Car Oil

[StevePil]

Thanks all again
I have another question, what oil do I need for my car,
VW 1.9 TDI 2002 model
I have read its fully synthetic, but I see Quantum, and lots of varieties not sure what one I need, as know need to monitor oil levels, more so with a diesel
any help would be great
thanks,
steve

ps) does it matter if the makes of oil are mixed? as not sure whats previously been put in the car? thanks

I have ordered some on Ebay following an order number ive got �30 for 5ltr bottle, ive however brought an emergency bottle as doing a long run tomorrow and want to ensure have oil incase any probs. The one I got is "Fully Synthetic, 5W40" the order ive placed on Ebay is Fuly Synthetic 5w40, not sure if its all the same or not, my book says spec VW 505 01, but nothing else but naturally the oil does not have VW on it?
Sorry for all the questions but this is really new to me so would appreciate any help, really dont want to put the wrong oil in my car.
Any good makes too? the one ive brought on Ebay is Quantum, but very expensive

[Josyjo]

The oil you have bought will be fine - but you could have saved yourself some money... You could have used Quantum PD 10/40 oil, so long as you stick to annual or 10k service intervals....

[Josyjo]

Do you know which service interval your vehicle is set to?

[StevePil]

Thanks, the car is set to 10k service interval, thats great news, thanks very much
I take it you talking about the oil I just brought today as emergency aswell? obviously dont want to use it unless emergency as got the proper part number on order, could i use the other oil in future then esp if its cheaper :)
thanks again

[Josyjo]

Yes, you can use either. The 5W40 is for vehicles set to 'longlife' servicing - but will be fine for your diesel engine, just more expensive, and you won't be getting the benefit. (Longlife servicing is only really beneficial if you are doing over 12k or so miles per year). I would be surprised if your car needs more than a litre top up of oil over a year at the age it is, they usually only use much oil the first couple of years.
The important part is to make sure the oil you buy is PD (Pumpe-duse), which the quantum VW 50501 is. Does this help?
Basically, you are fine with the oil you have, and shouldn't have to bother buying any more for at least a couple of years now.

[StevePil]

Excellent, thats really helped thanks very much
the oil I brought today doesnt say PD, it just says "Fully synthetic 5w40" and on back it says suitable for Petrol and light diesels?
It does have lots of letters for spec, and in the manual some of them are mentioned, think the main thing is if I dont need to use the one I brought today until the proper quantum comes, but ive got the other one just for emergency
thanks again

[buildersmate]

Sorry guys, but I don't think it is just a simple case of whether the oil is 5W-40 and being fully synthetic. This expensive breed of so-called long-life oil is formulated to allow the use of the extended period between oil changes. The only oil recommended by VW in that application is Castrol SLX, which is about �40 for 4 litres (best price). Whether it is worth doing or not depends on whether one does ones own servicing and the mileage you do - having a car into an expensive service agent for the priviledge of them changing the oil every year is something I'm prepared to forego - if I can go every 2 years (approx) I save more on the labour than I lose on the cost of the expensive oil.
When the car is out of warranty and I do the work, it'll be set back on short service intervals and I'll use non-long-life oil.
See here for VW explanation - but don't forget to discount the marketing hype.
http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/assets/Longlife_se rvicing.pdf

[Toureman]

Changing the oil and filter are only 2 items out of approx 20 items in most service schedules, the other 18 items should be done to ensure the car is safe to drive.

[buildersmate]

This is true, but VW have decided that the interval can go out to 2 years since reliability of so many of these items has improved and a number have diagnostics checks attached to tell you when worn (brake pads for example)