What oil for the R36

[reverseworm]

Hi Everyone,

Looks like I need a bit of a top up after 2000kms - what after market oil is everyone using? The only specs I could find in the manual was that it must be a long-life oil but with no numbers on the weight or viscosity.

Just want to avoid going to VW to buy oil if I can.....

thanks

Andrew

[zsolt_downunder]

Andrew,

The manual just states long-life VW505.00 approved oil.

I would recommend ringing a dealer and asking the specific brand and specific viscosity used by them. It's not a good idea mixing different brand oils and different viscosities.

The other option is to drop into a dealer and get them to top it up.

[Lance B]

I would suggest using the VW or dealer approved oil until the car has been run in. After that, you can go to a good quality fully synthetic oil like AMS Oil, Q8 Oil, or NEO Oil which is a diester base which and is *supposed* to be the best.

[Cro]

The oil currently in your engine is Castrol SLX Longlife III 5w30 Full Synthetic.

After having some trouble finding the oil anywhere really so I rang Castrol and they told me the only authorised distributors are your local VW Spare Parts department. Costs me about $75 for a 5 litre bottle.

I also enquired about changing over to something like Mobil 1, however my service manager advised against it. Said something about the Castrol oil being developed specifically for the 3.6 litre. The castrol badged oil cap on the engine solidified it for me.

[gregozedobe]

I'd be very wary about putting any oil not specifically approved by VW into your engine. If you had any trouble and had to make a warranty claim you have provided them with the perfect excuse to deny coverage

Some VW engines (eg TDIs, GTIs) have been known to be very fussy about oil.

[Lance B]

I'd be very wary about putting any oil not specifically approved by VW into your engine. If you had any trouble and had to make a warranty claim you have provided them with the perfect excuse to deny coverage

Some VW engines (eg TDIs, GTIs) have been known to be very fussy about oil.

They cannot deny warranty if the oil meets the standard specified. If they specify 5W30 synthetic, and that is what you use, then by law, they cannot refute warranty claim if something happens.

Apart from that, how would they know what oil you used anyway if it meets the 5W30 spec and it is synthetic.

[william]

[QUOTE=Cro;312227]The oil currently in your engine is Castrol SLX Longlife III 5w30 Full Synthetic.

After having some trouble finding the oil anywhere really so I rang Castrol and they told me the only authorised distributors are your local VW Spare Parts department. Costs me about $75 for a 5 litre bottle.

I also enquired about changing over to something like Mobil 1, however my service manager advised against it. Said something about the Castrol oil being developed specifically for the 3.6 litre. The castrol badged oil cap on the engine solidified it for me.[/QUOTE

I worked for vw the oils they run in R36 engines are castrol 5w30. I run motul in my v6 engine its the ducks nuts $$$ expensive but really good, but as it is new i would stick with manufacturers specs atleast till the second service.

[Rocket36]

Here it is...

Specification:


Warning:


As you can see, all the manual says is to use only oils that have the specification authorised for the engine. I.e. the oil has to be the specificiation that's approved by VW for use in the engine. Therefore, using ANY oil that has the specification as per the manual is perfectly fine.

I also just got off the phone with my service department.

The oil used is Castrol Edge Sport 5W30 specifically designed to meet specifications of many manufacturers (incl. VW). It meets the requirements as specified in the manual (502 00).

See page 5:
http://www.castrol.com/liveassets/bp...0_B1970_05.pdf

[Lance B]

Here it is...

Specification:


Warning:


As you can see, all the manual says is to use only oils that have the specification authorised for the engine. I.e. the oil has to be the specificiation that's approved by VW for use in the engine. Therefore, using ANY oil that has the specification as per the manual is perfectly fine.

Exactly. Any oil that meets the VW spec will do, ie VW 504 00 or whatever to which *any* manufacturer can have their oil spec made to and meet. Thank you Rocket36

[Rocket36]

Thank you Rocket36

No worries... Just wanted to clear up the confusion some people seem to have once and for all.