Oil in Mk2's

[antinora]

my car was low and i filled it up with castrol gtx2.......it was all i had that was around and my brother filled it up.... tell me he wwas right lol

[tommymac]

i wouldnt mix oils that arnt the same weight and viscosity

[antinora]

fu** so what he has done is wrong ?

[silverMK1]

i wouldnt mix oils that arnt the same weight and viscosity

wat are the repercussions of doing this.... i do it now and then.. only a few ml at a time

[antinora]

you telling me that GTX2 is the wrong oil for my mk2 gti ?(8V)

[tommymac]

no im not saying that im not a vw expert but i dont like to mix oils cos im anal like that, what weight and viscosity is the oil that ure using?

[antinora]

its 20W-50

[tommymac]

and its running fine?


nice article :

The viscosity grade (for example, 5W-30) tells you the oil's thickness, or viscosity. A thin oil has a lower number and flows more easily, while thick oils have a higher number and are more resistant to flow. Water has a very low viscosity -- it is thin and flows easily. Honey has a very high viscosity -- it is thick and gooey.


Viscosity is ordinarily expressed in terms of the time required for a standard quantity of the fluid at a certain temperature to flow through a standard orifice. The higher the value, the more viscous the fluid. Since viscosity varies inversely with temperature, its value is meaningless unless accompanied by the temperature at which it is determined. With petroleum oils, viscosity is now commonly reported in centistokes (cSt), measured at either 40°C or 100 °C (ASTM Method D445 - Kinematic Viscosity).


Multi-weight oils (such as 10W-30) are a new invention made possible by adding polymers to oil. The polymers allow the oil to have different weights at different temperatures. The first number indicates the viscosity of the oil at a cold temperature, while the second number indicates the viscosity at operating temperature. This page from the Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ offers the following very interesting description of how the polymers work:

[antinora]

well i think so ..... it runs smoother than before... but is that the wrong oil ?

[Golf Loon]

It doesnt matter for topping up. Any is better than none.

When you get a chance do a full oil and filter change $100 job and keep the same kind of oil in your car.

I always use Castrol Magnatec as it is not too pricy and Watercooled VWs love it