Oil consumption 2.0 TDI FR

Jun 15, 2025
2
0
Hi everyone, I have recently bought a 2017 leon fr 2.0 tdi. The car is incredible and fun to drive. Have no issues with the car apart from dpf which has been sorted with a clean and new sensor but I am just wondering what your oil consumption is like as i have heard these do drink a fair bit of oil. My car is on 95k mileage so pretty good mileage and just wondering what to expect
 

Mr Pig

Active Member
Jun 17, 2015
2,915
1,090
Hi there, we've had three diesels, two Leons and a Golf, and none of them consumed oil. The Golf was over 100K miles, my wife's Leon FR is about 60K and the first Leon was about 80K when we sold it. I fact it's not unusual to find that the level on the dipstick goes up slightly! Because of the high compression you can get crap blowing past the piston rings and into the oil.
 

James_R

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇩🇪 🇪🇸
Staff member
Moderator
Apr 22, 2008
5,692
115
37
Manchester
I also had a 2.0TDI Leon for a couple of years. Tuned it, drove it to death, never lost a drop. It's not something that comes up regularly at work either 🤷‍♂️
 

Compo1

Active Member
Jul 19, 2010
329
87
If you have the 150bhp version they dont burn oil.

The 184 cuna engine will at some point start burning oil and at low mileage, 50000 onwards.

The oil control rings are responsible for this. They are specced to be on the loose side and they don't seal as older engines from the VW range do. Its said to be a emission control thing.

VW state its normal to burn up to 1000ml per 1000 miles.

Common complaint and well documented on the forum.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mr Pig

James_R

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇩🇪 🇪🇸
Staff member
Moderator
Apr 22, 2008
5,692
115
37
Manchester
Mine was a 184, bought it at 55k, did another 20k on top of that. We also had an Octavia 184 that we bought at 40k and put 50k on, our Kodiaq and Karoq (190 and 150) never used any oil either.

We see cars from 0-150k miles through our workshop and rarely get any oil consumption complaints. I can't actually remember the last time I did a consumption test.

When we do delve into a diagnosis, the most common cause has been a defective turbo or external leak from the likes of the crank seals.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Compo1 and Mr Pig

Compo1

Active Member
Jul 19, 2010
329
87
Mine was a 184, bought it at 55k, did another 20k on top of that. We also had an Octavia 184 that we bought at 40k and put 50k on, our Kodiaq and Karoq (190 and 150) never used any oil either.

We see cars from 0-150k miles through our workshop and rarely get any oil consumption complaints. I can't actually remember the last time I did a consumption test.

When we do delve into a diagnosis, the most common cause has been a defective turbo or external leak from the likes of the crank seals.
So you work in the trade and you don't know of the oil consumption issue on the 184 that even VW state is normal ? Seriously, the issue is mentioned regarding the CUNA 184 on just about every VAG site on the internet. Its a running joke to carry 5 liters in the boot.

Its the rings and blow by.



There was also a thread on here for the 184 cuna listing what member cars used oil wise between services.

For some reason, i can not find that even looking through my posts.
 
Last edited:

James_R

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇩🇪 🇪🇸
Staff member
Moderator
Apr 22, 2008
5,692
115
37
Manchester
As far as I'm aware, there is no official documentation from VWG stating that there is a known characteristic on the CUNA engine where it uses an amount of oil that is considered to be excessive, just speculation on the Internet.

The service bulletin about oil consumption and what is considered acceptable has been around since Moses wore short pants.
 

Compo1

Active Member
Jul 19, 2010
329
87
As far as I'm aware, there is no official documentation from VWG stating that there is a known characteristic on the CUNA engine where it uses an amount of oil that is considered to be excessive, just speculation on the Internet.

The service bulletin about oil consumption and what is considered acceptable has been around since Moses wore short pants.
Read this mate

1756322992760.png
 
Jun 15, 2025
2
0
If you have the 150bhp version they dont burn oil.

The 184 cuna engine will at some point start burning oil and at low mileage, 50000 onwards.

The oil control rings are responsible for this. They are specced to be on the loose side and they don't seal as older engines from the VW range do. Its said to be a emission control thing.

VW state its normal to burn up to 1000ml per 1000 miles.

Common complaint and well documented on the forum.
I have the 184bhp, its on 96000 miles, I had an oil change done about 1k miles ago when i got the car. It was 3/4 full and ive checked today after posting this thread and now its about 1/4 full, so obviously now abit concerned. Car has full service history and on the book shows that it has been serviced between 5-10k miles. So hoping it is not piston rings but as you are saying its normal to burn oil? Anything i can do to slow the consumption?