Maxlife

[02zx9r]

Would maxlife doing any good in a car that burns oil? My friend has a 2001 Volkswagon jetta that burns oil (he said that year/model is known for that). Last oil change I went with val synpower and they have had to add a couple of quarts as it does burn oil. Is maxlife just for helping stop leaks or would that help with a car that burns oil?
-Or if a car burns oil then it will burn any oil you put in there.

Thank you for your time.

 

[SMILEY]

I think this would be determined by why you are burning/losing oil.

I have a Saturn SL2 that has an engeneering defect with the oil rings. No matter what oil is put in there it will burn. If I use thicker oil it will burn less but its not worth it.

I use the cheapest oil I can find since I am putting in about 2-3 quarts of oil between 5k mile oil changes. This car has 141,000 miles and still gets 36-37 mpg so I dont mind putting in a quart now and then.

Hope this helps.

 

[Camu Mahubah]

What motor?

 

[The Critic]

A lot of the 2.0 engines consumed oil if a VW 502.00 type oil was not used. Many dealerships instructed owners that 5w-30 conventional was OK for that engine, when it really wasn't. This caused a lot of the consumption problems.

 

[02zx9r]

I appreciate the replys.
It is a 2.0. And it is written (penciled in) in the manual to use synthetic only. So dont know if that was written in at the dealership when they went to have the oil changed when they got the car or not.
That is what I told him, to just start using a cheaper oil since he does have to add a quart or two throughout the oci. They have around 73K on it and I think are looking at trading it in eventually.

 

[X72]

I had a 2000 Beetle for about 50,000 miles. It had a 2.0 engine of the same vintage as your friends (engine code AZA ?). I always used synthetic oil. That engine consumed oil from the beginning; it used about 1 quart per 3k miles when I used 5W-30 and it used less oil (about 1 quart per 4.5k miles) when I used 5W-40. It just is an engine that consumes some oil, which is disconcerting for someone who is not used to that. I am in Florida.

02zx9r, if your friend is dumping the car in a year, it hardly matters what oil he uses as long as he does frequent oil level checks/oil topoffs and the oil is at least 5W for winter in RI.

For anyone else with a VW 2.0 of that vintage, I would recommend 5W-40, 0W-40 or German Castrol 0W-30, all of which will reduce your oil consumption as compared to the commonly available 5W-30 oils. Maxlife synthetic 5W-40 would be an excellent choice.

 

[02zx9r]

agree, I changed out just his oil filter the other day and the only thing I had on hand was a quart of gtx 10/40, so i threw that in there. But the majority of it is 5/30 syn

 

[bmwtechguy]

Where you gettin Maxlife synthetic 5W-40? I've never seen it but recently heard here that it is available in Europe. The only Valvoline 5W-40 I have seen is the Synpower with the Euro specs.

 

[Tremo]

Man, that much oil consumption will kill the cat after a while.

 

[X72]

Originally Posted By: bmwtechguy
Where you gettin Maxlife synthetic 5W-40? I've never seen it but recently heard here that it is available in Europe. The only Valvoline 5W-40 I have seen is the Synpower with the Euro specs.

My mistake bmwtechguy. You are correct. Maxlife is available only in 10W-40 in the red bottle (not the full synthetic version).

 

[speedyswede]

I use VW supplied Castrol Syntec 5W40 in my Wife's `03 VW Golf 2.0...it still burns ~1qt every 5-6k miles.
I might try ML Syn 5W30 if I can get my hands on some.

 

[02zx9r]

appreciate it.

I have about 15 quarts of maxlife syn blend 5W30 and a 5 quart jug of the same, found about 4 quarts 10w30 syn maclife, but uh, he aint getting none of my stash

 

[Black_Thunder]

alot of the Volkswagens in some years were assembled wrong at the factory and the piston rings weren't staggered properly causing excessive oil consumption.


i can't remember if there was a recall on it or not.

 

[speedyswede]

Originally Posted By: Black_Thunder
alot of the Volkswagens in some years were assembled wrong at the factory and the piston rings weren't staggered properly causing excessive oil consumption.


i can't remember if there was a recall on it or not.


Yea, but most 2.0s still drink it with the rings installed correctly. No recall, but they did have an extensive 'Service Action' for excessive consumption in AEG motors.