Oil Confusion

[grayman]

My 06 2.0TDI Sport being out of warranty, I took it to a local (just round the corner) Subaru dealer for its 50K mile service. Service was reasonably priced (£110) including oil and air filter, but I felt the car was a little sluggish after and queried the oil used. I was told that they had used Castrol TXT LL 04, a 5w-30 fully synthetic oil. The service manager assured me it was compatible with my Leon.

I did a bit of digging and this appears to be a high-spec oil recommended for BMW's on variable servicing. My handbook (printed 2005) shows VW 505.01 as the correct oil spec and Halfords do one in a dark grey container with this spec but it is a 5w-40. In addition, if I access the Castrol UK website, the recommended oil comes up as Castrol Edge 5w-30 which appears to be VW 504 spec, again long life.

Does anybody know if the Castrol TXT will do any damage or am I now using a 'better' oil than I actually need?

 

[Pheo]

I'd ring Castrol and ask them if it meets or exceeds the VW505.01 spec. If it does, your fine.

 

[seremotors]

try this useful Castrol link - stick your reg in and it tells you which oil to use
http://www.castrol.com/castrol/iframe.do?categoryId=9024084&contentId=7044829

 

[Toxic]

VW/Audi/Seat/Skoda Recommend Quantum PD or Quantum Platinum. you can however use Quantum Longlife III if you want to make it last more. it doesn't break down as fast.

my last oil change was with Platinum, though i may go down the longlife route as nearly all VAG Diesels are moving to this one. Longlife III is used on the FR TDI (170bhp) though mine is only the 140BHP TDI it is remapped so I guess the longlife would be better for it.

 

[seremotors]

Also worth noting that although the FR models use LonglifeIII oil, they are still on 10k service intervals. The longlife oil breaks down over time and miles much less than standard PD so is more suited than high performance engines.

 

[Toxic]

will be looking some of that Longlife III next month mate

 

[grayman]

Taking note of the above comments. However, I did email castrol UK and was told that the TXT LL 04 oil neither meets or exceeds VW 505.01. I am not sure what damage this oil will do to the engine (and it was also overfilled by the service garage, about a quarter of an inch above the Max mark on the dipstick) but I am complaining to the service manager today and expect some action.