Reply With QuoteI always change my oil at half the recommended distance. I.e. with my 3.6 V6 the oil + filter are changed every 7,500km rather than every 15,000km.
Dubber
I've read a few people on the forums with Diesels change their oil on a more regular basis than recommended by VW some after as little as 5000K between changes.
I was wondering if anyone is aware of any definitive testing on the validty of this approach?
It seems to me that there is a whole lot of oil being discarded in an attempt to 'go the extra mile' to show that you really love your car. When in reality there is no significant difference made to the wear and tear of the components.
Voodoo or you do?
Passat: The peoples car, moving my people
Volkswagen Fanatic
I always change my oil at half the recommended distance. I.e. with my 3.6 V6 the oil + filter are changed every 7,500km rather than every 15,000km.
Dubber
Having owned a number of diesels before the passat, I have always serviced at the half interval. Just a habit will continue to do so and I am of the opinion that clean oil less risk to engine.
MY08 TDi 125KW Black Leather, Deep Black Pearl
Volkswagen Enthusiast
I had a VL with the nissan 6 at one stage, and it was the most neglected car I've owned. From 150,000 to 225,000 it might have had 2 oil changes, and the trannie was serviced only once in the entire time I had it from 38,000k.
My son took it over at 225,000 and thrashed the cr@p out of it, as they do. It was the fastest engine out of all his mates' VLs, never blew a puff of smoke, didn't use a drop of oil, compression was barely below new levels.
I say Voodo to too many oil changes. The manufacturer has engineers who have many fold the experience and data that "seat of the pants" users have, and the throwing away of $80 worth of perfectly good oil should be regarded as environmental vandalism
Last edited by gerhard; 23-06-2010 at 07:22 PM.
2008 Blue Graphite GTI DSG with Latte leather. SOLD 4/9/2024
2023 T-ROC R - Sunroof, Black Pack, Beats Audio
Volkswagen Fanatic
Certainly in the past, when our diesel had levels of sulfur approaching 500 ppm, it was more prudent to drain the oil more frequently.
Today however, given that our diesel is now at Euro 5 standards (<10 ppm sulfur) it may be a bit silly to change at such a low interval, and certainly a waste of resources. TDI engines are very capable of 15,000 km drain intervals, as proven by the Americans via oil analysis on TDIForums.com
But whatever drain interval you stick with, it is crucial that the oil you use is on Volkswagen's approved list of lubricants. The relevant spec. you need is VW 504 00/507 00. They aren't common or cheap, but such is the price you pay for current European philosophy - increasing performance using clean technologies.
This advice only applies to TDI engines, not T/FSI engines.
Volkswagen Fanatic
LMAO!!! Thanks for the laugh... ANY engineer will tell you the newer the oil the better for the engine...Originally Posted by gerhard
I had a VL with the nissan 6 at one stage, and it was the most neglected car I've owned. From 150,000 to 225,000 it might have had 2 oil changes, and the trannie was serviced only once in the entire time I had it from 38,000k.
My son took it over at 225,000 and thrashed the cr@p out of it, as they do. It was the fastest engine out of all his mates' VLs, never blew a puff of smoke, didn't use a drop of oil, compression was barely below new levels.
I say Voodo to too many oil changes. The manufacturer has engineers who have many fold the experience and data that "seat of the pants" users have, and the throwing away of $80 worth of perfectly good oil should be regarded as environmental vandalism
Volkswagen Fan
he was serious man.....
Volkswagen Enthusiast
You clearly haven't read the Mobil 1 site, where testing revealed that not to be true. It only requires a small percentage of oil to be topped up to replenish the additives.
Auto transmission only need to periodically renew 1/3 of the ATF to keep the trannie in top shape.
So I guess your ANY engineers are like economists - they claim to know everything but really don't know anything. Show 2 engineers or economists a red flag, and one of them will swear it's blue.
My suggestion to the OP is to renew the oil every 12 months or 15,000k as VW suggests, and the engine will live a long life. No need to waste money by changing every 5000k. The Le-mans 24 hour Audis travelled 5400 or so ks and they didn't change the oil, even though they were racing.
2008 Blue Graphite GTI DSG with Latte leather. SOLD 4/9/2024
2023 T-ROC R - Sunroof, Black Pack, Beats Audio
Volkswagenist
ANY engineer who told you that just because it's the right thing to do to your magna/ mazda 3/ other petrol, and thinks that they can apply that directly to a diesel, has no ****ing clue.
it's sexy to be presumptuous, but its not the case in diesels. pre pumpe duse engines fared well from frequent oil changes, however the PD engines are a different ball game- i've seen used oil analysis discussions where basically, it goes like this:
TDI mech: right- you're engine's ****ed! what have you been doing to it?
car owner: changing the oil every 5k miles
TDI mech:
car owner: yes
TDI mech: okay. next oil change is in 15k MILES. 20k if necessary.
bottom line is, at least in PD engines, i've seen plenty of literature saying that UOA shows no more debris in 15k mile oil than in 5k mile oil in PD TDI engnes, but to change the oil more frequently would be to re introduce detergency qualities the likes of which when used over-frequently, WILL contribute to the deadly PD engine early cam lobe wear/ bottom end wear.
my cousins/ uncles TRIED to tell me what to do with the tdi- how to brake the engine in, how to drive it on a daily basis, how to etc etc etc.
it didnt take me too much new knowledge to turn around and tell them "i may not be an engineer like you, but i know enough to tell you that you dont have a ****ing clue about TDI's"
Volkswagenist
Volkswagen recommend more frequent oil changes under severe driving conditions.
Australia is considered to have severe driving conditions so more frequent oil changes should be considered.
I don't mind paying the dealer an additional $150 to do an oil change at 6 months/7500kms as it's cheap insurance and seeing as there are no cheap oil testing places in Australia to check the condition of the oil it's what I'll keep doing on every car I own.
There's plenty of evidence around on various websites where the owners do oil testing that changing the oil more frequently is worthwhile.
website: www.my-gti.com
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