One thing i was wondering though is my car uses a litre every 1000 miles which apparently is ok according to VW. Hopefully this will reduce as a found a very small leak from the filter housing at the weekend. But with it using a litre every 1k miles is there any need to change the oil?
I do get a very small leak from the oil filter housing but this is hit and miss, as sometimes it does leak and other times it does not after a change.
Right...but 1L/1k miles is near the lower limit for when VW would've addressed the issue under its warranty, when it had one. The loss is probably due to old, hardened and cracked valve stem seals. I replaced mine at 120k miles. You want to keep a PCV in good shape mounted as well. Normally, it should go through 0.5L/5k miles.
The leaking at the oil filter housing is more likely the seals between the filter housing and block...and/or the filter housing and oil cooler. It is best to replace the filter housing instead of just those two seals if you choose to do the service. Because the filter housing comes with two new seals.
