What Oil?

[RossIBIZATDI]

Hi All,

Got an oil change done by my local garage about 1000 miles ago. I never thought to enquire about what oil they had used but was reading the What Oil thread and seen people saying that it's dangerous not to put exactly the correct oil in!

Can anybody put my mind at rest? Is it OK to use standard Diesel oil? Should I do an Oil change and put the correct one in?

Thanks All,
Ross

 

[bukem]

I would change the Oil and Oil Filter right away.

TDI PD engines require specific engine oils due to the unit injectors (aka pumpe düse or PD). It is made to withstand the higher pressures that are generated by the PD injectors.

Taken from http://www.roelz.be/VAG/vw_oilspecs.html

 

[RossIBIZATDI]

Ah, OK I will get it changed with immediate affect, AKA this weekend lol.

 

[bukem]

Cool. I'm not sure what engine you have but check you manual to know which VAG Oil spec is suited for your engine. I'm guessing 505.01 at least but if doubt, look for 507.00 as this is the very latest VAG Oil Spec for a diesel.

 

[RossIBIZATDI]

Thanks for your help. I'll have a check when I next get in my car. I called the garage that did the oil change to find out what they used and they said 10W30. From all the reading I've done mine should have 5W-40 VW 505.01. The guy on the phone said "when you got your oil changed we had some old staff who would have used 10W30, I'd get your oil changed to the right one straigh away". He didn't offer to do it for me for free. It's a National Tyre & Autocare centre, so a national company, therefore it doesn't matter if they've changed staff, it's still the responsibiity of the company to provide customer satisfaction. I have no idea what 10W30 is but I assume it's bad for my engine as it's not the correct one. I've e-mailed their general helpline to see if they can arrange a free oil change for me. Am I right in doing this?

 

[wisejason]

I'd say contact their head office and complain, you should not be out of pocket for their **** up.

I'd also try and find out the brand. My local garge do not use VW specific oil, but there is a guide on the chart for confirmation that it is the correct VW specification. There are also ranges that oils work at... if you look in your manual you will see that certain oil viscosity has an estimated operating range.

But if you unsure, get it changed at a local garage (£50-60 filter+oil) and then argue the toss with National Tyres afterwards. They might not give your money back, but offer a discount on tyres...

 

[bukem]

I second that too. The garage supplied the wrong oil and it's not your fault. They should replace the oil and the oil filter for free. Because of this, the wrong oil may have damaged the PD Injectors and I believe this would cost a lot more the the oil and filter if a fault occured!

A few years back, the Americans learnt this the hard way with the 1.8T engines. Because they were not using VAG Oil Spec'd engine oils, engines were failing due to oil sludging in the engine. The cost, a new engine needed! In the UK, the availability of VAG Oil Spec'd engine oil is so widespread that I see no excuse for garages to use the wrong oil. FFS, even Halfords do their own brand VAG Oil.

 

[RossIBIZATDI]

I second that too. The garage supplied the wrong oil and it's not your fault. They should replace the oil and the oil filter for free. Because of this, the wrong oil may have damaged the PD Injectors and I believe this would cost a lot more the the oil and filter if a fault occured!

A few years back, the Americans learnt this the hard way with the 1.8T engines. Because they were not using VAG Oil Spec'd engine oils, engines were failing due to oil sludging in the engine. The cost, a new engine needed! In the UK, the availability of VAG Oil Spec'd engine oil is so widespread that I see no excuse for garages to use the wrong oil. FFS, even Halfords do their own brand VAG Oil.

Well I'll see what they come back with tomorrow (hopefully).

I'd say contact their head office and complain, you should not be out of pocket for their **** up.

I'd also try and find out the brand. My local garge do not use VW specific oil, but there is a guide on the chart for confirmation that it is the correct VW specification. There are also ranges that oils work at... if you look in your manual you will see that certain oil viscosity has an estimated operating range.

But if you unsure, get it changed at a local garage (£50-60 filter+oil) and then argue the toss with National Tyres afterwards. They might not give your money back, but offer a discount on tyres...

Argh dam it, just got some new tyres lol. Not best pleased though!

 

[ChrisGTL]

Unless your taking your car to a brilliant garage do what I do and supply your own oil.

Stand there and watch them use it when changing the oil, or do the oil change yourself.

 

[RossIBIZATDI]

Yeah I'm going to do it myself in the future. I've just found the receipt from the garage and it actually says: -

OCEDGE2 - EDGE 5W-30 OIL & FILTER. So, they've used 5W-30, not 10W30 as the guy on the phone said.

I've done a bit of searching but can't find out a proper answer, do you know if this oil is OK for my car before I ring up and complain lol.

Cheers,
Ross

 

[bukem]

Yeah I'm going to do it myself in the future. I've just found the receipt from the garage and it actually says: -

OCEDGE2 - EDGE 5W-30 OIL & FILTER. So, they've used 5W-30, not 10W30 as the guy on the phone said.

I've done a bit of searching but can't find out a proper answer, do you know if this oil is OK for my car before I ring up and complain lol.

Cheers,
Ross

According to the Opie Oils site (http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-398-castrol-engine-oil.aspx), there are two variants of Castrol Edge 5w30. By purely using the viscosity rating (5w30), there is not enough information to know if it's the correct one. If they can prove to you that they used the VAG spec'd one, then so be it. But I doubt they can!

 

[ChrisGTL]

Yeah I'm going to do it myself in the future. I've just found the receipt from the garage and it actually says: -

OCEDGE2 - EDGE 5W-30 OIL & FILTER. So, they've used 5W-30, not 10W30 as the guy on the phone said.

I've done a bit of searching but can't find out a proper answer, do you know if this oil is OK for my car before I ring up and complain lol.

Cheers,
Ross

If it's Castrol Edge 5/30 then you are OK. This is the VW504.00/507.00 spec oil, used for extended or variable servicing.

You never actualy said what car you own, Ibiza TDI of some sort.....not sure what year/engine though so don't know what your handbook calls for oil wise.

 

[Viking]

Just checked Nat Tire & autocentre website, and they list all the oils they use for servicing. They do not list the VW spec Castrol Edge 5w30, although they do list the Castrol Edge 5w 30 suitable for BMW and Mercedes engines.

The only oil they sell which specifically mentions the minimum required VW spec (505.01 5w 40) is Castrol Edge Turbo Diesel 5w 40. If they used 5w 30 then it's not the right stuff unless they got it in special just for you. Having said that, they did used to do a special deal on VAG spec oil service for £34 with the correct spec longlife oil (VW504/507 - 5w 30) about 9 months ago, but that particular page has disappeared from their website.

 

[ChrisGTL]

Its all complete madness!

Just too many oils on the market now, and next month I start formulating the new VW oil. Not including Merc, BMW and a few others.

I feel abit sorry for garages, if they do the job right and do the whole range of cars the amount of different oils they stock must be a nightmare.

Keeps me in a job though

 

[RossIBIZATDI]

Just checked Nat Tire & autocentre website, and they list all the oils they use for servicing. They do not list the VW spec Castrol Edge 5w30, although they do list the Castrol Edge 5w 30 suitable for BMW and Mercedes engines.

The only oil they sell which specifically mentions the minimum required VW spec (505.01 5w 40) is Castrol Edge Turbo Diesel 5w 40. If they used 5w 30 then it's not the right stuff unless they got it in special just for you. Having said that, they did used to do a special deal on VAG spec oil service for £34 with the correct spec longlife oil (VW504/507 - 5w 30) about 9 months ago, but that particular page has disappeared from their website.

Hmm, I'll mention that when I call them back then. Cheers for investigating

Its all complete madness!

Just too many oils on the market now, and next month I start formulating the new VW oil. Not including Merc, BMW and a few others.

I feel abit sorry for garages, if they do the job right and do the whole range of cars the amount of different oils they stock must be a nightmare.

Keeps me in a job though

Ha yeah I know, there are so many it's a bit confusing!

 

[gti gadge]

Its all down to the considerably higher temps that the PD injectors run at mate. If your driving around in a PD with the wrong oil then its just a matter of time before your going to hit problems. Oil from VW is now down nearly 50% and can be bought with a filter for under £30.

 

[Andrewcupra TDI]

vw want £10.46p/ltr for the oil ?

 

[RossIBIZATDI]

Is that from vw? I'll sort it over christmas I think.