VAG oil (again)

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Mon 6 Sep 2004 12:05
VAG oil (again) - borasport20
My Skoda octavia is set for variable servicing, which seems to come around at 13,000+ miles or so.
Given that i do a 10 mile commute twice a day at an average of 10-12 mph with loads of stop/starts, i usually change the oil myself after 6/7000 miles

last time I did this, the only oils available for a 90hp TDI on variable servicing were whatever the dealer sells and castrol longlife slx II - does anyone know of any other brands, and more importantly, does anyone know of the cheapest source for a brand that meets the spec ?


--
Sept 2004 - 'Britain on the Move'
curious ? see www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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Mon 6 Sep 2004 14:21
VAG oil (again) - Dr Rubber
VW's erwin website has a series of files which list which oils meet which VW spec. You have to be registered to view them but its free to register.
URL for Erwin is:
erwin.volkswagen.de/erWinVW/

Regards,
Joe
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Mon 6 Sep 2004 16:25
VAG oil (again) - borasport20
Joe - could you post a more precise link - I cannot find anything on the site it doesn't want to charge me 18euros for

ta
Mike
--
Sept 2004 - 'Britain on the Move'
curious ? see www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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Mon 6 Sep 2004 19:43
VAG oil (again) - GIM
Esso Ultron is a very high spec oil (same basestock as Mobil 1) but expensive.
The good news is that it is also exactly the same oil as Halfords fully synthetic at £26.
The even better news is that it is exactly the same oil as Comma (which is owned by Esso)fully synthetic at £20 a gallon from many car accessory shop. The 5W/40 Diesel version meets the following specs:

MD229.3 (Merc), VW 505.00 ,BMW longlife 98

I am hoping that the VW one is ok for your Skoda (look in your handbook). Also Comma Oils have a good internet site:
www.commaoil.com/
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Mon 6 Sep 2004 20:26
VAG oil (again) - GIM
Reference my message above: You may need oil to spec 506.01 in which case look at this site:
www.volkswagen-environment.de/buster/buster.asp?i=...p
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Mon 6 Sep 2004 21:40
VAG oil (again) - Ivor E Tower
If you took the trouble to phone the Castrol helpline, you might have found out that Castrol developed SLX II specifically to meet VW's extended drain intervals on the TDI PD engines. At least this oil, to spec VW 506.01 is much more easily obtianed than oil to 505.01. Look at the difference in price between the 506.01 and any comparable oil that you may manage to find, and ask yourself if it is really worth trying to save that little, in relation to the price you paid for the car, and the servicing costs. When I look at the cost of 505.01 oil in that way, the few extra quid rather pale into insignificance. SLX II can be "good" for up to 24,000 miles (so they say) so it may even work out cheaper in the long-run!
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Wed 8 Sep 2004 13:16
VAG oil (again) - Dr Rubber
Mike,
on the right hand side at the bottom there is a pane marked "additional offers". Within this click on "approved oils". You need a log in to view the files though.
Once logged in, the link for the file for 50601 is:
erwin.volkswagen.de/erWinVW/archive/oil/step_50300...f
Joe

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Tue 7 Sep 2004 11:07
fact or fiction - borasport20
I asked the same question in another arena, and one response was that VAG's variable servicing actually monitors the oil quality, and that by changing the oil before it was 'due', the interval to the next service would be extended

how likely is that to be true?. What parameters of the oil could sensors possibly accurately measure ?


--
Sept 2004 - 'Britain on the Move'
curious ? see www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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Tue 7 Sep 2004 11:30
fact or fiction - SP
Have asked a dealer the same Q, they didn't know the answer.
I imagine that the sensor measures the acidity. It would be good if somebody could confirm this.
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Tue 7 Sep 2004 11:40
fact or fiction - Stuartli
Have you tried any of the motor factors in your area? So long as the oil conforms to the VAG standard you will probably find it is much cheaper to buy and most are quite prepared to sell at trade to the general public.

Incidentally, Halfords was selling its fully synthetic oil (£29 plus) on a BOGOF basis at the weekend.
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Tue 7 Sep 2004 12:29
fact or fiction - mattieboy
Could there be some measure of magnetism or of conductivity? This would be relatively easy to measure and would indicate the amount of metal that is held in suspension in the oil, which would give at least a simple (if vague) indication of the age/condition of the oil.

I'm not sure if the amount of metal in the oil, as a product of engine wear, is the major limiting factor in how long oil lasts, I was under the impression that loss of the long-chain molecules that maintain viscosity can be harmful. Is this indicated by a rise in acidity, or is this increase you mention caused by contamination from engine wear?

Just to be exact, is the oil 'quality' measured in the car or externally during a service?

sorry to blab on, I'm just interested.
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Tue 7 Sep 2004 12:37
VAG oil (again) - oldtoffee
Hi

Millers Oils produce a PD spec oil which I used on my previous Passat for in between changes. £19 for 5 litres.

Hope this link works.

www.millersoils.net/index2.html
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Tue 7 Sep 2004 13:36
VAG oil (again) - SP
The sensor is on the car and continuouly monitors 'oil quality'. I can only see this being done by measuring acidity of the oil. If everything is working OK, there shouldn't be any metallic particles in the oil.

Apparently, topping up with 'non longlife' oil, causes this warning light to come on much sooner. There is also a max time period (2 years?) even if the light hasn't come on.
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Wed 8 Sep 2004 11:43
VAG oil (again) - Dalglish
The sensor is on the car and continuouly monitors 'oil
quality'. I can only see this being done by measuring acidity
of the oil. If everything is working OK, there shouldn't be
any metallic particles in the oil.
Apparently, topping up with 'non longlife' oil, causes this
warning light to come on much sooner. There is also a max
time period (2 years?) even if the light hasn't come on.

>>

thanks for pasing on this news. these are facts, right? and not guesswork on your part?

until your note above, i believed that the system used for variable service intervals was generally based on an algorithm combining factors such as amount of fuel used, distance travelled, number of engine starts/stops, and time interval. there was no way for the system to know whether you had put in quality spec oil or junk cheap oil.


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Tue 7 Sep 2004 14:23
VAG oil (again) - borasport20
VAG specify different oils for fixed interval and variable interval servicing - but when I checked millers are only aware of 'variable servicing' for audi's - not skodas, not seats, not even VW's
--
Sept 2004 - 'Britain on the Move'
curious ? see www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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Tue 7 Sep 2004 22:44
VAG oil (again) - Big John
I dont think the original model Octavia tdi 90 is a PD engine so it shouldnt need the expensive PD oil.
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