Newbie

[Throttlebender]

Hey everyone! SOOOOO much info to be had here. My head hurts already. Anyway, I'm cutting to the chase and just going to ask for some recommendations. I'm buying a 2000 Audi A4 1.8T Quattro with manual transmission and a sport package. The car has 83K on it, but the engine was a swap(56K miles) and have no history on the motor. A mechanic friend of mine did the install and it feels like a strong, smooth motor. I'd like to know what you all recommend I run through it. I'll be 95% "normal" & 5% "sportier"(I'm having it chipped) driving. I drive a lot of highway miles to and from work. Oh, and I live in Cincinnati. I'm looking to mainly extend the life of my engine but want the turbo to be happy too.
Thanks

 

[MN Driver]

To BITOG!!


Chipped with 95% "normal", lol. There are a few questions that most of us will ask you before we can answer your question.

Are you interested in running extended drain intervals? Do you plan on doing Used Oil Analysis(UOA's)?

If you are interested in extended oil drains, synthetic is your best bet. Synthetic is really good for turbos because they can take the extra heat of a turbo-charged engine and it resist oxidation and coking among shutdown too, as well as keep your engine cleaner.

Since you are running highway miles, that is pretty easy on an engine especially since there won't be much short trip driving per miles of driving, which is a good thing.

There will be many people who will give many different recommendations, so I'll start off and say Amsoil. Mobil 1 if you can't find Amsoil easily. I would say Green German Castrol(it's called GC or 'elf oil' around here and has a little cult following too), but the Green is very hard to obtain being that it is no longer produced, so I really can't recommend it, but we would welcome anyone who wants to try it and do an oil analysis on it.

 

[Throttlebender]

Hey MN Driver,
Thanks for the reply. I'm not really sure what you mean by,
"Are you interested in running extended drain intervals? Do you plan on doing Used Oil Analysis(UOA's)?". I'm pretty new to all of this. I can say that I plan on changing my oil EVERY 3K miles. Do you think it's a good idea for me to send off the oil that's currently in the car for analysis and if so where and how much? I also read that synthetics are'nt recommended for cars with higher miles due to possible leaks. What's considered "high" for a switch to synthetics?

 

[Islandvic]

extended drain intervals = changing oil at intervals longer than the vehicle's manual states

UOA is when you take a sample of oil, and send it off to a lab that analyzes it and tells you all sorts of info about the oil and how it relates to your vehicle. There is a forum section dedicated to UOA's.

welcome throttlebender!

there are a few AUDI owners here

next time post question w/ topic such as "which oil for AUDI A4 1.8t Q?" or "oil qustion for AUDI owners"

you will have more hits.

Have fun and be ready to become an oil junkie.

 

[ilikemypassat]

Hey, I've got a passat with the same motor. I'd advise an oil pressure test on the motor to make sure it falls within spec. Too many of these engines are sludging up due to its 3.7qt oil capacity. I use Amsoil 5w-40 (AFL) in mine as I heard it's a good oil and I can buy it locally. (cannot find Mobil 0w-40 or Castrol Syntec "GC" 0w-30). I'd also run a dose of Auto-RX in it if you don't know the history. Good luck!