Oil changes

[rabbitman]

The Bentley ratings are most likely meant for the proper oil and filter to be used. With them in place I would not fear 10k

What's the proper oil and filter? er, is it better than what most people use?

[RabbitJockey]

i run shell rotella, i used to run the full synthetic but i'm going to try just regular for now, its half the price, and um i like having money in my pocket,  things are quite different now that i am out on my own haha.  I usually add a bottle of this stuff i forget the name i think it starts with an s, its really thick and gets really stringy like when you kiss an old lady and saliva trails out

[8v-of-fury]

Last post was MAD dirty .

I mean like VW apprOved oils and OEM filters. I am currently running 15w40 rotella T6 Triple Protection with a Mann filter.

[Patrick]

My oil changes on these cars have ALWAYS been 8000m to 10000 kms (5-6000 miles). Wife's car is '91 1.6NA with 350,000 kms, burns no oil. Mine is an AAZ that I got used in a '92 jetta, don't know the total mileage on the engine, but I've put over 200,000 on it, same thing, burns no oil between changes. I buy filters in bulk quantities at the local auto parts stores (Napa brand or Carquest's store brand) whenever I can get them cheap. I use Cheap 15W40 oil that I buy at walmart or can tire, as long as it meets diesel spec I buy it. I use the same oil in my diesel tractor (3 cylinder perkins), my truck (354 perkins) and my other toy, a 1960 champion road grader with a 495 inch 4 cylinder cummins. Same goes for the lawnmower (John Deere with a kawasaki engine) and the bobcat (4 cylinder air cooled wisconsin).

NEVER had an oil related failure. NEVER.

Don't sweat the small stuff. These things are pretty tough. Change the oil once in a while, and KEEP the air filters clean, make sure there's no leaks between the air filter and the engine. Dirty air will cost you  a lot more a lot faster than stretched out oil changes! (been there done that)

[RabbitJockey]

yes i used to always use mann filters since they are oem, but i have been using napa gold filters lately, they are made by wix, and actually are very very good, mann still has thicker air filters tho.

[ToddA1]

I use Cheap 15W40 oil that I buy at walmart or can tire, as long as it meets diesel spec I buy it. I use the same oil in my diesel tractor (3 cylinder perkins), my truck (354 perkins) and my other toy, a 1960 champion road grader with a 495 inch 4 cylinder cummins. Same goes for the lawnmower (John Deere with a kawasaki engine) and the bobcat (4 cylinder air cooled wisconsin).

NEVER had an oil related failure. NEVER.

Don't sweat the small stuff. These things are pretty tough. Change the oil once in a while, and KEEP the air filters clean, make sure there's no leaks between the air filter and the engine. Dirty air will cost you  a lot more a lot faster than stretched out oil changes! (been there done that)

Here's something that hasn't been brought up.  Using cheaper oil isn't a bad thing if you're getting the same protection.  It'll take some of the expense out if extended changes don't appeal to you.  I know for a fact that Walmart , and other discount and auto stores doesn't have their own refineries, so someones got to be selling it them under contract. Now, how often that contract changes is anybody's guess.  I remember looking at the back of 2 ATF bottles, last Summer; I was comparing Walmart Supertech brand and Pennzoil.  They read exactly the same, word for word....  pretty good indication that Supertech is Pennzoil.

Another good point about the air filter, the less crap that the engine ingests, the less crap that will make it into the oil.  Mann sells a HD filter that's less than $0.50 more than their OE replacement.  Pretty thick, and less than $7.

-Todd

[R.O.R-2.0]

To me the 1.5-2.0 VW  is pretty suspect in the oil capacity department to start with.

isnt 5 quarts enough?

my buddies neon SRT4 only holds 4 quarts with a full filter.. and its a 2.4L turbo engine..

our diesels hold almost 6 quarts..

[8v-of-fury]

Diesels hold the same 4.5L (with new filter) as the gasoline engines. Atleast thats what my manual says. 

[R.O.R-2.0]

Diesels hold the same 4.5L (with new filter) as the gasoline engines. Atleast thats what my manual says. 

maybe n/a diesels. but the TD oil pan is bigger. look at the sticker on the back of the pan. it says something like "caution, this car is fitted with a larger oil pan" then it gives the fill capacities also. the TD holds almost a quart more oil.. swear over my left one..

[bajacalal]

Every 3000 miles.

Somebody mentioned extended drain intervals and what people are doing to their diesel trucks. It's not a comparable situation. My Cummins holds three times as much oil (of course, the engine is more than 3 times larger) and has an oil filter that's also 3 times the size as the VW. And, these are directly-injected diesels, they burn cleaner than our old IDI's, they don't throw so much soot into the oil. The soot isn't really that bad for it but if you push it too long on our engines it's like you have more soot than oil going through it.

I also like the German oil filters, if only because they have that thing on them so you can remove it with a screwdriver which makes it a lot easier due to where VW put the oil filter in the first place.

[R.O.R-2.0]

Every 3000 miles.

Somebody mentioned extended drain intervals and what people are doing to their diesel trucks. It's not a comparable situation. My Cummins holds three times as much oil (of course, the engine is more than 3 times larger) and has an oil filter that's also 3 times the size as the VW. And, these are directly-injected diesels, they burn cleaner than our old IDI's, they don't throw so much soot into the oil. The soot isn't really that bad for it but if you push it too long on our engines it's like you have more soot than oil going through it.

I also like the German oil filters, if only because they have that thing on them so you can remove it with a screwdriver which makes it a lot easier due to where VW put the oil filter in the first place.

whats wrong with where VW put the filter, its right up front, standing up, easily accessible..

if you think the VW filter is hard to change, then service a honda... oil filter on the back of the engine, and you have to reach past the scorching hot catastrophic converter to get at it.. we had a "honda glove" at work, for getting to the filters on hondas. it was like an OVE GLOVE, but it was elbow length..

[Patrick]

My oil changes on these cars have ALWAYS been 8000m to 10000 kms (5-6000 miles). Wife's car is '91 1.6NA with 350,000 kms, burns no oil. Mine is an AAZ that I got used in a '92 jetta, don't know the total mileage on the engine, but I've put over 200,000 on it, same thing, burns no oil between changes. I buy filters in bulk quantities at the local auto parts stores (Napa brand or Carquest's store brand) whenever I can get them cheap. I use Cheap 15W40 oil that I buy at walmart or can tire, as long as it meets diesel spec I buy it. I use the same oil in my diesel tractor (3 cylinder perkins), my truck (354 perkins) and my other toy, a 1960 champion road grader with a 495 inch 4 cylinder cummins. Same goes for the lawnmower (John Deere with a kawasaki engine) and the bobcat (4 cylinder air cooled wisconsin).

NEVER had an oil related failure. NEVER.

Don't sweat the small stuff. These things are pretty tough. Change the oil once in a while, and KEEP the air filters clean, make sure there's no leaks between the air filter and the engine. Dirty air will cost you  a lot more a lot faster than stretched out oil changes! (been there done that)

BTW, 20 litre pails are a LOT cheaper than 4 litre jugs!

[bajacalal]

whats wrong with where VW put the filter, its right up front, standing up, easily accessible..

if you think the VW filter is hard to change, then service a honda... oil filter on the back of the engine, and you have to reach past the scorching hot catastrophic converter to get at it.. we had a "honda glove" at work, for getting to the filters on hondas. it was like an OVE GLOVE, but it was elbow length..

I agree other manufacturers have chosen poor locations for the oil filter. The problem with the VW is the cross-member/subframe thing in front of the engine. Mk1s are pretty easy and mk2s not too bad but mk3 and up, it's a pain, partially because of the big bumper which seems to get in the way of things if the car isn't on a lift. It's hard to put a wrench around the oil filter because of that cross-member being in the way and since the oil filter sits at a slant, it's hard to remove it without spilling oil on the cross-member which then goes everywhere and that needs to be cleaned up... maybe nobody else cleans it up... In my mind, easy, unobstructed access to the oil filter and air filter should be design criteria.

[R.O.R-2.0]

my mk1s and mk2s are cake to do oil changes.. thats for sure.

how do you get oil on the front cross member? dont you loosen the filter s few turns and let the excess oil run down the side of the filter?

[macka]

I'm going with a remote oil filter set up with a dual filter element. I bought 2 transadapt kits. One for my vw and one for my landcruiser hzj75.