I've been having a discussion on one of the Audi sites on the 2.0L Audi A4 turbo. One of my kids has a 2007 A4 2.0L turbo and is getting about 1200 miles on a quart of oil. The Audi people say that the norm is 1000 miles a quart. Being from the old school I can remember back when 1000 miles on a qt. was normal but that was 1960 technology. So my question to the turbo group here is what kind of oil usage are you getting with the Volvo Turbo. By the way the excuse from Audi is because of the turbo. The recommended oil is 5W-40 Synth. which we change every 5000 miles. 33,000 miles on the clock. Just askin

 

Most turbo Volvos with turbos in good order do not burn nearly that much oil... I wouldn't be happy with the official Audi line. Sometimes manufacturers have some pretty lenient parameters for performance which of course is designed to limit claims, the old "they all do that" explanation. I don't buy it it.

 

Me thinks the driver of the Audi is staying in boost a bit! While driving styles dictate oil consumption with all cars, I happen to have a Volvo B230FT motor that was meticulously rebuilt, by me, less than 8000 miles ago. I run a bigger turbo, bigger injectors and a bigger AMM than stock. Too, both the ecu and icu are chipped. I make serious boost...as in 22-23 p.s.i. When driven hard, I go through a quart in 2500 miles; the very design of a turbo guarantees a certain amount of oil consumption. My 760T with 180k on the clock and original, un-rebuilt motor and aging turbo went through a quart in 1000-1200 miles driven hard. Your Audi is using a bit more oil than one that low mileage should IMHO. Two things kill a turbo faster than anything else...lack of oil changes (I change at 3k or every three months, whichever come first) and using dino oil instead of synthetic. While coolant "percolates" throughout the cooling system after the motor shuts down, allowing a gradual cooling, oil stops dead in its tracks when the key is switched off. Oil trapped in the hot turbo cooks and will turn to hard stuff called coke, limiting and eventually sealing, the oil passages to the turbo. Dino oil cokes badly, especially when dirty while synthetic does not. To effectively run dino oil, it is necessary to allow the motor an oil to cool down at idle before switching off the engine after hard driving. In practice, this seldom gets done so a lot of turbos die early. I'd say your Audi may be one of 'em. Changeing oil every 3k may seem exorbitant...until you price the labor on replacing a turbo!
One other thing and this is neither a suggestion nor advice...5W oil is too thin for a turbo in my car. 10W-30 synthetic seems to work best for me. I'm not saying or recommending you switch viscosity on my say so...I'm not buying your next motor! Just saying, given the tolerances of a dynamic sealed turbo, I wouldn't run anything as thin as 5W.

 

I use a half litre (less than a pint) between oil changes on a car with 280k kms. A quart every 1200 miles is bad manufacturing.
I also change my oil every 10k kms. There's no advantage on a modern watercooled turbo to change oil sooner unless you are racing, and my car, serviced every 10k kms by a Volvo dealer until I bought it, proves it.

Regards, Andrew.

 

Thanks folks for the response. I don't buy the 1000 Audi statement but based on a sample of 50 people on this Audi site I'm on it appears that this was normal to them. This is the same for the VW which has the same engine. I always notice every time I get behind or walk by a Audi A4 2.0 the tail pipes are black. The Audi specs call for a special 5W-40 oil that is only mfg'ed by a few companies. Also the recommended oil change is at 10,000 miles which I don't buy. I do a 5K change and the kid puts in a few qts. in between. If you follow the car there is no sign of oil being burnt so most of it must be lost through the turbo or PCV system. I guess trying to pump 200HP out of a 2.0L 4 banger stresses the system. So what is is and we'll live with it. Thanks

 

This thread reminded me of a conversation with an old boss of mine. He had anew 944 turbo (Porsche) at the time (1991?). Anyway, Porsche claimed that a half litre every 1000kms was normal, UNDER HARD DRIVING CONDITIONS. So maybe that's what the Audi manual said?
Oil use in a turbocharged engine of reasonable mileage is poor valve guide clearances and ring tension/piston clearances too loose. (which a lot of manufacturers do to get good economy due to reduced engine friction).

Regards, Andrew.