We have a 2003 Jetta 2.0 with 98k on it that seems to be constantly low on oil - Usually a quart low within a few weeks to a month. There are no signs of leaks anywhere that I can find or that the shop can find. Car is in good shape and runs great, gets good gas mileage, etc... What gives?

I have a 2002 Jetta (VR 6) and it is the exact opposite. I can't get the damn thing to use any oil.
I check about once a month but it never gets any lower. The only time i "refill" is when i get an oil change.



My guess would be in your case the oil is going through the combustion chamber.
Do you have any smoke from the exhaust at startup? Any oil droplets from the exhaust?

Checked the coolant lately?

Oil consumption is pretty common for the 2L in that year. At the dealer we did a couple of ring jobs a week. Almost every car had automatic trans and was using oil by 30K miles. Theory was the rings never seated due to low rpm shift points and lack of engine braking.

No smoking from exhaust or anywhere, and no signs of oil anywhere.

Coolant looks clean, and coolant lines were just recently replaced.

So could it be rings even though no signs of smoking? It's an automatic...

Mine doesn't use any oil either. It is a 96 Jetta, with the 2.0. I've used synthetic oil in it since after the break in oil from when I got it new. I have 163,000 miles on it.

You won't see smoke. If there's no leak it's the rings. VW says 1 quart in 1000 miles is "normal"

The 2.0 engine was redesigned in '99. The early engines rarely used oil. My DD is a '97 Jetta with 220K miles that uses not a single drop of oil.

Really? Then I guess all is "normal ". Would a different oil brand or weight help any?

Get the rings seated. No idea if that is still possible, but you can try.

My old Toyota also had self changing oil.... I'd lose a quart every 1500 miles but didn't have any smoke or drips. Switching to a heavier oil helped but I just had to remember to add oil once in a while.

My 1998/99 2.0 Jetta (5 spd) has 186k on it and it doesn't use/leak any oil.

See if there is a crankcase breather system and see if its clogged.
Our Volvo did this and when I cleaned that out, it slowed the usage.

VW/Audi used a special break-in oil and an extended break-in period before the first oil change. People who jumped the gun on that ended up with high oil consumption.

The Cap'n

I was hoping you'd chime in Capn. Will this mean reduced engine life?

I don't think so. You'll just have to be sure the oil level is kept up. My Audi 90 20v had well over 200,000 miles on it when it left this world, and would have probably still been running fine if the new owner hadn't had a close encounter of the drunk kind with the rear bumper of a pickemup truck on the freeway. Used a quart every 800 miles or so, more around town. DO NOT OVERFILL your engine! Takes out the already fragile catalyst.

The Cap'n

Thanks Capn And to all who replied.

our 85' had over 250k when we donated it to charity. it barely was down a half quart at change time at the end. my wife bought it new. never even had to put a replacement clutch in it. hard to believe but true. one of the german built cars. my exe's (can't recall the year) golf, manufactured in mexico, was falling part within a year.