2002 VW Jetta oil question

[mikeg5]

hey guys this girl here at work has the above mentioned car and she is getting shafted by oil places. they say she cannot use dino and has to be a syn. also they charge her 60$ to change the oil even when she buys the oil herself to save some $$. to me something is awfully wrong. so my questions to you guys are these

1. what weight of oil to use and does it have to be a syn?
2. how often for the OCI's? on the given oil above

thanks fellas!!

 

[crw]

Is it the 1.8T engine, or another?

At any rate, VW specifies synthetic oil for their vehicles. If you search around here, you'll see lists of oil specific for VW. Most of them are a 5w-40 weight, one exception is the Valvoline which is available (on the list) as a 5w-30.

Although not on the list, Rotella Synth is highly regarded and not too expensive. If she's not under warranty anymore it might be a good pick.

Stick to a 3K to 5K OCI. I do my own and stick to 3K.

 

[mikeg5]

Originally Posted By: crw
Is it the 1.8T engine, or another?

At any rate, VW specifies synthetic oil for their vehicles. If you search around here, you'll see lists of oil specific for VW. Most of them are a 5w-40 weight, one exception is the Valvoline which is available (on the list) as a 5w-30.

Although not on the list, Rotella Synth is highly regarded and not too expensive. If she's not under warranty anymore it might be a good pick.

Stick to a 3K to 5K OCI. I do my own and stick to 3K.


wow i didnt know they required a synthetic oil, why? just out of curiosity............

 

[crw]

Well, I think someone could write a book on "Why?", but if she has the turbo engine, then that application can be hard on oil. You don't want the formation of sludge, of course. The PCV setup on the Passat with the 1.8T was somewhat marginal from what I understand, and the oil spec was beefed up to account for it. Now, on the Jetta the PCV system is not so bad... just going on what I've read on this site... I'm sure others will chime in.

I'd say it's one-part overkill, one-part a German thing to over engineer and specify every last detail, one-part to cover their --- when they have PCV problems..... and maybe one-part necessity.

 

[mikeg5]

man.. glad i dont own a VW lol.. ill stick with my yota. so what weight is prefered for a basic VW jetta?? and what is prefered with a VW with a turbo?

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: mikeg5
man.. glad i dont own a VW lol.. ill stick with my yota. so what weight is prefered for a basic VW jetta?? and what is prefered with a VW with a turbo?

Most of the late model Jettas (turbo or not) require a 502.00 approved oil. It isn't about the weight, it's about the specification. The oil could be either a 0w-30, 5w-40 or a 0w-40, but the important part is that it is 502.00 approved.

 

[XPR]

Originally Posted By: mikeg5
hey guys this girl here at work has the above mentioned car and she is getting shafted by oil places. they say she cannot use dino and has to be a syn. also they charge her 60$ to change the oil even when she buys the oil herself to save some $$. to me something is awfully wrong. so my questions to you guys are these

1. what weight of oil to use and does it have to be a syn?
2. how often for the OCI's? on the given oil above

thanks fellas!!


I would use AMSOIL European Car Formula Synthetic 5W-40 Motor Oil (AFL)

You can run that particular oil out to the max OCI listed in the owners manual.

 

[mikeg5]

well she doesnt have the liberty of running amsoil. no dealers near her and ill bet she wont order any too..

where is that "list" of oils approved for VW's?? someone had mentioned that before

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: mikeg5
well she doesnt have the liberty of running amsoil. no dealers near her and ill bet she wont order any too..

where is that "list" of oils approved for VW's?? someone had mentioned that before

Amsoil isn't approved.

Mobil 1 0w-40, Pennzoil Platinum 5w-40, Castrol Syntec 5w-40 and Valvoline SynPower 5w-40 are all VW approved.

 

[moribundman]

Originally Posted By: mikeg5
hey guys this girl here at work has the above mentioned car


... but apparently she doesn't have an owner's manual. She can buy one from the dealer. A small expense, compared to having to put up with incorrect information and with asking others for help.

 

[blueiedgod]

Originally Posted By: moribundman
Originally Posted By: mikeg5
hey guys this girl here at work has the above mentioned car


... but apparently she doesn't have an owner's manual. She can buy one from the dealer. A small expense, compared to having to put up with incorrect information and with asking others for help.

I concur....

However, OP may be in the line of work where his coworkers may not be literate enough to read the Owner's Manual. If the girl at work is cute, maybe OP can cuddle up on a couch with her and read her the manual out loud.

 

[mikeg5]

ew no ill stay where i am at hahahaha.... ill let her know you were interested though

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: mikeg5
hey guys this girl here at work has the above mentioned car and she is getting shafted by oil places. they say she cannot use dino and has to be a syn. also they charge her 60$ to change the oil even when she buys the oil herself to save some $$. to me something is awfully wrong. so my questions to you guys are these

1. what weight of oil to use and does it have to be a syn?
2. how often for the OCI's? on the given oil above

thanks fellas!!


If I was to recommend an Amsoil motor oil for this situation, I would say this Amsoil DEO 5W-40 would be very good in gas VW's.

I'm not telling you that you have to use Amsoil, nor am I telling you this is an approved oil. But I'm thinking the approval thing is a bit of red herring after the warranty has expired.

 

[bennyG19]

my wife's car is an '03 jetta. we've had GC in there for the last couple of changes. i'm out of my stash now and don't know what to do. i'm thinking the rotella might be what i use on the next oil change...

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
Pablo - You said this:

"If I was to recommend an Amsoil motor oil for this situation, I would say this Amsoil DEO 5W-40 would be very good in gas VW's."

You just recommended it!

Then this;
"I'm not telling you that you have to use Amsoil, nor am I telling you this is an approved oil. But I'm thinking the approval thing is a bit of red herring after the warranty has expired."

It is NOT a red herring - it is a fact!

Regards

 

[rustlerdude]

Amsoil Euro formula IS indeed 502 sped oil. a customer brought it in today for their New Jetta 2.5 and it said 502 spec on the bottle.

For everyones information, VW did not list synthetic oil as mandatory until 2005 to present year vehicles with the exception of the TDI diesel engine.

2002 jettas had one of the following engines:

2.0
1.9TDI
1.8T
2.8vr6

the only engine I would use dino oil would be in the 2.0. Otherwise synthetic is the way to go....pref. Castrol.

 

[ARB1977]

My wifes 97 Jetta 2.0L uses syntec 5W40, dealer oil.

 

[XPR]

Originally Posted By: mikeg5
well she doesnt have the liberty of running amsoil. no dealers near her and ill bet she wont order any too..

where is that "list" of oils approved for VW's?? someone had mentioned that before


The liberty of running Amsoil?

My friend uses AFL in his 2004 Jetta.

 

[jaj]

Originally Posted By: rustlerdude
Amsoil Euro formula IS indeed 502 sped oil. a customer brought it in today for their New Jetta 2.5 and it said 502 spec on the bottle.


It's a good oil, but while the bottle might have 502.00 on it, the 502.00 list doesn't have Amsoil on it.

 

[DrinkDuff77]

I used to have a 2003 Jetta 1.8T and the manual and filler cap spec'd 5w-20. Synthetic was not required but the 502.00 spec applied. Are you guys sure a 2002 would spec 5w-40 even in the 2.0?