Recently went to my local fast fit centre (ATS) for an oil and filter change as it had been approx 6k since they were last changed.
Car is a SEAT Leon 1.9TDI 90bhp - Non PD engine I believe.
Upon looking in the car handbook it says that I should use VW 506 00 or VW 506 01 oils.
The ATS people have used 10W40 specification oil.
I have looked on the Castrol website and it says I should be using their 'Edge' TDI oil but can use 10W40 as an alternative (90bhp Leon wasn't listed so used 110bhp [with a PD engine] as a guide).
Can someone explain the difference and whether or not this is likely to damage the car? - it certainly feels okay to drive.
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There's lots of useful info here
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=4&t=33...5
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I read often, only post occasionally
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VW 506.00 is a 0W30 oil for non-PD engines on variable service intervals
VW 506.01 is a 0W30 oil for PD engines on variable service intervals
Is your car on variable servicing?
Also, I thought the VW group 110 bhp engine was not a PD one?
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...Castrol website and it says I should be using their 'Edge' TDI oil but can use 10W40 as an alternative ...
look at these:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=19968&...e
if audi and seat use the same engines:
www.audi.co.uk/audi/uk/en2/fleet_sales/ownership_b...l
....Using ordinary high quality multigrade oil will not cause any engine damage ...
However, bear in mind the "warning" at:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=4&t=33...1
Advice within this or any other, part... - Webmaster Mon 1 Aug 05 20:46
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If it IS a V.W. PD engine, surely the correct oil for "ordinary" routine changes is to V.W. spec. 505.01?
Roger. (Costa del Sol, España)
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i think that the comment "Using ordinary high quality multigrade oil will not cause any engine damage ..." was only in the context of the petrol engines being discussed. They do not have the PD system that the later diesels have, which require 505.01/506.01/507 depending on service conditions etc. AFAIK, having had a 110hp engine in a Passat, this was a conventional pump. The oil requirements are less stringent for these: 505.00 will suffice.
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FIXED INTERVAL
TDI 505.00, 505.01, 506.00, 506.01
PD 505.01, 506.01
VARIABLE/EXTENDED INTERVAL
TDI 506.00, 506.01
PD 506.01
If it was a 10w40 oil, then it's unlikely to be 506.00 or 506.01 as I have never seen these in a 10w grade.
Now this means whatever they put in can't be for variable service intervals.
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Nor will 10w/40 be a 505.01 oil as they have all been 5w/40 until recently. There are now some 0w/30 oils which are approved by VW to 505.01. But it doesn't have to meet 505.01 unless the engine has the pumpe-duse injectors. 506.01 might be overkill in a non-PD engine, but it will do no harm, except to your bank balance. I used Mobil 1 5w/40, which meets 505.00, in the Audi 90hp TDI vehicle I had.
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... think that the comment "Using ordinary high quality multigrade oil will not cause any engine damage ..." was only in the context of the petrol engines being discussed ....
nortones2 - whilst what you say may in fact be the what was intended, that is not what i understand from reading the audi web site link.
that web page discusses the audi petrol as well as diesel engines. and as far as i can make out, they make the statement without saying that the comment is restricted to "petrol engines only".
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Dalglish: I agree its badly worded. But it is so out of kilter with the strongly worded advice in VW technical bulletins, manuals etc, to use a specific oil in PD engines, it seems to me that it has to be disregarded, as marketing blather.
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My understanding of the VW specs is that the oils contain a chemical marker so that VW can detect if the correct spec oil has been used in the event of a warranty claim. Apart from that, there's nothing unusual about the oil.
Clearly, it's important to use the correct spec oil while the car's in warranty, but then once out of warranty (and out of the range of goodwill repairs) then as long as the correct viscosity rating is used (and that might vary in different parts of the world depending on ambient temp) then strict adherence to VW spec numbers is un-neccessary.
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Any facts on why the VW spec is unecessary, BP? My understanding is that VW use a marker to void the warranty if non-specified oils are used during the warranty period. There have been reports of camshaft failure (one at least on here) due to oils which presumably do not possess the necessary anti-wear qualities. The PD cam has a hard time, and using a VW spec saves guesswork. However, its down to the owner to decide.... I'd never buy a used PD though.
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In USA where the garages can be very crude, and have an attitude of 'I always know better than the manufacturer with my 30 year old knowledge' there have been quite a few PD engine with ruined camshaft lobes due to using Tupperware party oil, and any kind of good ol' fashioned rubbish.
This isn't due to the long service intervals we see here, as theirs are much shorter than half and they don't have variable servicing. The camshaft wears on the valve lobes rather than the injector ones, the lobes are very narrow, not a very rubust design really.
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In USA ... there have been quite a few PD engine with ruined camshaft lobes due to using Tupperware party oil, and any kind of good ol' fashioned rubbish. This isn't due to the long service intervals we see here, as theirs are much shorter than half and they don't have variable servicing.
I *think* the problem was VW started out with variable servicing in the US, but people were still using the rubbish oils that were designed for Americans who change their oil every 3000 miles.
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Any facts on why the VW spec is unecessary, BP?
No, it's just an opinion.
It seems unlikely to me that 2 apparently similar oils (of different brands) where one is VW approved and one isn't, would be so different as to render the non-VW approved oil unsuitable.
This seems to be particularly an issue with VW, but it also comes up with MB and their 229.xx approvals, and other manufacturers too. I don't know how the approval process works, but wouldn't be surprised if the oil compaies have to pay a considerable fee for approval so it isn't worth their while for every product.
The other thing is that the specs are based on running the oil for the maximum possible time. Some of the long-life intervals are in excess of 20K miles. Yet many people change their oil much more frequently, in which case any old stuff would probably be OK.
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Dalglish: I agree its badly worded. But it is so out of kilter with the strongly worded advice in VW technical bulletins, manuals etc, to use a specific oil in PD engines, it seems to me that it has to be disregarded, as marketing blather.
nortones2:
well, assuming your assumption that is marketing blather is true, then that is audi's problem. customers can just point to audi that they have followed official published advice.
...in which case any old stuff would probably be OK.
bill payer - yes, agreed, especially as audi say
"......Using ordinary high quality multigrade oil will not cause any engine damage ..."
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Its far from officially published advice, as the article quoted starts and ends thus:
"Imagine two company car drivers, each driving an Audi A4 2.0 FSI. Driver one is mainly based in and around the M25. His typical day involves lots of short urban journeys, stop-start driving and traffic jams. Driver two, on the other hand, has a much larger geographic area to cover in the North of England. The majority of his driving is on motorway, with the occasional cross-country trip on A-roads??
And our hypothetical two Audi drivers? Thanks to AVS, each A4 will get the maintenance it needs, only when it needs it. And more importantly, each A4 will continue to perform exactly as an Audi should: reliably, economically and enjoyably."
Not really the context in which to overturn VAG technical advice on the oil required for PD.
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My Leon isn't a PD engine and needs to be serviced every 12k / 1 year. It's five years old so isn't under any warranty / good will period.
I normally pay just shy of £50 at the above garage and only queried the oil used this time because the bill came to £25. Realising that the bill was 50% less than usual I Ieft sharpish (!!) and looked at the receipt when I got home where I noticed the oil discrepancy.
Being a non PD engine, I think the oil used is fine but not as 'good' as the usual oil used (think they previously used Mobil1). However, as it's only going to be 6k / about 3 months (maximum) I've decided to leave it for now as far as I can tell the oil used meets the minimum requirements needed. At the next service I'll ask my usual independent to use a 'better quality' oil.
Thanks for all your help and advice.
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Not going to say what oil you should or should not use but.....
all oils are a compromise and you need to choose the 1 best suited to you and your engines needs.
The same car with 3 different drivers and types of use really need use 3 different types of oil etc..
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