Burning Oil

Hi
I've got a S3 2.25 Petrol and it's burning a lot of oil (5 litres in 1500 miles). Not being a mechanic, have any of you guys got any idea what would cause this? it's only done 27K

does it breath heavy out of filler cap when caps removed ,does it smoke a good bit , what oil are you using

Can't say I've noticed it breathing heavy. It does smoke on startup and I'm using a semi synthetic 10/40

My first thought was that the piston rings are worn and letting the oil past them from the sump into the combustion chamber. If this is the case you would see blue smoke from the exhaust. As its only done 27k, has it been standing for a long period as the piston rings can stick in the piston, giving the same symptoms as worn rings. I think you would notice any obvious oil leaks from gaskets etc but are you using the correct grade of oil? Try using a thicker grade to see if it helps. Other than this, I am not too sure.

Semi synthetic in a Series.....REALLY?

Mineral 20w50 every time

I agree with the Beasty, mineral oil........

Are you sure its burning it and not just keeping rust off the chassis?

That is getting on for heavy consumption only beaten by my wifes VW passat 300 miles to a litre. Try 20/50 mineral. Any bods out there got any views on redex type stuff if rings are stuck? When engine is running remove rocker breather and put your hand above the hole to see if much crankcase pressure dont go poking around in ther though.

If none of the above are whats happened, my 2.25 petrol had a similar problem because of worn valve stem oil seals, possibly made worse by using unleaded fuel. I just lived with it to be honest, there was'nt huge amounts of black smoke. I called it self-oil changing. I did eventually replace it with a 300di though

27,000 miles on a 30 - 40 year old vehicle is - unlikely. If it has only done that mileage then the chances are its never got warm and will have been driven with the choke out - which may have wrecked the engine as the excess fuel will have washed the oil from the bores. At 127,000 miles the engine is probably worn - as they didn't last like modern ones do.

20-50 is a must.

Is it leaking? If so from where?

Does it blow out loads of smoke if you remove the oil filler when its hot? If you choke you've got problems, if there's only a little fuming its probably OK.

Some oil can go down the valve seals. They're cheap enough but unless you're confident enough to fill the bores with thin rope or something to hold the valves up while you remove the springs to change the seals its a head-off job.