-synth, also consider a slightly heavier grade.

On Mon, 1 May 2006 17:30:22 +0100 "Huw" waved a wand and this message magically appeared:

The car's still worth at least 5 grand despite its age.

"Huw" wrote

Where on Earth do you get £50 from? I just sold an E-reg Ford Sierra for £285 and it only had 4 months MOT. An Audi cabriolet only half that age would be worth four or five times that much..

Worth about £3-£3.5k depending on condition.

Should you do that? I know you can go from semi to fully, but you shouldn't go the other way should you?

Oil is oil, it makes very little difference to the average road going car.

As an engine gets older and wears, there are significant advantages to going to a slightly thicker semi-synth oil - less chance of leakage and less likely to be burnt off.

You can go from one to the other with no problems. If there's a "problem", it's when going from dino/semi to fully, in which case the thinner synthetic oil sometimes exposes worn oil seals. It doesn't damage the seals as such, but 0W40 will get out where 15W50 didn't.

Fully synthetic is less prone to being burned of.

But then again, semi/fully are only marketing terms. The oil refineries themselves don't specify if an oil is mineral/semi/fully, it's only their marketing gurus that dream up those terms. To the oil refineries it's just another spec of oil.

Apart from the fact that they tend to leak past the piston rings in older / worn engines meaning they are *more* likely to be burned off.

Rubbish. A synthetic oil isn't produced by a traditional refinery.

Come off it. Old oil-consuming high mileage bangers are ten a penny. Finding someone who will part with any money is the problem as there are far more of them than there are potential buyers. It is worth a lot more to the existing owner than anyone else, assuming it doesn't need huge wads of dosh thrown at it. Next stop is very likely to be the scrappy or the clocker, depending on potential.

Huw