Oil change question...

[Got Turbo?]

So, my girlfriend and I just bought a new Jetta City for her to drive. The maintenance schedule VW has now is nuts. No way i'm waiting 16k per changes, or to 8k for the first one.

Do you guys have any idea if the car ships with dino oil or synthetic? I want to change it at 2k and 5k, then every 5k after that, but am a little worried about putting synthetic in too early. I've heard going to synthetic to early can be bad, but if the car ships with it, may as well stay with it.

Opinions?

[R_Ethug]

Re: Oil change question...

synthetic at 8k is fine.. yes 16k is nuts IMO too.. but 8k is fine on syn..

[stefan]

Re: Oil change question...

comes with synthetic. if your worried about the long intervals, send an oil sample for a test some time down the road (probably too pricey.. but would prove the point.). You'll more then likely find that you could have gone a lot longer. The reason for NOT waiting longer the 16000km is mostly because the filter won't last longer, not the oil. Synthetic oil is pretty stable. I'd stick with the recommended intervals. It pretty easy to not feel comfortable with it seeing as how most don't have experience with this sort of setup, but it works, and works well. Even heavy duty equipment is getting to ridiculously high intervals. Oil is just that much better, as are the engines running with it. Any manufacturer spec is typically very under-rated, so if they say 16k, then i'm sure they have proven that the oil is still performing well at that point. It's pretty important to stick with the exact spec oil though.

that said, lower the interval a bit for aggressive driving/towing/excessive mountain driving.

[stefan]

Re: Oil change question...

http://www.porsche.com/international...anceintervals/

Cayman S (since Model Year 2006)
Engine oil every 20,000 miles / 32,000 km or every 2 years

!!

[Got Turbo?]

Re: Oil change question...

for the oil i use, all that matters is it meets the 502 standard, right? That's what i've been using in my GTI (Mobile 0-40)

[stefan]

Re: Oil change question...

of hand, i'm not sure. i'm a tdi guy. for the synth i have been getting, i've just gone to the dealer. its the same price, or cheaper then partsource/auto value.

[R_Ethug]

Re: Oil change question...

32k is insane stephen.. my s4 even has 16k which is retarded.. no wonder turbos die!

i do 8k on mine now.. when the k04s go in its every 5k on syn even

[Got Turbo?]

Re: Oil change question...

that is nuts! 32,000km's on the 997!?!

[Billip]

Re: Oil change question...

If I remember right, I thought all new cars shipped with a special "break-in" oil that is somehow different that the regular oil you'd use after break-in. I've always understood that you should leave the break-in oil in for the suggested length of time/km.

[Khyron]

Re: Oil change question...

If I remember right, I thought all new cars shipped with a special "break-in" oil that is somehow different that the regular oil you'd use after break-in. I've always understood that you should leave the break-in oil in for the suggested length of time/km.

I heard this too, but was never able to confirm it. VW uses Castrol 5/40 right from the beginning on the 1.8 at least.

The only reason I believe to change it quickly is that the metal fillings/burs that come off during break in need to be removed. Theory the filter should catch it all, but I don't think it's 100%. I'd change it at 1500, then I go by date rather than kms. Every 6 months, 3K or 10 the synth gets changed. Oil breaks down over time.

[stefan]

Re: Oil change question...

if its a full synthetic (not blended), you should be able to get more then 6 months out of it before it starts to significantly break down.
The filtration is the weak point, your filter will likely miss stuff.
If you look through the various oil studies (which are dull, and difficult to read through), the synth gets dirty before it looses its ability to lubricate in most cases. Apparently, if you have a high particulate filtration system that you can change without changing the oil (which typical vehicles don't), you can run this stuff for a loooong time. Breakdown it becoming less of an issue, hence the 32,000km porsche interval.

first oil change is defiantly the period where the most wear happens. i'd be inclined to do more then one shortened interval. I think my TDI say do 2 short intervals on a new engine.