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Anyone happen to know what the oil capacity is empty to full, following an oil change (including filter) I've googled it and come up with a couple of different numbers Also how many litres between upper and lower lines on the dip-stick.

Yeah, I know it's as simple as pour it in and keep count. I'm just curious.

A good question but not one with a straightforward answer, I think you'll find. A new car, or even one bought secondhand, will always come with engine oil already in it and so, without officially produced data (which, for my CJZC 1.2 engine, I myself have certainly never seen), it becomes tricky to estimate the capacity.

As far as your question goes, what do you mean by "empty" and "full"? In my view, it's never really fully empty; there's always some oil left lurking around in the engine's galleries, so the starting point is never zero oil. Then it also depends on whether you include the oil in the oil-filter; some DIYers, when refilling, fill or prime the new oil-filter with fresh oil before then screwing it on to the engine, but I've never found that a worthwhile practical proposition - most of the fresh oil put into the filter pours out of the filter and ends up spilt all over the front of the engine as you screw it on!

In practise, and with a new empty filter fitted, I've found that about 3.5 litres in total is required. Incidentally, that's a figure from memory. And it's for my 1.2 TSI engine. For a 1.4 engine, you'd doubtless need more. What I tend to do is use the graduations on the oil container as a guide and put, firstly, about 2.5 litres in. I then run the engine briefly, to get that distributed inside the engine and a bit warmed up so that it flows easily through the engine galleries. After that I leave the car alone for about 30 mins to enable the oil to drain back into the sump. And then and only then, I very slowly put the remainder in, in small increments that eventually brings it to the halfway mark on the dipstick. When that's reached I leave it for a further 15 mins or so before checking again the dipstick level. If it still appears to then need a little more, I add just tiny amounts, checking each time with the dipstick. You have to go very carefully for that final few tens of millilitres, because there's only about 50ml - 100 ml between the lowest and highest marks on the dipstick. My opinion is that it's important to avoid ever filling it to the maximum mark, as that then risks some of the oil blowing past seals and maybe even ending up in the exhaust system. That can happen especially if you do lots of short journeys, as not much of the water produced during combustion will be boiled off and instead it will get added in with the oil in the sump.

It goes without saying, of course, that the filling and the subsequent dipstick checks should be done with the car standing on level ground, as otherwise the dipstick may well give you a false indication.

Sorry I've not been able to give you a definitive answer. Whenever I've done an oil change I've never bothered to note down, to the nearest 0.1 of a litre, how much I've actually ended up putting in, in total, I've been more concerned about putting in just enough, but not too much, as determined by the dipstick. Maybe tomorrow, I'll look at the remainder in the container I last used and come up with a more firm figure.

Addendum: Interestingly, the Haynes manual for the 2009 - 2014 Polo quotes 2.8 litres as the capacity, and that includes - apparently - the amount in the filter. That's for the 1.2 litre engine, presumably as produced for those years of production. That seems a bit low to me, and I wonder if it's a publishing mistake.

Wow, longest answer in the world.

I would just say, check your handbook it says in there [emoji2]


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1.2 TSI EA111 engines produced till the 18th of June 2011 need 3,6lt of oil.
1.2 TSI EA111 engines produced from the 18th of June 2011 need 3,9lt of oil.

I actually don't know the capacity of the 1.2 TSI EA211 engine, but a friend of mine owns one and he tells me 3,9lt.

Wed morning. To the delight of Slider09 (heh, heh, heh!), I'm extending my answer further. I've now checked the amount left in the container, in my case, and it's 1.4 litres. That's for a 5-litre container, so that means that I put in 3.6 litres, altogether. That 3.6 includes the amount that ends up in the oil filter.

I've the official driver's handbook for my Polo and the oil capacity of the engine is not mentioned in it.

You were right to ask the question, wolfie, because it appears that the amount varies from precise engine to engine. Mine's a CJZC, as fitted to some of the Polos produced in the last few years, and although it's obviously not of the same build-type as yours, it's still nominally a 1.2 engine, and that's what makes it confusing when it comes to putting in the correct amount of oil.

Slider09 wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2019 6:44 am Wow, longest answer in the world.

I would just say, check your handbook it says in there [emoji2]


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As said in the previous posting, this is a VW so no chance of listing capacities, same for Audis and maybe even SEATs.

I'd the capacity listed in the 6R Haynes workshop manual will be for the 1.2 3 cylinder petrol engines so not valid for the OP's engine - just to remove that mentioned capacity from things.

Yes, just checked the back-cover of that Haynes. Petrol models covered in that manual are 1.2 litre 3-cyl and 1.4 litre non-turbos.

Those were the two values I found (3.6 - 3.9) Which is what prompted the question, also I did not know how many litres between min & max. Plus I'm tight and the larger containers appear to come in 4ltr or 5ltr sizes, so no point in buying too much as I already have a litre on the shelf in the garage for top-ups.

Cheers peeps, just me being curious as ever..

RUM4MO wrote:

Slider09 wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2019 6:44 am Wow, longest answer in the world.

I would just say, check your handbook it says in there [emoji2]


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As said in the previous posting, this is a VW so no chance of listing capacities, same for Audis and maybe even SEATs.

I apologise, my handbook for my Golf MK7 R does contain the capacities so assumed this was standard.


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1.2 TSI CBZC
viewtopic.php?f=56&t=58703&start=4515#p540636

wolfie wrote:Anyone happen to know what the oil capacity is empty to full, following an oil change (including filter) I've googled it and come up with a couple of different numbers Also how many litres between upper and lower lines on the dip-stick.

Yeah, I know it's as simple as pour it in and keep count. I'm just curious.

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Anyone know what the correct torque setting for the sump plug is. (M14 X 1.5) 30Nm rings a bell, but I can't remember where I read it.

wolfie wrote:Anyone know what the correct torque setting for the sump plug is. (M14 X 1.5) 30Nm rings a bell, but I can't remember where I read it.

Oil filter 20NM
Oil drain plug 30NM


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Slider09 wrote: Mon Jul 22, 2019 9:28 am

wolfie wrote:Anyone know what the correct torque setting for the sump plug is. (M14 X 1.5) 30Nm rings a bell, but I can't remember where I read it.

Oil filter 20NM
Oil drain plug 30NM

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Cheers for that.
Been tightening stuff by hand for years, but treated myself to a torque wrench a little while back. Now everything I go near now gets tightened to what it should be to make sure I get my money's worth...