What Oil Should I Use?

[clark]

Hi guys,

I want to do an oil change on my Mk4 GTI Golf this week. What do people recommend I use in the way of oil?

Thanks

[Diesel_vert]

How old is the car, how many km's has the engine done, what condition is it in (healthy? Does it burn oil? Etc.) and what oils have been used before? (if available)

[Transporter]

I would use Penrite HPR5 that is semi synthetic, but if you know that it always had synthetic oil in the engine go for synthetic. Penrite has Everyday Fully Synthetic 5W50 or 10W40.
If you can spend a bit more go for Mobil1 .

As Diesel_vert says, it depends from the engine's condition what type and viscosity oil you use.

[clark]

How old is the car, how many km's has the engine done, what condition is it in (healthy? Does it burn oil? Etc.) and what oils have been used before? (if available)

2002,
Done 175,000kms,
Engine seems really healthy to me, never seen any evidence that it's burning oil. Although it was very low last night so I had to buy some crap oil from a servo to tide me over til the weekend. That being said the oil probably had been checked for a while.
Not sure what's been used in it before.
I've had Castrol Edge Sport recommended to me.

[Diesel_vert]

The 1.8T (if serviced by the book) would have called for VW 502.00, which isn't a terribly arduous oil spec by today's standards, but it did at least ensure the use of synthetic oil. Many of them were 5W-40 back in day, but today they can be found in a wider range of grades. Most common in Oz is 5W-40 and 5W-30.

So, here are your options:

On an engine approaching 180k/8yrs, I'd stick to whatever grade has been used for the majority of its life - probably 5W-40. Castrol Edge Sport 0W-40, Liqui Moly Leichtlauf High Tech 5W-40 ($70/5L online - made in Germany), Mobil 1 0W-40 ($90/5L is poor value), Shell Helix Ultra 5W-40 are all good choices.

On the off-chance a 30-weight oil was used, high-quality oils like Elf Solaris LSX 5W-30 ($76/5L at Autobarn - made in Europe) or Castrol Syntec 0W-30, nicknamed "German Castrol" ($15/1L online - made in Germany) would be great in this instance.


If there's no service history to go by, use a 5W-40 or 0W-40 grade oil, ensuring that any oil you buy meets ACEA A3/B4 as a minimum.

[clark]

Thanks Diesel_vert, I'll head out at lunchtime and pick up some Castrol Edge Sport I reckon.

[johnvw]

Sorry to highjack this thread I could not start a new thread.
As a previous Castrol Sport 5W-30 user for a 2007 Golf gti and having seen the LIGHT I have changed to Long Life III 5W-30 for both Gti and new 2010 Audi A4B8 both petrol.
After just having the new oil dumped, 2000k ( removing any metal contamination from new AUDI), the mechanic gave me the oil remaining in the plastic container Castrol SLX Professional VW505-01 5W-40.
I believe this spec is for Diesel, not petrol. I will drop this oil after 6 months ( my routine).

Will this oil cause any DAMAGE ????
Regards John

[Transporter]

No, that oil is fine. However it would be better to use the latest oil.

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

[johnvw]

Thank you,
This will not happen again, I will supply the correct oil.
Regards John