# Disappearing oil

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/disappearing-oil/41392>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** volkswagen, passat\
**Created:** [December 28, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/disappearing-oil/41392 "2009-12-28T13:29:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dennis\_Passat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecd19e/32.png) [@Dennis\_Passat](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Dennis_Passat)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/disappearing-oil/41392/1 "2009-12-28T13:29:28Z")

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My '03 Passat is burning oil. I don’t see any blue smoke from the exhaust. The check engine light came on this weekend and I checked the oil which was change about 3000 miles ago and the dip stick was dry. I added a quart. The engine light is still on. A mechanic told be it’s the turbo, a very expensive repair. Is this a problem with this engine. What’s the prognosis?

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**Author:** ![MG-McAnick](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mg-mcanick/32/188_2.png) [@MG-McAnick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MG-McAnick)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/disappearing-oil/41392/2 "2009-12-28T14:49:50Z")

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When turbos go out, the bushings inside them sometimes allow oil to be sucked into intake and therefor engine. I had one on a GMC V-8 diesel that sucked ALL the oil out in about ten miles once it started smoking. Luckily I shut it down before any damage was done to the engine. Vehicles with catalytic coverters often won’t smoke even when oil consumption is high as the cat will burn the extra oil in what would have been smoke. Diesels do not have cats.

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**Author:** ![Dennis\_Passat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecd19e/32.png) [@Dennis\_Passat](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Dennis_Passat)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/disappearing-oil/41392/3 "2009-12-28T15:55:14Z")

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Thanks MGMcAnick. Sounds about right. I suppose I’ll have to call around to get estimates on the cost to repair.