5W40 oil for GTI

[Johnbu]

Anybody else run 5W40 synthetic oil in their GTI?

Yes, I know in Australia VW recommend 504/507 5W30.

In the last couple of years, my engine burns through quite of a lot of oil (to me anyway), needing a couple of oil top ups inbetween services. Never had a car that required top ups before.

I'm considering running a slightly thicker oil, i.e. Valvoline Synpower 5W40 (Low SAPS full synthetic engine oil for vehicles with or without DPF).

I've been investigating the recommended oil for GTI's in other countries and most cold climate countries recommend 5W30 and warm climates such as the USA & Asia (but certain parts gets very cold) recommend 5W40. I think the fact that other countries recommend 5W40 is some proof that it should be ok to use here.

I'm thinking about giving a full synthetic 5W40 a try to give it slightly more protection at high temperature and less likelihood of burning oil.

Constructive informed discussions & criticism welcome. Simply pointing out that VW Australia recommends 5W30 is not. VW also claim that 1L/1000km is normal also- I beg to differ.

[Diesel_vert]

My understanding is that Volkswagen (as opposed to Volkswagen Group Australia) specify the use of (as opposed to recommend) one or several VW oil standards, depending on the vehicle itself.

For a Mk5 Golf GTI, Volkswagen specifies 502.00 if on the Time & Distance service regime (fixed 15 000 km / 1 year service interval) or 504.00 if on the LongLife service regime (variable service intervals, maximum of 30 000 km or 2 years).

504.00 can be used in place of 502.00 for vehicles on the Time & Distance service regime (except for certain markets, e.g. China), but the service interval remains fixed at 15 000 or 1 year.

I personally recommend the use of 504.00 in VW direct injection petrol engines where possible, but that is my own opinion.

Volkswagen do not recommend a specific viscosity grade. Allowable viscosity grades are determined by specification sheet of the relevant VW oil standard.

For instance, VW oil standard 502.00 allows several viscosity grades: 10W-40, 5W-40, 0W-40, 5W-30, 0W-30. In contrast, the specification sheet for VW oil standard 504.00 only allows 5W-30 so far, but like any OEM oil standard, this is subject to change at any time.

On the subject of oil consumption, over the years I have noted posts on various VW forums reporting varying degrees of success: from complete elimination, to some or little reduction, or just no change at all, when using different viscosity grades. I suspect it is a matter of trial and error in most instances.

You may also want to consider investigating if the valve cover has suffered from internal damage from what appears to be a very poorly engineered design: VWvortex - FSI Extreme Oil Consumption -- Wits end

[Lucas_R]

My friend uses the Penrite Enviro 5w-40 "Extra Ten" which i suggested to him might help his oil consumption issues in his Mk5 GTI. Its VW 502 approved, is cheaper than the normal 5w-30 version and seems to have reduced his oil consumption by about 10-20% roughly.

[brad]

I think it's actually 500ml/1000km but either figure is unacceptable.

I've run Mobil1 0w-40 502.00 (which still complies under fixed service interval regime) in the Skoda 1.8tsi & the world still seems to be turning. Without doing a used oil analysis & a tear down of the engine there isn't much more you can claim.

Martin (on this forum) runs Xw-40 & I don't think he left any engine parts trailing down the road.

I think there comes a time when you can drift outside the boundaries slightly & not have any issues.

[Johnbu]

Thanks for all the info, much appreciated.

The Valvoline Synpower 5w40 I mentioned above is vw502 approved.

Given my service interval will be 15k or less, it should be suitable.

The 30k service interval with vw504 is interesting. I'd would have topped up say 7-8l of oil if I did 30k intervals! Haha.

OK with the info I have, I'll use up my 5w30 VW 504 oil and then switch to 5w40 for the following oil change. May be a while as I bought a couple of bottles of 5w30 on sale for another oil change AND extra for top ups.

Re: Valve cover, from reading the thread, is it the same as a rocker cover? The people who have replaced it have been generally much higher km and experiencing extreme oil consumption I.e 1L in 200km. I suppose mine is high, but is sort of normal (3-4L) per 15k. Just annoying. If it gets worst, I'll change the valve cover.

Lucas mentioned the Penrite 5w40 extra 10. I actually use Penrite HPR 5w40 extra 10 (not Enviro low SAP).