Castrol GTX HM has done what others have not

[Finklejag]

My brothers 2001 VW Beetle 2.0 has been burning oil for over a decade. My mother bought it new. I used to do all the oil changes for the first 9 years she drove it. She gave it to my brother then. It has close to 100,000 miles on it. I have used the following oils over the last 12 years.

Delvac 1 5W-40
Rotella T 5W-40
Castrol Syntec 5W-40
Mobil 1 0W-40
Super 76 Synthetic 5W-40
Pennzoil Ultra Euro 5W-40
Mobil 1 TDT 5W-40
Valvoline Maxlife 10W-40

All these oils would cause burn off. My brother was using two quarts in the first 3,000 miles. Then a few more up to the end of the OCI.

I told him to try Castrol GTX High Mileage 10W-40. It's one of the thickest 40 weights on the market. It has a viscosity @100c of 16.1. He just called me last week and said the car only burned 3/4 of a quart in the first 3,000 miles. He called me today after a 500 mile trip. The engine burned zero oil! I told him from the start. It might take a few OCI's for the engine to get use to the oil. I'm happy he found a oil that might cure the VW 2.0 oil burner problem that plagues most VW 2.0 engines from the early 2000's.

It looks like the Castrol GTX synblend 10W-40 is even thicker then the HM oil. It has a viscosity @100c of 16.2. This oil is harder to find though. The HM oil does have some other additives to help with seals and such. So he will stick to using it for the next couple of OCI's.

 

[hardcore302]

Nice!

 

[gregoron]

I have a similar oil burning issue with my 2000 Jetta w the AEG 2.0. It consumed approx 1qt per 1000 miles with PYB 10W-40. Since I changed to Supertech (Warren) 10W-40 dino, it only uses up 1/4 to 1/3 qt. Installed OEM filter too. This ST starts at 15.9 at 100C. I'm actually topping up with ST 10w30 now with to see if it stays the same with thinner oil. If yes, then I'll go thinner.

 

[electrolover]

I used to run gtx hm 20/50 in an old nissan oil burner in my pre bitog days. No telling how thick that stuff was

 

[NateDN10]

Originally Posted By: electrolover
No telling how thick that stuff was

Actually, yes there is! 18cSt @ 100C and 159 cSt at 40C.

 

[Rand]

Originally Posted By: NateDN10
Originally Posted By: electrolover
No telling how thick that stuff was

Actually, yes there is! 18cSt @ 100C and 159 cSt at 40C.

is that the formula from 10 years ago?

 

[Finklejag]

Originally Posted By: gregoron
I have a similar oil burning issue with my 2000 Jetta w the AEG 2.0. It consumed approx 1qt per 1000 miles with PYB 10W-40. Since I changed to Supertech (Warren) 10W-40 dino, it only uses up 1/4 to 1/3 qt. Installed OEM filter too. This ST starts at 15.9 at 100C. I'm actually topping up with ST 10w30 now with to see if it stays the same with thinner oil. If yes, then I'll go thinner.


That's good to know about the Supertech 10W-40. The Castrol HM runs $17.27 for the 5 quart jug at Wallyworld.

 

[KCJeep]

I've had good results with it too in a couple of vehicles, but have only used 30 grades and under so far. Plan to test the 10w40 next summer though.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

My son has a 1996 Corolla DX,1.8,190K miles. It's losing/burning about a qt. every 2-3K miles. Would 10W40 be too thick for this engine? He does live in FL,where it's warm year round. Recommendations?

 

[racin4ds]

Wow you guys are seeing that much oil loss on these VW 2.0's with only 100k miles? My wifes little Cabrio has 164k miles on the AEG 2.0 and it barely looses a drop during a typical OCI... I usually use PYB 5w30 or Rotella 5w40.

 

[afoulk]

I know there was an issue with the piston rings being installed incorrectly at the factory in some 2.0's, not sure on what years though. This may account for their excessive oil consumption

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
My son has a 1996 Corolla DX,1.8,190K miles. It's losing/burning about a qt. every 2-3K miles. Would 10W40 be too thick for this engine? He does live in FL,where it's warm year round. Recommendations?

Can't hurt to try. It may get worse fuel mileage but that would be the trade off for using less oil

 

[gregoron]

@racinfords, yes you're one of the lucky ones with the 2.0 AEG. Some say that early models had the piston rings upside down from the factory on Mexico. I think, some did not get broken in properly. Either the original owner babied the car or abused it during break in.

@BlueOvalFilter, it's hard to say what is normal consumptio. I think that if you're consuming more than half a quart per 1000 miles,you may want to go up a grade. Find the thinnest oil that that gets consumed less than half a qt per 1k miles.