20000km oil change?...I wish I knew for sure..

[rcy]

So, my wife and I bought this 2000 Beetle with 50000km on it. Cheap, as her cousin sold it to us. First thing I do is pull the dipstick. Black as Darth Vader, but level is good. Notice a Canadian Tire sticker in the window - "Next oil change January 2003, or 35000km." Look under the car and see a Motomaster filter (Canadian Tire brand probably made by Fram) that's leaking slightly to boot. Yikes - is it possible this oil has been in the car since 30000km, or has CDN Tire done another oil change and forgot to put a new sticker on?

First thing I want to do is an Auto-Rx treatment (it's on order), but winter is fast approaching and I really want to run synthetic, especially since the Beetle doesn't come with a block heater. Also, I think the Auto-Rx might work better when it's hotter out.

Finally decide to throw in four litres of GC (the last four at my local Wal Mart - has Patman been cleaning all the Wal Marts out here in Ontario?) with a Volkswagen filter. This should do me till spring when it's warmer and I can run GTX with the Auto-Rx. What do you all think?

By the way, the Beetle factory fill is 5W40 and they recommend 10000km OCI.

 

[pitzel]

Not sure what engine your Beetle has in it, but if it has a turbocharger, I personally wouldn't let dino oil anywhere near it. 1.8T or TDI engine? 2.0's are okay with dino, though they have been known to experience sluding problems, so I'd still use synthetic.

GC is okay, though Esso XD-3 0W30/0W40 from a bulk dealer would be more economical. I'm pretty sure VW recommends a 10k mile oil change interval on those cars, so that's 16,000km. Oil consumption can be an issue on the 2.0L VW engines, so you'll definitely want a heavy 30 or 40 weight oil.

Otherwise, sounds like you're well ontop of what to do with the car.

 

[XS650]

First step is to ask your wife's cousin when the last oil change was.

The answer will be some form of yes, no or maybe. Then you need to figure out how to interpret the answer.

ARx with synthetic is not verboten. It just works slower and maybe not as well, but it works. With your cold weather, leave it in a bit longer than normal. Hopefully Frank will drop in here and give you his recomendation.

How does the dip stick look and how do things look through the oil fill hole? If the engine is really cruddy looking inside, consider an early oil filter change, like at the standard 1500 mile interval for changing out the ARx.

 

[rcy]

Sorry, I should have mentioned that it's the 2.0
The dipstick looks varnished, unless they come from the factory with a black/brown finish. The filler cap was kind of cruddy looking, and the top part of the filler hole was pretty black too. I wiped it all clean before refilling. Frank's advice would be good regarding running Auto-Rx with GC and also during the winter months. The GC is already in the car.

[ October 31, 2004, 01:15 AM: Message edited by: rcy ]

 

[Flash]

With the 2.0l, you may find that GC isn't necessary, although I do understand your urge to use it. I've been running Rotella T Synthetic 5W-40 for a while and my 2.0l loves it. Mine has a lot more miles than yours (144k) and seems to be getting a 'gentle' cleaning with the Rotella.

One advantage to the Rotella, given your circumstances, is that you can run AutoRX with it since it's a Group III oil. I might try running that for a while and using it for your cleaning cycles with the AutoRX first. After you get through that, either stick with the Rotella, or switch to whatever oil you like!

Cheers,
Ashley