Just bought a Skoda Fabia Sport 64 1.2 12V petrol for the wife. Cracking little car in metallic black with only 500 miles on the clock.
I obviously won?t be doing any oil changes myself until its out of warranty but wanted to know what oil to be used for any topping up.
Two local Skoda garages in my area and rang both of them up to ask which oil to use. One said use any 10.40 and the other said 15.40 which they sell at £3.00 per litre and is Skoda branded oil and would presumably be either straight mineral or semi.
The handbook says ?The engine of your car has been factory filed with a high grade oil which you can use throughout the year. You can mix various oils together when refilling with oil. This does not however apply for models with flexible servicing interval (QG1)
However I have determined that this car is on fixed service intervals (QG0),QG2)
And the oil specifications for fixed service intervals on petrol engines is
VW 501 01
VW 502.00
VW 504.00
All a bit confusing to me so perhaps someone could advise what these VW specs are and which oil should be used.
wemyss
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I've just looked at the Castrol recommendation chart which tells you to use Castrol Edge 5W/30 oil. This is quite expensive though.
It would seem that your Skoda dealer doesn't know which oil they should use, which is typical of most garages, who just use the oil in the barrel in the corner.
You have done the right thing in looking at the manual, make sure that any oil you buy has one of the specs you have quoted, ie. 501 01, 502 00 or the latest spec 504 00. Do not let someone tell you all this spec stuff is rubbish, IMO it is not.
On my Passat I use Castrol Edge 5W/30 and change it every year, whether it needs it or not.
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Thanks for your reply quizman. I note your reference to Castrol Edge.
I have always used Morris oils for both our cars for 20 odd years and I gave their technical man a ring and he also recommended 5W30 which is to the required spec.
tinyurl.com/3b8sqx
I buy from Foreign Autoparts in Burton and they sell it for £25.00 for 5 litres.
I also change oil regularly and use 5000 miles as my schedule.
wemyss
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skoda's official advice
www.skoda.co.uk/skoda3g/content/extras/faq/faq.asp...2
www.skoda.co.uk/skoda3g/content/extras/faq/docs/oi...f
audi used to claim "...Using ordinary high quality multigrade oil will not cause any engine damage but it will defeat the object of the new AVS technology and will mean that a service will be needed at fixed 10,000 mile intervals. ..."
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Dalglish...What is AVS technology ?. This car is on fixed 10,000 mile intervals. I verified this by a sticker in the service book which gives a code of QGO which denotes this.
The car has only 500 mile on the clock and with the amount of miles the wife drives will still only have around 3000 miles at the most when the first service is due in October.
wemyss
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What is AVS technology ?.
it is simply "audi variable service". compare with skoda's variable service
www.skoda.co.uk/skoda3g/content/extras/faq/faq.asp...9
.. How frequently should I get my car serviced?
The service requirements will vary depending upon the model and engine. Fabia models require a lubrication service at 10,000 miles and an inspection at 20,000 miles or 12 months whichever is sooner. All new Octavia and Superb models can operate on either a fixed or a variable servicing regime. On variable servicing, intervals are determined by driving styles and conditions of use. The on-board computer will indicate when a service is required which could be up to approx. 20,000 miles for petrol engines, 30,000 miles for 4 cylinder diesel and 24,000 miles for V6 diesel. ..
in other words, you get the benefit of expensive lonlife fully synthetic oils if your car is on the variable service regime. in your case, with annual or 5000 mile oil changes, the skoda "synta" 10w-40 or equivalent should be more than adequate as it is good for their 10,000 mile service.
and as audi say "..Using ordinary high quality multigrade oil will not cause any engine damage .." on their engines.
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..One said use any 10.40 and the other said 15.40 ..
iirc, you should be able to find equivalent own-branded good-quality semi-synth or fully-synth from cheaper sources such as vauxhall, ford, halfords or makro.
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>>>and as audi say "..Using ordinary high quality multigrade oil will not cause any engine >>>damage .." on their engines.
From what I have seen and read, new VW group cars require oil to the specification 504 or 507.
Older ones on fixed servicing need 505 01 spec. I have always understood that putting in ordinary 10W/40 or 15W/40 will result in "cam lobe wear" in these cars. As wemys can get Morris Multilife 5W/30 for £25 and it is 505 01, I suggest he uses it.
Aren't things getting complicated these days.
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OP's engine is petrol, therefore not affected by the PD requirement, surely? BTW, the Morris oils are 505.00 compliant, not 505.01. At least as far as I can tell.
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If you look at all the detail on the Morris site re Multilife 5W/30 it says can be used where 501 01 spec is needed, for fixed mileage servicing.
Yes you are probably correct about petrol engines, I think, although VW says use spec 502 00.
Why Oh why can't the manufactures put a plate under the bonnet with the oil/antifreeze and any other parculiarities that they require. It would save alot of confusion.
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>>will result in "cam lobe wear"
This would be true for a PD diesel, these have a very highly loaded cam, but I don't think VW group petrol engines are anywhere near as fussy about their oil, and the garage's recommendations are **probably** OK.
The best thing to do is to meet or exceed whatever is written in your owners handbook.
Number_Cruncher
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As I understand it, VW have simplified their standards to "504" for all petrol engines and "507" for all diesel engines, long life servicing or fixed interval. Using oil to this standard on fixed interval will in the opinion of many be an expensive overkill and as Fabias can't be set up to run on variable servicing schedules you should be able to use oil to the previous VW 501.01 or 502.00 standard. Lots of practical advice on Skoda servicing on briskoda.net if the mods don't mind the recommendation.
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Makes sense Neil.
My local VW dealer used long life 5W-30 on my 2.0 petrol Passat recently after 5 years of using 10W-40. The garage told me that VW had changed tack and issued a directive to dealers.
They also told me that I could top up the former with the latter as I have plenty of the stuff in the shed.
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