Confused by VW's recommendation for 1.8t

[tai]

Hi all,

I received a letter from VWoA yesterday extending the warranty on my Passat's 1.8t engine if damaged was caused by oil sludging. The letter included a list of oils approved for use in the 1.8t that are available in NA.

My confusion stems from how VW only recommended only one Mobil 1 oil: 0w-40. Furthermore, while most of the other oils recommended were ?w-40 oils, Pennzoil-QS full synthetic 5w-30 and Valvoline synpower 5w-30 also got the thumbs up.

This seems to imply Mobil 1 5w-30 is not as good as the 5w-30 oils above for the the 1.8t. Furthermore, VW doesn't think Mobil 1 10w-30 (this is what I'm using) is good enough either.

Does VW know something many of us here do not know? I thought the user oil analysises here for the 10w-30 showed it was best for the 1.8t of all the Mobil 1 oils and that the Mobil 1 oils were the best of the commonly sold oils.

Regards,
Tai

 

[huffmuds9320]

As far as I know, synthetic should be used for all their turbo engines. Maybe because Mobil 1 is a bit thin considered by VW and only the 0W-40 has the VW specs on it. I'm suprised that the synthetic 5W-30 that don't have the VW specs on it is okay. In the VW service manaul(Bentley), it says that 5W-30 Energy Conserving should be used for top off only and not for chaning. So I am confused too. But VW seems to say use synthetic in the 1.8T and TDI engines.

 

[tai]

Yep, looks like VW changed their mind about what's good enough for the 1.8t engine. Here's the list of oils approved for use in the 1.8t

 

[Audi Junkie]

Yeah, I'm gonna rely on VW to suggest appropriate oils because they did such a good job of making (Passat) customers so aware of the needs of their engines to begin with.

I agree, if they just put any 'ol Mobil 1 in and on the car, all would be ok. My female friend has a '98 A4 1.8t with M1 5w-30 ONCE a year and her engine is totally clean. My female cousin had the opposite experience in her '98 Passat with dino oil.

PS all that is required to maintain warranty is ANY oil changed at mfg ocis, not VW 502 oil.

 

[pscholte]

quote:

---

Originally posted by tai:
Hi all,

I received a letter from VWoA yesterday extending the warranty on my Passat's 1.8t engine if damaged was caused by oil sludging. The letter included a list of oils approved for use in the 1.8t that are available in NA.

My confusion stems from how VW only recommended only one Mobil 1 oil: 0w-40. Furthermore, while most of the other oils recommended were ?w-40 oils, Pennzoil-QS full synthetic 5w-30 and Valvoline synpower 5w-30 also got the thumbs up.

This seems to imply Mobil 1 5w-30 is not as good as the 5w-30 oils above for the the 1.8t. Furthermore, VW doesn't think Mobil 1 10w-30 (this is what I'm using) is good enough either.

Does VW know something many of us here do not know? I thought the user oil analysises here for the 10w-30 showed it was best for the 1.8t of all the Mobil 1 oils and that the Mobil 1 oils were the best of the commonly sold oils.

Regards,
Tai

---

I wonder if SLX failed to make the list, even though it meets the specs, because of the "discreet" way it is marketed in the US. I wonder if VW even knows it exists...my Audi dealer didn't.

 

[Johnny]

The Pennzoil and Quaker State 5W30 they are refering to are the European Formula Ultra oils. Good luck on finding them in the USA. At this time they are not packaged in quarts, only 55 gallon drums, and as of this date, I have not seen one. The European Formula 5W40 can be purchased in quarts if you can find it. I have some that I ordered through my distributor in Green Bay and run it in my Audi A6. No problems so for, the car now has 126,428 miles on it. Do oil changes every 5,000 miles.

 

[newtoncd8]

I wonder if SLX failed to make the list, even though it meets the specs, because of the "discreet" way it is marketed in the US


I think it failed to make the list because if you pick up a bottle of Castrol Syntec 0W30 at Autozone, your chances of finding the "Made in Germany" SLX stuff is about 50/50.

 

[pscholte]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Curtis Newton:
I wonder if SLX failed to make the list, even though it meets the specs, because of the "discreet" way it is marketed in the US


I think it failed to make the list because if you pick up a bottle of Castrol Syntec 0W30 at Autozone, your chances of finding the "Made in Germany" SLX stuff is about 50/50.

---

CN,

That reality occured to me also, but I didn't want my post to get all convoluted with, "It could be because or maybe because or..." So I left it simple.

 

[Razl]

Could it have anything to do with meeting the European standards, ACEA A3/B3?

 

[pscholte]

Razl,

SLX (GC) meets about every important Euro spec of which I am aware except Mercedes 229.5 (SLX II, which we don't have in the US, is formulated to meet that one).

Paul

 

[Gene K]

Note the Title:

Engine oils with Volkswagon Oil Standard VW 502.00 approval available in North America

In otherweords this is just a list of oils with this approval. If the oil meets this standard ie SLX or GC 0W-30 you are good to go.

Gene

 

[Gerret]

Motul 8100 X-cess 5W40 claims that it meets VW 502.00, and it is available in NA (via mail-order).

http://www.motul.com/redirectuk.asp?N=1.06.02.05

 

[Yuk]

I too have just received this update from VW. It was in fact my concern about sludge (in my 1999 Passat 1.8T) that lead me to find Bobistheoilguy.com!

So was it the Castrol Syntec 5w50 used since the third oil change, engine design or some other factor that lead to the sludge? My oil was always changed at or before 5,000 miles.

 

[moribundman]

What exacty is the big confusion? Says right on the bottle if an oil meets VW 502.00. 5W-40 happens to be the best all-year round viscosity you can use, at least in your VW or Audi. A 0W-30 will also work, as long as it meets VW 502.00 (like GC).

Yuk, I'm not sure if the 5W-50 could have led to sludge in your Passat, but I doubt it. Although my Audi has a normally aspirated V6, I used to do 10k miles oil changes with Syntec 5W-50, and my engine was clean as a whistle. Not sure how hard the 1.8T is on oil.

 

[Bishop]

It's always interesting to see what car makers are recommending for their vehicles.

Personally I'd go for the 5W-40 in a turbo, rather than any of the lighter 30 weight oils.

 

[parrothead]

I received this letter on Friday for my '03 Passat. I didn't find it confusing at all. Don't bother saving that list of "oils available in North America" because 1/2 of them are not. The main point of the letter is to use oils that meet the VW 502.00 spec. So I would think that GC would be fine as well as M1 0W-40. I've been using Pentosynth 5W-40 which is a full synthetic oil imported from Germany. It's a little cheaper than the Castrol 5W-40 from the dealer and it meets the VW 502.00 spec, plus it smells pretty cool too

. I really think the letter and the warranty extension is VW's way of saying oops, we goofed, you should only use synthetic in the 1.8T. I also think the VW dealers created this problem by telling owners any old 5W-30 oil will work fine in that engine, dino or synth.

 

[Dr. T]

Maybe the new formulation of Valvoline Synpower is A3 rated? Last time I checked it was A1, so that's weird. I used it once in `98 in lieu of the BMW (Valv.) 5-40 and it was not the same stuff. Needed to change it out after 2-3k mi.

As far as the Penzoil 5-30, if it's labelled also as the Euro. formula, then it may be similar to their 5-40 and different from the 5-30 seen on the shelves?

As far as the QS Synthetic Euro formula 5-40....I've seen it in 1L bottles at a local Mercedes dealership. They wanted $12-14/L CDN from what I can remember.

I'm back to using the Syntec 5-50. Same stuff as the 5-40 from what I could tell at a lower price and more readily available. Just formulated ever so slightly thicker. Mori has shown pics of 10k mi. OCI's with this oil and the engine is brand-new looking...

 

[Dr. T]

Maybe the Valv. and Penz. 5-30 recommendations are psedo-acceptable just like BMW 5-30 synth..

It gets the job done, but gets ugly in the process. In other words, the BMW 5-30 synth. supposedly qualifies as an approved BMW oil, but the UOA's are often poor.

Lesson learned...stick with the 5-40's...

 

[Audi Junkie]

Yuk, you had sludge on mostly Syntec 5w-50? I know this is a first-rate oil, what intervals?

quote:

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Personally I'd go for the 5W-40 in a turbo, rather than any of the lighter 30 weight oils

---

based on...???


5w-30 dino does work in these cars, changed every 3000mi. It's not the engine design itself, just the oil serviceing that in not adequate.


Are we all in agreement that all it takes to maintain warranty is an API oil at mfg intervals? Manual still says API SJ-SL and I don't think VW is legally allowed to require special oil unless it was supplied for free.

(edit for typo)

[ August 16, 2004, 11:07 AM: Message edited by: Audi Junkie ]

 

[parrothead]

quote:

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Are we all in agreement that all it takes to maintain warranty in an API oil at mfg intervals?

---

No, because my 1.8t manual states a 5k oci. I would not leave any dino oil in this engine for 5k.

I'll have to refresh my memory on what the manual states. I seem to remember it saying something about using a ILSAC GF-3 oil if an oil meeting VW 502.00 is not available. Anway, doesn't this update letter take precedence over the manual? The letter I received pretty clearly states to use an oil that meets the VW 502.00 spec. Are there any dino oils that meet that spec?