What oil to use in 2002 VW Passat V6

[slacktide_bitog]

VW is very specific as to what oils are OK to use on it, with their own special standards. For example, you might see 502/505.00 standard.

M1 0w40 is very popular on here, and there's also Castrol 0w40 and 0w30.

Amazon has Mag 1 Synthetic 5w40 that meets many European standards and even comes in clear bottles

 

[Audios]

I used to run 15/40 in the summer in ym v6 passat, Pennzoil Yellow, Rotella or Delvac in the gallon jugs, and then drop to a 10/30 or 5/30 in the winter depending on how cold it was going to be. I mostly ran the Pennzoil because the gallon jugs were always cheap. No issues with wear, and now my brother has the car out in San Diego with 225k on it. I had it from about 85k to 160k. And when your ignition coil fails, buy an OEM or one with a good warranty, I was using Bremi, Meyle, even Bosch and they would only last 1-2 years. He swapped it out with a Napa with 3 year warranty and hasn't had issues in almost 2 years now.

 

[dgn]

Castrol 0W-40 works great in my Passat.

 

[fdcg27]

Either M1, Castrol or Valvoline 0W-40.
You've missed the M1 MIR, but there is one through the end of the year on SOPUS oils if you can find the rare 0W-40 offering from them.
Summers, you can use 15W-40, 20W-50 or an HD 40 with no issues. Lots of owners of aging German cars do.
Winters, no.

 

[GreggDre]

Sorry it has taken me so long. With school, work and all this crazy weather I have been limited with time. This is the left valve cover removed (driver-side). I forgot to take a picture of the right side before I re-installed the cover. Everything looked good to me but the amount of 'gunk' that was caked on the valve cover scared me. I cleaned them as best as possible with brake and part cleaner. The PCV hoses were pretty gummed up too. I plan on tackling that in the spring. Upon switching to a thinner oil (M1 0w40) the car start with ease and runs great. Thank you everyone for the input.

However, now I am having a random misfiring issue. I had this issue just before I changed the oil but assumed it was a code that was set off by the oil being low and secondary airflow being too lean. But now I am still having random misfiring even after replacing the wires and ignition pack. The spark plugs were replaced this summer.

Also, there is a clunking coming from the mid-right side of the motor when accelerated aggressively. Accelerating like grandma doesn't create the clunking noise. It mainly happens only in lower gears. All three motor mounts and two trans mounts were also replaced this summer. If anyone has any input please fire away. I might have to take this to a different thread. But so far everyone has helped me out huge.

 

[RooflessVW]

Do you have VCDS? A full scan of the vehicle is the first step and usually indicates the problem straight away.

A P code at the very least will get you started.

The clunking would be easy if I had the car. Over the internet not so much. What brand did you use for the mounts?