I have a 2.0litre,16 valve diesel turbo Vectra. First registered November 1999. I took possession in November 2000 with 10,500 on the clock. It seemed to use about 4.5 litres of engine oil in 8,000 miles i.e. 2,000 miles before service. My garage, from whom I bought the car are trustworthy and they think that there may have been, or is a 'bore glazing problem'. Since my last service (20,000 miles) I have driven some 2,500 miles and have used about 0.8litres of oil. The garage are asking me to monitor the level and to ensure that I do not top up the oil above midpoint on the dipstick.
Does anyone else have this problem?
Have you been given an explanation?
I would find it very helpful to know
|
Trevor,
Whilst the initial consumption certainly sems a bit high, from your figures it has improved to currently around 3,000 miles per litre. I would not say this is too bad, but have no personal experience of this particular engine from that point of view. If it had been used a lot for short trips and not driven hard from time to time the bores may well have been glazed, and are now improving. Give it some real stick occasionally, when safe to do so and when fully warmed up, and it may get better still. Yes, monitor the consumption, and yes, it is not good to over-fill any turbo diesel.
Regards, Adam
|
Adam Going wrote:
>
>If it had been used a lot for short trips and not driven hard from time to time >the bores may well have been glazed, and are now improving
>
Can anybody explain what "Bore Glazing" is?
Mike Humpherson.
|
The cylinders of a new engine or one that has been re-bored go through a process called Honing.This is where the surface of the cylinder is slightly roughned and takes on the appearance as if it had been rubbed with sand paper. The purpose of this is to give a good keyway for the piston rings to bed in during the running in period and therefore give a better oil and compression seal. What can happen if the engine is only used for short trips or at a constant speed for a long time is that the cylinders become glazed or polished. This smooth surface then does not allow for the pistons to bed in properly and leads to increased oil consumption.
Regards
Adrian
|
|
|
|
Adam,
Thanks very much !
Trevor
|
|
|
|
We came across this problem with the 16valve Di engine before. Part of the problem is that the 16 valve head holds a hell of a lot of oil. If you simply stop and dip the sump then this oil will not have drained back and you will get a falsely low reading. If you then fill to the mark you will effectively overfill the engine which will burn off the residue in the combustion chamber. That is why the chap who started this thread was told not to fill beyon the half way mark on the dipstick.
HJ
|
|
|
|
Most motor manufacturers state that 1 litre of oil used in 1000 miles is acceptable, especially in the early life of a diesel engine. I have experience of this and confirm that as the mileage mounts, the oil consumption decreases
|
|
|
