2001 VW Jetta TDI

[crazyman]

have a customer with a 2001 jetta tdi. over the last 4 years have been using either motul or the original amsoil 5w40 european formula oils. now that this newer amsoil 5w40 oil is out, would it be ok to use in this vehicle. i would assume so but amsoil online recommends the mid-saps 5w40 still. is this maybe because the new oil is out and the site hasnt been updated. any info would be great. thanks.

Also, would this newer 5w40 be good for long oil change intervals, say 15,000 km or 25,000 km like bmw recommends.

 

[rg200amp]

Not a oil you listed, but:

If it were my 01 tdi, I'd use 5w40 Rotella T6.

 

[riggaz]

Originally Posted By: crazyman
have a customer with a 2001 jetta tdi. over the last 4 years have been using either motul or the original amsoil 5w40 european formula oils. now that this newer amsoil 5w40 oil is out, would it be ok to use in this vehicle. i would assume so but amsoil online recommends the mid-saps 5w40 still. is this maybe because the new oil is out and the site hasnt been updated. any info would be great. thanks.

Also, would this newer 5w40 be good for long oil change intervals, say 15,000 km or 25,000 km like bmw recommends.


Which 5w-40 is that?

If the Jetta has PD engine (Pumpe Dusse) then VW 505.01 spec is the one you want which is the mid saps euro car formula, if it has the standard diesel engine in it you can use either because they both meet the VW 505.00 spec.


VW longlife oils are probably the safest bet if you want to run a long oil change interval and at that age you may well be ok to switch back to variable serving. It would need resetting on diagnostic equipment to do it.

They may still have their service book (the one that gets stamped when you have a service) if so you can check the PR codes on the opening page for the code QG1. If you see this then the car is ok for variable servicing and can be switched back.

Amsoil European Car Formula 5w30 Synthetic Motor Oil

VW 504.00/507.00
Mercedes-Benz 229.51
BMW LL-04
Porsche C30

this would be the VW longlife oil from Amsoil

Riggaz

 

[QuietPortage]

Originally Posted By: rg200amp
Not a oil you listed, but:

If it were my 01 tdi, I'd use 5w40 Rotella T6.


Agreed.

 

[FowVay]

For the ALH TDI engine I'd not use a low-SAPS oil. These engines have nothing special that requires any oil other than the VW 505.00 requirement. They performed perfectly and for many hundreds of thousands of miles on Rotella-T 5W-40, Delvac-1 5W-40, Mobil 1 Truck and SUV 5W-40, etc. VW isued a service bulletin back in 2001 specifying the 5W-40 viscosity in synthetic formula only.

If you're set on servicing with Amsoil then stick with the original European 5W-40. There is no benefit to using the low-SAPS oils. They're designed for vehicles with DPF's (diesel particulate filters) in the exhaust. The ALH TDI isn't equipped with such a device and therefore you're better off using the oils with the higher TBN ratings.

 

[crazyman]

well the customer has used the 5w40 for years now with no problems. AS for a PD engine, dont really know diesels that much. when i look up the specs for the engine it calls for 505.00. now the original and the newer 5w40 both spec 505, so it should be ok to use the newer one. am i right ???

 

[riggaz]

Originally Posted By: crazyman
well the customer has used the 5w40 for years now with no problems. AS for a PD engine, dont really know diesels that much. when i look up the specs for the engine it calls for 505.00. now the original and the newer 5w40 both spec 505, so it should be ok to use the newer one. am i right ???



Both absolutely fine for that engine

 

[weebl]

Originally Posted By: FowVay
For the ALH TDI engine I'd not use a low-SAPS oil. These engines have nothing special that requires any oil other than the VW 505.00 requirement. They performed perfectly and for many hundreds of thousands of miles on Rotella-T 5W-40, Delvac-1 5W-40, Mobil 1 Truck and SUV 5W-40, etc. VW isued a service bulletin back in 2001 specifying the 5W-40 viscosity in synthetic formula only.

If you're set on servicing with Amsoil then stick with the original European 5W-40. There is no benefit to using the low-SAPS oils. They're designed for vehicles with DPF's (diesel particulate filters) in the exhaust. The ALH TDI isn't equipped with such a device and therefore you're better off using the oils with the higher TBN ratings.


When I had my 2003 ALH TDI, I used Rotella T-6 5W-50. Good stuff.

Originally Posted By: crazyman
AS for a PD engine, dont really know diesels that much. when i look up the specs for the engine it calls for 505.00. now the original and the newer 5w40 both spec 505, so it should be ok to use the newer one. am i right ???


For the PD engine, there are two schools of thought, follow the OE spec, or go off spec, I believe it was to a CJ-4 or CI-4 oils. These engines experience rapid cam lobe wear. Apparently either by aggressive settings or bad design or both. The off-spec oil seemed to reduce the wear rate, but not eliminate it. Once the cam lobes need replacement, the wisdom is to go to an aftermarket one that was engineered to address the problems of the OE one. Of course going off-spec would be a warranty concern, but out of warranty (as I believe by now, all North American PDs probably are), choose your oil based on common sense.

 

[FowVay]

The 2003 models isn't a PD engine. The PD's did call for 505.01 spec but this 2003 models is still the VE rotary pump design (ALH engine code).

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted By: crazyman
have a customer with a 2001 jetta tdi. over the last 4 years have been using either motul or the original amsoil 5w40 european formula oils. now that this newer amsoil 5w40 oil is out, would it be ok to use in this vehicle. i would assume so but amsoil online recommends the mid-saps 5w40 still. is this maybe because the new oil is out and the site hasnt been updated. any info would be great. thanks.

Also, would this newer 5w40 be good for long oil change intervals, say 15,000 km or 25,000 km like bmw recommends.


Shell Rotella T6 & Petrol Canada Duron 5w40 will be fine for the 15,000-16,000 km oil change

If your customer is just following the VW OCI, I wouldn't spend extra money and other oils

If your customer plans on extended OCI's, then Amsoil DEO is a good choice.

 

[Pablo]

I would go with Amsoil DEO 5W-40 or the new EFM 5W-40. with no DPF if you want to run a 5w30, go with Amsoil HDD.

 

[skyship]

Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
Originally Posted By: crazyman
have a customer with a 2001 jetta tdi. over the last 4 years have been using either motul or the original amsoil 5w40 european formula oils. now that this newer amsoil 5w40 oil is out, would it be ok to use in this vehicle. i would assume so but amsoil online recommends the mid-saps 5w40 still. is this maybe because the new oil is out and the site hasnt been updated. any info would be great. thanks.
Also, would this newer 5w40 be good for long oil change intervals, say 15,000 km or 25,000 km like bmw recommends.

Shell Rotella T6 & Petrol Canada Duron 5w40 will be fine for the 15,000-16,000 km oil change
If your customer is just following the VW OCI, I wouldn't spend extra money and other oils
If your customer plans on extended OCI's, then Amsoil DEO is a good choice.


If you want to use the long OCI recommended by VW, then I would suggest you use an oil approved by VW, not some oil that only has recommendations from the oil company itself. Lots of folks get confused between an oil company recommendation and a real vehicle manufacturers approval.
Some of the VW engines are rather fussy in oil terms, so it is worth checking just which oils are approved. Most of the VW owners in Germany use Liqui Moly, Castrol or Mobil oils.
It's also a good idea to use a real VW oil filter if you are using the full OCI.

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted By: skyship
Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
Originally Posted By: crazyman
have a customer with a 2001 jetta tdi. over the last 4 years have been using either motul or the original amsoil 5w40 european formula oils. now that this newer amsoil 5w40 oil is out, would it be ok to use in this vehicle. i would assume so but amsoil online recommends the mid-saps 5w40 still. is this maybe because the new oil is out and the site hasnt been updated. any info would be great. thanks.
Also, would this newer 5w40 be good for long oil change intervals, say 15,000 km or 25,000 km like bmw recommends.

Shell Rotella T6 & Petrol Canada Duron 5w40 will be fine for the 15,000-16,000 km oil change
If your customer is just following the VW OCI, I wouldn't spend extra money and other oils
If your customer plans on extended OCI's, then Amsoil DEO is a good choice.


If you want to use the long OCI recommended by VW, then I would suggest you use an oil approved by VW, not some oil that only has recommendations from the oil company itself. Lots of folks get confused between an oil company recommendation and a real vehicle manufacturers approval.
Some of the VW engines are rather fussy in oil terms, so it is worth checking just which oils are approved. Most of the VW owners in Germany use Liqui Moly, Castrol or Mobil oils.
It's also a good idea to use a real VW oil filter if you are using the full OCI.


Luckily the ALH motor is not a fussy engine when it comes to lubrication. I know, because I used to have a ALH engine.

The BEW & BRM are fussy engine, including when you use the VW505.01 oil where you had excessive cam follower wear using the certified oil. Off the shelf heavy-duty diesel oils gives better camshaft protection.

 

[Thermo1223]

There was very little proof that using something other than 505.01 provided better camshaft protection. I am of the opinion that regardless of which oil you used if you had a bad cam, you had a bad cam. So made it last longer with something other than 505.01 spec but in the end it still required replacement.

It was obviously a flaw in the metallurgy from the factory but because the car made it close to 100k VWofA washed their hands of it. Now you have the option to buy a better made product and prevent it from ever happening again.

Currently sitting at almost 150k miles myself on 505.01 oils.