VW oil ratings

voxpop

Can anyone make sense of this. I have a 2003 Golf TDI (PD engine). The oil needs topping up and the last garage that serviced put in Castrol Longlife SLX 3 and recommended I top up with Castrol EDGE which is 5w30. It seems that they think the car should have an oil change every 7k miles - so fixed interval. Now, everything I read points towards using 5W40 oil in a TDI when on a fixed interval. Which oil should I be using ?

fletch

I have a 2004 TDI PD130 engine with fixed service intervals (10k miles) and I use Castrol Edge 5W-40 which is 505.01 approved.

voxpop

yeah thats the things - there are two EDGE oils. The 5w30 one (that the garage recommended I top up with - she specifically said 5w30) and the 5w40 EDGE that has vw 505.01 approved on it.

BrianD3

7k service intervals sound short - surely VW recommend 10k if you use a 505.01 spec oil (which IIRC is the minimum spec oil you can use in a PD engine) Garages can be inclined to think that they know better than the manufacturer and as a result they revise downards oil change intervals which handlily also generates more servicing for them.

AFAIK the Castrol Longlife 3 is suitable for the variable service intervals (VAG 506.01 spec) so even worse if they are recommending you change this every 7k. Also i don't understand why they are recommending that you top up Longlife with Edge. edit: having looked at castrols website i see that Edge has replaced Longlife so that explains it

Castrol wrote:

]Castrol EDGE Turbo Diesel 5W-40 has been developed to meet VW & Audi Diesel specifications (VW 505 01). It is especially designed for use in VW TDI engines using Electronic Unit Injectors (Pumpe Duse).

This product should not be used in PD models on VW LongLife extended service intervals (indicated by letters QG1 on the VIN plate - see handbook for details) as Castrol EDGE 5W-30 covers the specifications for these vehicles (504 00, 507 00).

voxpop

yeah I thought the interval was a bit short myself- ill be doing the oil change myself next time so they can recommend any interval they like.
Anyway so Im assuming they have a large amount of this Longlife 3 oil and use it in every car - I didnt even tell her what car I had and she came out with Longlife 3 oil.

So EDGE 5w30 is ok to continue using - I was a little worried they put in the wrong oil. I guess for topping up it would be best to stick with the EDGE 5w30 then and maybe at the next oil change go for the 5W40 ? Is there any benefits with 5w30 over 5w40 when doing standard interval servicing (they are the same price in halfords).

voxpop

It seems anyway that the Castrol EDGE(5w30) which conforms to vw 507 00 standard covers VW 505 00, VW 505 01, VW 506 00 VW 506 01 (ie is backwards compatible) - so is fine for all TDI engines whether PD or not, interval or variable servicing.

crosstownk

BrianD3 wrote:

7k service intervals sound short - surely VW recommend 10k if you use a 505.01 spec oil. Garages can be inclined to think that they know better than the manufacturer and as a result they revise downards oil change intervals which handlily also generates more servicing for them.

Spot on Brian. VW service intervals have been at a minimum of 10k mile for more than 10 years. Any garage that says otherwise is talking sh1te. Fair enough if you want to service you car more regularly, but the garage should really be quoting manufacturers intervals. So many garages fill up with Edge and then slap a sticker on that calls you back in 10k miles (or less). I also think that a lot of garages reset the SID manually which will set it for fixed intervals. AFAIK, long life intervals can only be set via an appropriate diagnostic computer - Mr.D might be able to clarify.

BrianD3 wrote:

Castrol Longlife 3 is suitable for the variable service intervals (VAG 506.01 spec) so even worse if they are recommending you change this every 7k. Also i don't understand why they are recommending that you top up Longlife with Edge.

Spot on again. Using Edge for fixed intervals is a complete waste of money. If you are sticking to fixed intervals that Castrol TXT is more than adequate (and considerably cheaper than Edge).