Immaculate TDI.... 400K + on Delvac 1

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I was at a TDi get together at Fixum Haus in Portland , Oregon this week and KermaTDI was there doing performing Q Loader / Alligator tunes and supplying Bosio Powerplus injector nozzles.

The guys at Fixum Haus are TDI experts and were doing the Timing Belts and Injector installs and I got a chance to see the nicest looking high mileage ALH motor Golf TDI.

This car was as original and untouched as any high mileage car I have ever seen. The paint and interior were almost like new, and the engine compartment looked great.

There was only a bit of oil leak from a front cam seal, which was replaced during the timing belt service.

Here's what I found most interesting:

The cams and valve train were perfect and the entire cylinder head under the valve cover looked perfectly clean.

There was no sludge, no varnish, no stains ...nothing except clean metal that was almost new in appearance.

The vehicle had a steady diet of Delvac 1 5W-40 for most of its 400,000 mile plus life ; changed every 5000 miles. [ instead of VW's 10,000 mile specified interval ]

Now maybe it could have been changed every 6K or 7K etc. with the same oil and looked as good, but everyone I spoke to commented that the same engines using Delvac 1 at 10K OCI's looked a whole lot dirtier.

The other comments that I found interesting were these:

- The experts at Fixum Haus said they have yet to see a PD motor with cam or lifter problems other than 2004 models with automatic transmissions.

- and many people believed that a 507.00 spec oil like Elf was the way to go. 505.01 was described as being a poor oil spec \ fix for an orphaned engine design.
 
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I'm going to make an educated guess that this was a 2-door white 1999 Golf, and that the owner's name is Glen?




Ding ding ding! Tell him what he's won !
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Awesome.




He's really done a great job of taking care of it and driving it properly....and as he said; He got lucky and got a very good car.

There may be a picture I can post, I've contacted the guy with the camera.

But, what is there to see? The engine internals, that I could see with the valve cover removed, were as close to new in appearance as is possible.

So, this car provides one useful data point. Delvac 1 at 5K intervals has kept a 99 TDI engine running really well with no sign of wear, sludge, varnish etc.

5K with Delvac 1 on this engine may be just right, or too soon.....but it sure looks better than engines with the VW interval of 10K.
 
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and many people believed that a 507.00 spec oil like Elf was the way to go. 505.01 was described as being a poor oil spec \ fix for an orphaned engine design.




In side by side VOA's what does Elf 507 have that a 505.01, say Elf Excellium, does not except the viscosity difference?
 
Thats the one! Thanks Tornado!

I'm not sure why this post was moved, because it is about oil in diesel cars.

Seeing this car gave me renewed confidence in Delvac 1 and in not running super long extended drains.

As far as the Elf question, I don't have a good answer.

505.01 was described as being a poor oil spec to deal with shear and detergency requirements for the PD engines and their design issues.

507.00 may be a better oil spec and some oils that meet 507.00 will meet lots of engine approvals from BMW or MB as well as being gackward compatible for 505.01.
 
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This brings up an older issue which we have debated in the UOA section when it comes to acceptable wear. Basically we seem to have two camps of oil changers here, those who want short OCIs say less than 5K regardless of the oil and the second camp like myself who like to take a good quality oil to around the 10k or so mark. From your observation it seems that the 5K interval on a good synthetic paid off as I am sure an oil like that had more than plenty of reserved additives even if fuel dilution or some other manufacturing defect beat up the oil.
 
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This brings up an older issue which we have debated in the UOA section when it comes to acceptable wear. Basically we seem to have two camps of oil changers here, those who want short OCIs say less than 5K regardless of the oil and the second camp like myself who like to take a good quality oil to around the 10k or so mark. From your observation it seems that the 5K interval on a good synthetic paid off as I am sure an oil like that had more than plenty of reserved additives even if fuel dilution or some other manufacturing defect beat up the oil.



It seems foolish to criticize the maintenance practices of someone who has over 400k miles on his car. But based on many, many used-oil tests posted here at BITOG, and over at tdiclub, Mobil Delvac 5w40/Mobil 1 5w40 has repeatedly shown outstanding results with a 10k-mile OCI.

What makes this particular car so remarkable is not the high miles on the odometer. It's the outstanding care Glen took to keep the interior and exterior looking so good. I'm sure that parts broke, or wore out, but when they did Glen replaced them. Every paint chip was cleaned up and touched up, so that you have to get very close to see the flaws. The interior has leather seats and trim out of a GTI or Jetta, Golfs never came from the factory with a leather interior.
 
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This brings up an older issue which we have debated in the UOA section when it comes to acceptable wear. Basically we seem to have two camps of oil changers here, those who want short OCIs say less than 5K regardless of the oil and the second camp like myself who like to take a good quality oil to around the 10k or so mark. From your observation it seems that the 5K interval on a good synthetic paid off as I am sure an oil like that had more than plenty of reserved additives even if fuel dilution or some other manufacturing defect beat up the oil.



It seems foolish to criticize the maintenance practices of someone who has over 400k miles on his car. But based on many, many used-oil tests posted here at BITOG, and over at tdiclub, Mobil Delvac 5w40/Mobil 1 5w40 has repeatedly shown outstanding results with a 10k-mile OCI.

What makes this particular car so remarkable is not the high miles on the odometer. It's the outstanding care Glen took to keep the interior and exterior looking so good. I'm sure that parts broke, or wore out, but when they did Glen replaced them. Every paint chip was cleaned up and touched up, so that you have to get very close to see the flaws. The interior has leather seats and trim out of a GTI or Jetta, Golfs never came from the factory with a leather interior.




He must have really taken great care of the car... my BMW at 535K runs great due to maintenance, but I have lots of paint and interior work to freshen it up.

Back to the oil, I'm sure that Delvac 1 delivers great UOA's at 10K.....but does that mean the cars would make 400K + ?

I don't know, but I know that Delvac 1 at 5K OCI's did its part in one car.
 
This also proves that good driving habits go a long way toward the life of a car. Little things mean a lot when the car is going to be with you for more than a couple of years. Oil is just one part of the deal.
 
I am close to the 200,000 mile mark on my TDI. I have done 10,000 mile intervals since new using Delvac-1 and a few intervals with various Amsoil products.

I have decided to reduce my drain interval to 7,500 miles simply because I want to see if my engine will look a bit cleaner inside. It isn't dirty by any means but it isn't spotless. Diesel oil is just ugly,, no matter how you slice it and I don't like that black stains that are starting to accumulate on the aluminum pieces.

I give a huge
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to this gentleman for his meticulous attention to a vehicle that has gotten the black ball in the American automotive community.
 
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He's really done a great job of taking care of it and driving it properly....and as he said; He got lucky and got a very good car.



Conversely, the car lucked out and got a very good owner! Not all cars are so lucky.
 
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