1997 Jetta 2.0 L

[ARB1977]

Hey people my fiance has a 1997 Jetta 2.0L non turbo with 65K miles since new the oil was changed at jiffy lube well the other day her dad and i decided to change the oil and we used castrol synthetic blend. The car doesnt burn any oil and as far as i know doesnt have any sludge. What oil would you recommend? Im thinking i should stick with castrol synthetic blend then one day use castrol syntec. What do you think? Thanks. Any good reviews on moble truck and suv 5W40 for this engine?

[ November 20, 2005, 11:55 PM: Message edited by: TRDUSA2002 ]

 

[huffmuds9320]

Jiffy Lube probably puts in regular 5W-30 or 10W-30 oil in that engine. The 2.0L is a fairly good engine just not a lot of power. For oils I'm not a big fan of synthetic blends. If you want to use that I would put in 10W-40 for the blends, 10W-30 would probably work too. 5W-40 is what VW recommends in the manual. Mobil 1 5W-40 is a good choice if using synthetic. Next choice would be either Castrol 0W-30 GC or Mobil 0W-40. But if you don't want to spend that much, Shell Rotella 5W-40 works fine too. I don't know what the manual in the 97 Jetta says about engine oils, I drive a 02 Jetta 2.0L should be same engine.

 

[ARB1977]

Thanks ill check out moble 5W40.

 

[99]

I run the Mobil 1 5W40 in my 04 2.0. Prior to the Mobil 1, I ran Shell Rotella T syn 5W40 in it. You can't go wrong with either of them, but the Mobil 1 is a better buy for the money.

 

[moribundman]

M1 5W-40 is probably the best choice in terms of value and performance.

 

[Alex P.]

Also check out 5w40 Syntec if you can find it locally.

 

[glennc]

Syntec is Group III synth right? If so why not use the Rotella 5W-40 and get the same thing plus the HDEO additive pack for less cost?

- Glenn

 

[Alex P.]

1) Some people get too hung up on the Group of the base oil. There's a lot more to even the US Syntecs than Group III. See also: UOAs.

2) 0w30 and 5w40 Syntec are not US Syntec. Being on this forum you can't help but hear about 0w30 (GC), but the 5w40 doesn't come up as much. 5w40 was/is known as Belgium Castrol (BC). From Castrol's web site: "Engineered specifically to meet the Volkswagen engine warranty requirements, exceeding VW 502 00 and 505 00. Exceeds all car and light truck manufacturer's warranty requirements for the protection of gasoline, diesel and turbocharged engines where API SL, SJ, SH, CF or CD is recommended. Porsche approved and also exceeds European ACEA: A3, B3, B4, MB 229.3, MB 229.1, BMW LL-98. Meets the engine protection requirements of Volvo, BMW, Mercedes Benz and ILSAC GF-3 for API Certified Gasoline Engine Oils."

So, we're dealing with the VW 2.0L NA motor. It's a pretty solid motor, but given 1) and 2) I'd say 5w40 Syntec would be a good choice, given good availability. Also, you'll note it works great in gas/diesel engines, forced induction or otherwise. So it's probably got a decent add pack.

 

[moribundman]

If Castrol 5W-40 is similar in quality to Castrol 5W-50, and I have no reason to doubt that, then it will work just fine, especially in a normally aspirated engine. The 2.0 isn't exactly a super-sensitive piece of machinery and will do well with most oils. I do however doubt that Castrol 5W-40 offers the best bang for the buck, which I happen to believe M1 5W-40 does.

 

[glennc]

Alex, thanks for the answer. I didn't realize the 5W-40 was the Belgian Castrol, nor was I aware of any of the rest of the logic behind your conclusion, which seems quite sound.

Is dino a no-no for this engine?

- Glenn

 

[bar1]

Dino is ok for that engine if you keep your OCI short. I would prefer a blend or full synthetic to be able to extend those OCI's. Does that engine require VW502.00 spec. oil? If that is true I would stay away from oil thinner than xxW-40 (GC 0W-30 beeing the only exception)..

 

[ARB1977]

I have to look it up but i may use either moble or castrol 5W40 im hoping by switching to a full synthetic it wouldnt hurt anything.

 

[Alex P.]

Glenn: I didn't organize my thoughts as well as I could have, but I mostly got my point across. As bar1 said, dino won't destroy it, but I would highly recommend a synthetic oil. M1 T&SUV is excellent stuff, I wasn't knocking it. I was suggesting an alternative that is known to work great in VW/MB/BMW motors calling for an oil that meets their specs. If it is locally available, it is a great choice. There's also Lubro Moly 5w40, but outside of my work I have been hard pressed to find any locally.

 

[John_E]

Does he really need a synthetic oil in a nonturbo engine? I wouldn't think of using a non-502.00 oil in my 2001 VW Passat 1.8T, but I use dino in my 1996 Audi A4 2.8, as the first owner always did. Since I bought the Audi a month ago with a history of city driving and 5k mi / 8k km OCIs on dino, I am running a course of Auto-RX through it; I'll report results and observations as available.

 

[moribundman]

quote:

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I use dino in my 1996 Audi A4 2.8

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I own the same model '96 A4 with the 12v engine. Check page 184 in your manual. Then compare that to the oil recommendation on page 130. Then think about what these arbitrary recommendations mean for your engine's health.