High mileage tdi drivers...

[Mofo]

G'day everyone,
A newbie on this side of the forum here!

I posted the below information/questions yesterday which gave me some great info/piece of mind....

"G'day all,
first time poster but long time lurker of this brilliant site.
As the title suggests i'm very close to buying a golf 2.0 tdi, unfortunately funds won't stretch for a brand new one so i've spotted a couple of decent second hand ones at 2 dealers (neither of them VW dealerships).
I just wanted to know whether there is anything specific i should be looking out for or asking whilst I'm there.
Both vehicles have between 30k-50k km's on them, both are 2005 models and both have had their required services performed at VW dealers/service centres.
Having never purchased from a dealer before, can I assume that the cars have been RACQ inspected or, if not, is it something I can request?
Any info or suggestions will be most appreciated.
Cheers"

I guess the next thing i wanted to know is whether there are many folks on this site who do plenty of km's per week and what, if anything, do they do differently to keep their diesels chugging along?
Is there anything I should be aware of once my car gets over 100,000km+ ( i plan to keep it for quite a while) that could potentially pose a major problem and therefore a major expense?
I commute to Brisbane every day and luckily, my hours are completely outside the peak runs so 99% of the time i get an easy drive in and out, i can currently sit in 5th gear of my mighty corolla for about 50 mins of the 60min journey so there's minimal stop/start, up/down gear changing and general heavy engine wear and tear involved.
I average 1000-1200km a week.
I know of and have read plenty of stories of older (10-15 years +) diesels with 300,000+km on them which just run and run and run.
Are the newer versions likely to be able to do similar mileages?

I know there's a tonne of questions here but like my post above, all info is greatly appreciated.
Thks
Dan

[gregozedobe]

If they are well maintained the VW TDIs seem to go for a long time, and with highway use like you are describing yours should last very well.

Be fanatical about changing the engine oil (+ filter) at the correct times and with the right oil (I would use oil approved to VW 507.00 standard)

I can't remember all the details (my 5 cyl TDI has gear driven cams), but I seem to have an idea that some VW 4 cyl engines need the water pump replaced at regular intervals (but that may be only the 4 cyl petrols), and when the timing (cam) belt is changed you should get a full kit which should also include a tensioner and some bolts (and maybe some other stuff ?)

Did you consider a Polo 1.9 TDI ? IIRC they get even better fuel economy than the Golf, which may be significant given the miles you do.

[Greg Roles]

Diesels generally last a long time as the diesel cycle is more gentle than the typical spark plug driven normal engine. The downside is that the oil gets a lot dirtier, a lot quicker, so I'm doing oil and filter changes every 7500km. As the turbo is oil cooled, I see this as good for it as well. The turbo is the potential achillies heel in my opinion, I can't see the motor itself being a problem.

All I can add to Gregoz, is to make sure you warm it up relatively hard, to make sure the VNT variable turbo vanes don't soot up ( search VNT or variable vanes on you tube if unsure ) see the awrm up thread in this Diesel section.

Also, I'm running a bottle of Fuel Doctor from Supercheap through the tank every major service, to keep water and the dreaded "bug" out of the tank. One bad batch of diesel can infect your system with algae, and whilst unlikely, this would cause all manner of blockages and problems. A bottle for like $12 odd is cheap insurance.

Enjoy the grunt!

[Buller_Scott]

Be fanatical about changing the engine oil (+ filter) at the correct times and with the right oil (I would use oil approved to VW 507.00 standard)

when the timing (cam) belt is changed you should get a full kit which should also include a tensioner and some bolts (and maybe some other stuff ?)

Did you consider a Polo 1.9 TDI ? IIRC they get even better fuel economy than the Golf, which may be significant given the miles you do.

would castrol slx 5w-30 or 5w-40 be alright to use for the life of the car? ive read somewhere that sometimes the synthetic oils if used long term can bring about the demise of the engine? i probably got that wrong....

and also, for major jobs like the timing belt, can you request that from the dealership/ service center no worries?

thanks

[Mofo]

Did you consider a Polo 1.9 TDI ? IIRC they get even better fuel economy than the Golf, which may be significant given the miles you do.

I did look at the Polo but the extra safety features ie additional airbags etc in the Golf just held that little bit more appeal.
The extra speakers may have also contributed to my decision i do like my music whilst i'm chugging along!

thanks for the advice, i'm feeling pretty good about my impending purchase.

[Greg Roles]

would castrol slx 5w-30 or 5w-40 be alright to use for the life of the car? ive read somewhere that sometimes the synthetic oils if used long term can bring about the demise of the engine? i probably got that wrong....

and also, for major jobs like the timing belt, can you request that from the dealership/ service center no worries?

thanks

Dealer will do whatever you are prepared to pay for!

Just be prepared to PAY!

Stick with VW approved oil, ESPECIALLY in the PD diesels. ESSENTIAL for correct lubrication of the cam driven injectors. VW have specific low soot, high shear oil for these engines, and gregoz correctly pointed this out. That's one thing I would be, and am, fanatical about.

[gregozedobe]

would castrol slx 5w-30 or 5w-40 be alright to use for the life of the car? ive read somewhere that sometimes the synthetic oils if used long term can bring about the demise of the engine? i probably got that wrong....

Only if it is marked VW 507.00 (IIRC only Castrol "slx III professional" has 507.00 approval). Use of a non-approved oil is more likely to bring about the early demise of the engine, and VWs are known to be very fussy about what oil they do best on.

The only time I can think of a good quality synthetic oil would cause problems for an engine is if it is the wrong viscosity and/or lacks the correct additive package required by a specific engine (which is why I always use the correct specification oil in all my engines).

Another factor is the usage of the vehicle. Short runs where the engine never warms up properly are bad for all engines (described as "severe operating conditions"), and make it necessary to change your oil more frequently than another vehicle driven only for long journeys. Similarly driving all the time in heavy traffic as a "lead-foot" with constant hard acceleration and braking wears out an engine (and transmission and brakes) much more than gentle, constant speed highway driving.

and also, for major jobs like the timing belt, can you request that from the dealership/ service center no worries?

You should be able to be confident that an approved VW dealership will do a proper job of repalcing the timing belt, but I would still check the parts used list to make sure they replaced everything that is supposed to be replaced.

[Logzy]

I just had my 15k service done and the invoice actually lists "Castrol SLX LONGLIFE 111 5W-30"

[nayfen]

the run between the gold and bris is a good one for economy espcially if its out of peak hour. you should see approx 4.5L/100km. thats what i get

[Mofo]

the run between the gold and bris is a good one for economy espcially if its out of peak hour. you should see approx 4.5L/100km. thats what i get

That's excellent, pretty much what I would be hoping for.
I'm getting about 750km p/tank in my corolla (6.5-6.7l/100km) at the moment so I would like to think I could get over 1200km in the tdi.