2.0L TDI Oil Change - DIY Advice

[davidstossel]

Hi all,

I am looking for advice as to how easy it is to do an oil and filter change in a MKV Golf 2.0L TDI Pacific? I am approaching the magic number of 7500 km's, and following the advice of countless threads here at VWwatercooled I am going to perform an oil and filter change.

I am happy to confess that I am not hugely mechanically minded although having said that I am not completely lost with a spanner in my hand. I would like to give it a go myself as I can not justify the prices charged by dealer service centers for what I understand to be a pretty simple procedure.

I am not looking for oil advice as I am aware of the spec's required, but would like some technical know how as I can not seem to find any DIY threads.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,
David

[Russ59]

HI David,

I had my first service on the GT TDI done @ 7,500 by the VW dealer. I did however have to have the oil changed in my son's Comfortline as the wrong grade of oil had been used by the dealer we purchased it from (a Toyota dealer in Melbourne) and when we had it shipped up to NSW I had it changed at my local mechanics workshop and as it was his first oil change on a Golf, he allowed me into the workshop to watch the procedure. I can tell you that the first thing you will need to do is get the car up off the ground a bit to give you enough clearance to get underneath it. You will then need to remove the plastic splash guards to enable access to the sump plug. At the front of the car from underneath you will see a hex shaped nut which if you undo that one you will actually be undoing the base of the oil cooler (from memory) which is not really necessary but at the same time, it does hold a fair bit of engine oil which if not drained from that point will only mix in with the new oil once it's put in. The actual oil filter is accessible from the top of the engine at the front and the setup looks pretty much identical to the oiler cooler (a hexagonal nut) You will need to remove the plastic engine cover first which should just pop up if you lift it gently at the holding points. The oil filter itself is an open cartridge filter which fits inside a canister with the hexagonal nut making up the lid. It might sound confusing but once you see it you'll know what I mean. It is pretty messy so be prepared for that and from what I've read before it is very important not to cross-thread the hexagonal nuts when reassembling things. Just make sure you use the correct grade of oil because I can tell you first hand if you don't it will probably smoke like a chimney, the Comfortline did, as they had used 20w50 or 15w40 Toyota diesel oil in it. Once the correct grade was in it ran perfectly. Hopefully this will give you an idea anyway, so have fun

[Transporter]

Remove bottom engine cover (Torx sockets or bits needed). Undo the sump plug and drain the old oil.
Undo the top engine cover cover (10mm 1/4" dr socket - 2 nuts holding it) to get access to the oil filter from the top.
Undo black oil filter cap using 32mm socket or adjustable spanner (be careful around in the engine bay with the adjustable spanner).

If you also undo the bottom cap from the oil filter housing (not necessary) you will drain more oil out of the engine but pour some engine oil onto the oil filter housing before you insert a new oil filter in.
Oil filter in, screw the oil cap back on after you replaced all the O-rings(supplied with the oil filter).
Do not over tighten - 25Nm torque as printed on the cap. Pour the rest of the engine oil in. Do not overfill.

[Russ59]

Undo the top engine cover cover (10mm 1/4" dr socket - 2 nuts holding it)

On my GT TDI the plastic engine cover has moulded plugs on it which push in and lock into rubber sockets. It has no nuts holding it, I think however that Cam's Comfortline does

[davidstossel]

Thank you all!

This is a great start - I will let you know how it goes.

[Greg Roles]

The bottom cap is something I'd probably say to leave alone for a first go. sure it removes the last 5%, but it also holds the fins of the oil cooler to the filter housing, and apart from being very very messy, it's not simple to just line it back up and screw it back in.

View from underneath.




Here's how you get into the top, where the filter is, and I've no idea how you'd manage it with anything BUT a 32mm socket from your local auto supplier. Oh and your airfliter will look a little different!

[Golf Houso]

Here's how you get into the top, where the filter is, and I've no idea how you'd manage it with anything BUT a 32mm socket from your local auto supplier. Oh and your airfliter will look a little different!

Interesting, looks just like the VR6 oil filter housing, just the other way around and not at the bottom of the motor... same size socket as well if I'm not mistaken.

[antone_86]

The bottom cap is something I'd probably say to leave alone for a first go. sure it removes the last 5%, but it also holds the fins of the oil cooler to the filter housing, and apart from being very very messy, it's not simple to just line it back up and screw it back in.

View from underneath.

Hi Greg or anyone else that might be able to answer me,

I changed my engine oil and replaced the oil filter today. I also drained the oil cooler as shown in your photo above.

What is the trick with 'lining it up'? I simply replaced it the same way it came off...? Is there some trick to aligning it?

Cheers.