03 Audi A4 Avant 1.9 TDi 100 AVB - Short Term Oil Change 5w30 or 5w40 VAG PD

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Thu 19 Sep 2013 19:41
03 Audi A4 Avant 1.9 TDi 100 AVB - Short Term Oil Change 5w30 or 5w40 VAG PD - A3 A4

Coming up to oil change time again, but this time a little confused as to which oil to use.

I have read that if doing a short term change (Every 7k/yearly in my case) its better to use 5w40, rather that the more expensive 5w30 longlife stuff.

The car isn't driven hard and only does about 7k a year, 1.5k of that on the motorway.

I know there are some enlightened people on here as far as the PD engines go, maybe they could enlighten me.

Eurocarparts do Petronas Syntium 3000AV 5w40 (505.1) and 5000AV (507) at resonable prices which is best considering the above servicing regime, to date I've only used Mobil 507 spec.

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Thu 19 Sep 2013 20:19
03 Audi A4 Avant 1.9 TDi 100 AVB - Short Term Oil Change 5w30 or 5w40 VAG PD - Dimebag
I've switched 2 of my vehicles that were on long life schedules and have not seen any problems. I generally find 5w 40 pd specific engine oil at around £20 locally but you can buy ac delco pd oil on ebay for £18. I've used ac delco oils for years and not had any issues.
I aim for 6k changes.

Edited by Dimebag on 19/09/2013 at 20:20

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Thu 19 Sep 2013 20:51
03 Audi A4 Avant 1.9 TDi 100 AVB - Short Term Oil Change 5w30 or 5w40 VAG PD - Cyd

try this:
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161058919427?ssPageName=STRK:ME...9

or this
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290555364065?ssPageName=STRK:ME...9

or this
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260396751534?ssPageName=STRK:ME...9

all correct grade, and excellent value

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Sat 21 Sep 2013 01:12
03 Audi A4 Avant 1.9 TDi 100 AVB - Short Term Oil Change 5w30 or 5w40 VAG PD - privateinvestor

MY 2002 Audi A4 1.9 tdi has 235k on the clock, it had an uncertain history up untill 135k , from this point onwards oil changes have always been at 8k intervals using oil to VW 504/507 spec. Usually its been either Castrol Edge or Quantum. Quantum I beleive is VW's own brand and is Castrol oil. At present Eurocarprtas have a special offer on .....

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Sat 21 Sep 2013 12:02
03 Audi A4 Avant 1.9 TDi 100 AVB - Short Term Oil Change 5w30 or 5w40 VAG PD - Wackyracer

You could have a look at Halfords, They have 4 litres of their own brand on offer for £10 quite often, In various viscosities and specs.

The only thing I would say is to be careful when buying oil from ebay in light of some of the oils sold on their being fake.

Whatever happened to the good old days where oil specs were just done on API or ACEA specs.

Edited by Wackyracer on 21/09/2013 at 12:03

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Sat 21 Sep 2013 13:12
03 Audi A4 Avant 1.9 TDi 100 AVB - Short Term Oil Change 5w30 or 5w40 VAG PD - Cyd

I don't suppose those two UK based sellers would be too happy if they knew you'd accused them of selling "fake" oil !! Yes, you have to watch out for the tat on eBay, just as you would in any market place in the world. But the vast majority of businesses there are simply using the excellent exposure eBay can bring to their businesses.

Personally I buy that GM oil for my Saab. Seems genuine enough to me. I'd buy 25 litres at a time, but haven't the storage space.

The latest £10 offer at Halfords has finished. You have to get in there at the very start as the [limited stocks of] most popular oils go fast.

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Sat 21 Sep 2013 13:19
03 Audi A4 Avant 1.9 TDi 100 AVB - Short Term Oil Change 5w30 or 5w40 VAG PD - A3 A4

Thanks gents for the replies.

Any views on using 5w40 for the shorter term oil changes over 5w30 longlife, the thinking being that a longlife service is intended for vehicles liable to cover high mileages over a shorter time with plenty of motorway driving. This is a quote from a previous thread.

.......................Longlife oil doesn't provide the best protection for the engine under all operating conditions, it only provides satisfactory protection under the operating conditions stated in the longlife service regime guidelines (this is always miss sold by sales people at point of sale because it sounds good when you say it only has to be serviced once every 2 years)

The 5w-40 505.01 oil has a naturally higher film strength because it's an SAE40 not an SAE 30 when it's hot, also they have more antiwear additives in them as the longlife oils are restricted on the amount of EP/ZDDP/anti wear additives due to DPF protection reasons........

Any views?

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Sat 21 Sep 2013 16:34
03 Audi A4 Avant 1.9 TDi 100 AVB - Short Term Oil Change 5w30 or 5w40 VAG PD - Wackyracer

I'm not an expert but, I have read alot of info about engine oils over the years. It seems that it is a myth about the film strength being stronger in oils of a heavier weight.

The main factor which is linked to the weight of oil used is the ambient temperature in which the vehicle is going to be used. For my car I can use a 30 or 40 weight oil in ambient temperatures upto +35c.but, above that it needs to be the 40 weight.

If your changing the oil on fixed intervals and low mileage I doubt it would make much difference which you use between the two.

As long as the oil is suitable for the temperature range and meets one of the required specifications I would think you'll be fine. Total recommend 5w30 for long and short service intervals. They just recommend different specifications of it depending on the interval.

Just for clarity, I never said any specific seller on ebay sold fake oils, I said there is a chance that some sellers on ebay are selling it.

I remember reading an article about the GM dexos2 oils on ebay and some were fake, With something like oil it is difficult to know if it is genuine or not as cannot be easily assesed by looking at it. The article I read said that some of the fake GM dexos oil had the multipage booklet missing and the hologram on the container was poorly done.

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Sat 21 Sep 2013 19:33
03 Audi A4 Avant 1.9 TDi 100 AVB - Short Term Oil Change 5w30 or 5w40 VAG PD - 659FBE

My contribution to the discussion - having worked with many 1.9 PD engines.

The only current approved oils for PD engines are those to VAG spec. 505.01 and 507.00.

The use of other oils may endanger the valve actuating cam lobes and their followers. Generic specifications such as ACEA and SAE/API are of no use whatsoever in defining the correct oil for these engines.

However (and this is the substance of the poster's question) the stated viscosity of the 505.01 oil is SAE 5W-40 and that for 507.00 is 5W-30. Which gives the better results?

505.01 spec oil is semi-synthetic and 507.00 oil is fully synthetic. Oil temperature is generally not a problem with these engines unless worked impossibly hard. Their thermal efficiency is so high that keeping these engines warm enough under light load is more of a problem. VAG know this and wisely limit the total oil volume to 3.6 litres.

So, we now have a relatively small volume of oil carrying out a tough lubrication job on highly loaded cams and the turbocharger spindle bearing. For my money, I would choose the fully synthetic 507.00 any day, giving lower oil drag loss at the (lowish) oil temperatures, good stability and maintenance of viscosity index throughout life, and the much reduced likelihood of varnish formation on the turbocharger bearing shaft following soak back heat.

These engines do not have undue lubrication problems throughout their very long life when properly used with either oil but my findings suggest that the fully synthetic 507.00 provides an extra margin of safety for little extra cost. Remember also that after prolonged use, a semi-synth oil is likely to suffer VI degradation more than the fully synth, and the 505.01 oil may be nearer 5W-20 towards the end of its life.

I have found that the 150PS PD engine (ARL) is prone to camshaft wear irrespective of lubricant choice.

Use 507.00 oil and change every 7k miles.

659.

Edited by 659FBE on 21/09/2013 at 19:38

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Sun 22 Sep 2013 10:57
03 Audi A4 Avant 1.9 TDi 100 AVB - Short Term Oil Change 5w30 or 5w40 VAG PD - Wackyracer

That is a very sound and rational explaination 659.

I was only joking about ACEA & API by the way, I know the API system is all but useless in defining an oils suitability.

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Sun 22 Sep 2013 11:44
03 Audi A4 Avant 1.9 TDi 100 AVB - Short Term Oil Change 5w30 or 5w40 VAG PD - unthrottled

The 5w-40 505.01 oil has a naturally higher film strength because it's an SAE40 not an SAE 30 when it's hot

This appears to be true-until you look at High Temperature, High Shear (HTHS) viscosities. The minimum specification for 5w-30 and 5w-40 is exactly the same-2.9cP. You have to step up to 15W-40 fo the HTHS spec to rise to 3.7.

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Sun 22 Sep 2013 19:24
03 Audi A4 Avant 1.9 TDi 100 AVB - Short Term Oil Change 5w30 or 5w40 VAG PD - Dimebag

I understand what your saying but ive never seen a semi synthetic vw pd oil to 505.01 spec.

Any ive used have been fully synthetic.

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Sun 22 Sep 2013 21:09
03 Audi A4 Avant 1.9 TDi 100 AVB - Short Term Oil Change 5w30 or 5w40 VAG PD - A3 A4

I understand what your saying but ive never seen a semi synthetic vw pd oil to 505.01 spec.

Any ive used have been fully synthetic.

This is 505.1 spec and is synthetic?

http://www.tesco.com/direct/4ltr-syntium-3000-av-5w40-pd/265-3721.prd

although ECP list it as being 507.

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/p/car-accessories/engine-oils-and-car-fluids/engineoils/5w40-engine-oil/?521772501&0&cc5_248

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Sun 22 Sep 2013 21:25
03 Audi A4 Avant 1.9 TDi 100 AVB - Short Term Oil Change 5w30 or 5w40 VAG PD - Dimebag

you will always get divided opinions on oil so go with what you can afford.

around £25 for 5 litres was the norm when i used to buy from a factors (5w40)

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