Oil Changes and Engine Longevity
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Oil Changes and Engine Longevity
hey bro, i would not put to much stock in what audi recommends. for
example i called my local dealer and asked them about service intervals on
the timing belt and fuel filter. they told me the timing belt service is
recommended at around 80 to 90k, and they "never change the fuel filter
unless it is leaking etc" thats sounds crazy to me.
my 99 a4 1.8t will not see 60k without the timing belt service and i plan
on changing the fuel filter now, just turned 40k. and then in 15-20k
intervals. as for your oil if your running synthetic i would say you could
be safe to change it at 8k intervals but change the filter every 4k since
you are doing mostly highway driving imo. do you run any oil additives? i
use "lucas" they make a great oil ,fuel,trans, and pwr steering additives.
im from n.e. pa all our local parts shops carry it but i dont know if it is
a available nationwide. their oil treatment rocks all the mechanics i know
swear by it. check it out.
example i called my local dealer and asked them about service intervals on
the timing belt and fuel filter. they told me the timing belt service is
recommended at around 80 to 90k, and they "never change the fuel filter
unless it is leaking etc" thats sounds crazy to me.
my 99 a4 1.8t will not see 60k without the timing belt service and i plan
on changing the fuel filter now, just turned 40k. and then in 15-20k
intervals. as for your oil if your running synthetic i would say you could
be safe to change it at 8k intervals but change the filter every 4k since
you are doing mostly highway driving imo. do you run any oil additives? i
use "lucas" they make a great oil ,fuel,trans, and pwr steering additives.
im from n.e. pa all our local parts shops carry it but i dont know if it is
a available nationwide. their oil treatment rocks all the mechanics i know
swear by it. check it out.
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
Oil Changes and Engine Longevity
I know that opinions on oil changes boarder on religion, but here goes
anyway.
I have a 2001 Audi A4 1.8T. My daily commute is 170 miles. I want the make
this car last for a lot of miles. I would like to get 300,000 to 400,000
miles if I can.
Right now I am changing oil twice as often as specified in the owners manual
(5000 miles instead of 10000 miles). Would I gain much by changing it 3
times as often (every 3333 miles)?
Also, the owners manual specifies to use 0W-30 oil, or 5W-30 oil if the
other cannot be found. On the other hand, my Bentley's repair manual has a
table of oil weights and temperatures, much like the one in the owner's
manual for my '93 VW Passat, and my (now gone) '81 diesel Rabbit (Golf). So
should I go with the owner's manual or with Bentley's? Was the owner's
manual recommendation put in there for us stupid 'Merkins?
Don Borowski
anyway.
I have a 2001 Audi A4 1.8T. My daily commute is 170 miles. I want the make
this car last for a lot of miles. I would like to get 300,000 to 400,000
miles if I can.
Right now I am changing oil twice as often as specified in the owners manual
(5000 miles instead of 10000 miles). Would I gain much by changing it 3
times as often (every 3333 miles)?
Also, the owners manual specifies to use 0W-30 oil, or 5W-30 oil if the
other cannot be found. On the other hand, my Bentley's repair manual has a
table of oil weights and temperatures, much like the one in the owner's
manual for my '93 VW Passat, and my (now gone) '81 diesel Rabbit (Golf). So
should I go with the owner's manual or with Bentley's? Was the owner's
manual recommendation put in there for us stupid 'Merkins?
Don Borowski
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Oil Changes and Engine Longevity
"Don Borowski" <donb@runway.net> wrote in message
news:104k7ip7fqop510@corp.supernews.com...
> I know that opinions on oil changes boarder on religion, but here goes
> anyway.
>
> I have a 2001 Audi A4 1.8T. My daily commute is 170 miles. I want the
make
> this car last for a lot of miles. I would like to get 300,000 to
400,000
> miles if I can.
>
> Right now I am changing oil twice as often as specified in the owners
manual
> (5000 miles instead of 10000 miles). Would I gain much by changing it
3
> times as often (every 3333 miles)?
If you're using good quality synthetic, changing it every 3K miles is a
waste of money and big disservice to the environment, but that's just
MHO. Assuming those 170 commute miles are mainly easy highway miles,
I'd probably do 10K mile changes, because at this rate, you must be
accumulating miles quite fast. I do 5K mile changes on my '01 A4 1.8T,
but that's because right now it takes me a year to get to 5K.
> Also, the owners manual specifies to use 0W-30 oil, or 5W-30 oil if
the
> other cannot be found. On the other hand, my Bentley's repair manual
has a
> table of oil weights and temperatures, much like the one in the
owner's
> manual for my '93 VW Passat, and my (now gone) '81 diesel Rabbit
(Golf). So
> should I go with the owner's manual or with Bentley's? Was the owner's
> manual recommendation put in there for us stupid 'Merkins?
Seeing many used oil analyses of different oils in the VAG 1.8T engine,
I'd say this engine does well with any grade, incl. 0w-30 (German
Castrol Syntec, Amsoil), 5w-30 (Mobil1, Redline), 0w-40 (Mobil1), or
5w-40 (Redline).
I'm running 0w-40 in mine right now, but I'll be going back to 0w-30 at
my next oil change.
Cheers,
Pete
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Oil Changes and Engine Longevity
"Don Borowski" <donb@runway.net> wrote in message
news:104k7ip7fqop510@corp.supernews.com...
> I know that opinions on oil changes boarder on religion, but here goes
> anyway.
>
> I have a 2001 Audi A4 1.8T. My daily commute is 170 miles. I want the make
> this car last for a lot of miles. I would like to get 300,000 to 400,000
> miles if I can.
>
> Right now I am changing oil twice as often as specified in the owners
manual
> (5000 miles instead of 10000 miles). Would I gain much by changing it 3
> times as often (every 3333 miles)?
>
> Also, the owners manual specifies to use 0W-30 oil, or 5W-30 oil if the
> other cannot be found. On the other hand, my Bentley's repair manual has a
> table of oil weights and temperatures, much like the one in the owner's
> manual for my '93 VW Passat, and my (now gone) '81 diesel Rabbit (Golf).
So
> should I go with the owner's manual or with Bentley's? Was the owner's
> manual recommendation put in there for us stupid 'Merkins?
>
> Don Borowski
>
The usual line of thought is: the more miles you drive per given time, the
less the oil deteriorates. Also non-mineral oils keep their lubricating task
far longer than any mineral oils.
Our Automobile club -the motorway assistance dep- did a test some years
ago, with these modern oils and checked the lub.cap. after 100.000 Kms which
came out as 100%.
Audi's are known to last the distance you describe and even (much) more
without engines rebuild.
Ronald
#5
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Oil Changes and Engine Longevity
"dave smith" <davewsmith@adelphia.net> wrote
> i
> use "lucas" they make a great oil ,fuel,trans, and pwr steering
additives.
> im from n.e. pa all our local parts shops carry it but i dont know if
it is
> a available nationwide. their oil treatment rocks all the mechanics i
know
> swear by it. check it out.
Dunno about that Lucas stuff:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/images/lucas/lucas.htm
Take it as you wish.
Personally I do not see a need for using any oil additives, and even the
owner's manual is strictly against it.
I do agree with you about the TB interval though. For 2001, they've
actually extended the interval to 120K miles. Strangely, for the
European models the interval is much shorter - 90K km I believe. In any
case, I'll be doing mine when I hit 60K miles.
Cheers,
Pete
#6
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Oil Changes and Engine Longevity
On Sat, 6 Mar 2004 10:22:54 -0800, "dave smith"
<davewsmith@adelphia.net> wrote:
> hey bro, i would not put to much stock in what audi recommends. for
>example i called my local dealer and asked them about service intervals on
>the timing belt and fuel filter. they told me the timing belt service is
>recommended at around 80 to 90k, and they "never change the fuel filter
>unless it is leaking etc" thats sounds crazy to me.
Fuels are so good today, I just don't see the need for a fuel filter
replacement at normal intervals. As long as you purchase quality
gasoline, you can easily go 90,000 miles on a fuel filter.
> my 99 a4 1.8t will not see 60k without the timing belt service and i plan
>on changing the fuel filter now, just turned 40k. and then in 15-20k
>intervals. as for your oil if your running synthetic i would say you could
>be safe to change it at 8k intervals but change the filter every 4k since
>you are doing mostly highway driving imo. do you run any oil additives? i
>use "lucas" they make a great oil ,fuel,trans, and pwr steering additives.
As the other poster said, check out bobistheoilguy.com. They have a
great section on oil additives, don't believe Lucas (at least the oil
additive) did too well.
-
--
Curtis Newton
cnewton@remove-this.akaMail.com
http://surf.to/cnewton
ICQ: 4899169
Anti-Spam filter in place--
<delete remove-this. to respond to email>
<davewsmith@adelphia.net> wrote:
> hey bro, i would not put to much stock in what audi recommends. for
>example i called my local dealer and asked them about service intervals on
>the timing belt and fuel filter. they told me the timing belt service is
>recommended at around 80 to 90k, and they "never change the fuel filter
>unless it is leaking etc" thats sounds crazy to me.
Fuels are so good today, I just don't see the need for a fuel filter
replacement at normal intervals. As long as you purchase quality
gasoline, you can easily go 90,000 miles on a fuel filter.
> my 99 a4 1.8t will not see 60k without the timing belt service and i plan
>on changing the fuel filter now, just turned 40k. and then in 15-20k
>intervals. as for your oil if your running synthetic i would say you could
>be safe to change it at 8k intervals but change the filter every 4k since
>you are doing mostly highway driving imo. do you run any oil additives? i
>use "lucas" they make a great oil ,fuel,trans, and pwr steering additives.
As the other poster said, check out bobistheoilguy.com. They have a
great section on oil additives, don't believe Lucas (at least the oil
additive) did too well.
-
--
Curtis Newton
cnewton@remove-this.akaMail.com
http://surf.to/cnewton
ICQ: 4899169
Anti-Spam filter in place--
<delete remove-this. to respond to email>
#7
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Oil Changes and Engine Longevity
"Don Borowski" <donb@runway.net> wrote in message
news:104k7ip7fqop510@corp.supernews.com...
> I know that opinions on oil changes boarder on religion, but here goes
> anyway.
>
> I have a 2001 Audi A4 1.8T. My daily commute is 170 miles. I want the make
> this car last for a lot of miles. I would like to get 300,000 to 400,000
> miles if I can.
>
> Right now I am changing oil twice as often as specified in the owners
manual
> (5000 miles instead of 10000 miles). Would I gain much by changing it 3
> times as often (every 3333 miles)?
No, I wouldn't bother. Use a good synthetic and top quality oil filter and
change both every 5000 - 7500 miles. If you were using non-synthetic oil
then a more frequent change would be indicated since you have a turbo. Also
important is to check the oil level frequently - these cars seem to have
adopted the old and notorious British "external" lubrication system.
>
> Also, the owners manual specifies to use 0W-30 oil, or 5W-30 oil if the
> other cannot be found. On the other hand, my Bentley's repair manual has a
> table of oil weights and temperatures, much like the one in the owner's
> manual for my '93 VW Passat, and my (now gone) '81 diesel Rabbit (Golf).
So
> should I go with the owner's manual or with Bentley's? Was the owner's
> manual recommendation put in there for us stupid 'Merkins?
I'd follow the manual and again use synthetic. If you are in a cold climate,
use the 0W-30 but if you live in a moderate climate, 5W-30 is available more
readily I think.
>
> Don Borowski
>
>
#8
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Oil Changes and Engine Longevity
"R@L" <reply@usenet.com> wrote in message
news:fHp2c.748434$_x2.1678263@zonnet-reader-1...
>
> "Don Borowski" <donb@runway.net> wrote in message
> news:104k7ip7fqop510@corp.supernews.com...
> > I know that opinions on oil changes boarder on religion, but here goes
> > anyway.
> >
> > I have a 2001 Audi A4 1.8T. My daily commute is 170 miles. I want the
make
> > this car last for a lot of miles. I would like to get 300,000 to 400,000
> > miles if I can.
> >
> > Right now I am changing oil twice as often as specified in the owners
> manual
> > (5000 miles instead of 10000 miles). Would I gain much by changing it 3
> > times as often (every 3333 miles)?
> >
> > Also, the owners manual specifies to use 0W-30 oil, or 5W-30 oil if the
> > other cannot be found. On the other hand, my Bentley's repair manual has
a
> > table of oil weights and temperatures, much like the one in the owner's
> > manual for my '93 VW Passat, and my (now gone) '81 diesel Rabbit (Golf).
> So
> > should I go with the owner's manual or with Bentley's? Was the owner's
> > manual recommendation put in there for us stupid 'Merkins?
> >
> > Don Borowski
> >
> The usual line of thought is: the more miles you drive per given time, the
> less the oil deteriorates. Also non-mineral oils keep their lubricating
task
> far longer than any mineral oils.
> Our Automobile club -the motorway assistance dep- did a test some years
> ago, with these modern oils and checked the lub.cap. after 100.000 Kms
which
> came out as 100%.
> Audi's are known to last the distance you describe and even (much) more
> without engines rebuild.
>
> Ronald
>
>
I would agree. It's the short distances that are likely to make the oil
deteriorate quicker.
I used to change the oil & filter on my 90q every 3 months/3000 miles - but
it only cost me about £15 to do so and I got to see the state of the of the
underneath of the car on a regular basis. I used semi-synthetic Synta
(probably Mobil oil) which I bought by the barrel from my Audi dealer.
I changed the fuel filter every year.
I sold it with nearly 140,000 miles on the clock. No engine work had been
required other than a change of tappets (lifters) at 105,000 miles. Plus
original clutch and exhaust when sold.
My TT coupe was on AVS and I did not change the oil at all in 10,000 miles.
My S3 was on fixed servicing (AVS not an option) and I changed the oil every
5000 miles. I had the old oil analysed and it was "still in grade".
--
Doug Ramage
#9
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Oil Changes and Engine Longevity
X-no-archive: yes
"Ian S." <iws51remove@***.net> wrote in message
news:q5u2c.45733$TT5.20664@lakeread06...
> these cars seem to have
> adopted the old and notorious British "external" lubrication system.
Can you explain what you mean by that?
"Ian S." <iws51remove@***.net> wrote in message
news:q5u2c.45733$TT5.20664@lakeread06...
> these cars seem to have
> adopted the old and notorious British "external" lubrication system.
Can you explain what you mean by that?
#10
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Oil Changes and Engine Longevity
X-no-archive: yes
"Pete" <escape2music@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:c2djlb$4ke$1@news.onet.pl...
> http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/images/lucas/lucas.htm
>
> Take it as you wish.
>
> Personally I do not see a need for using any oil additives, and even the
> owner's manual is strictly against it.
>
> I do agree with you about the TB interval though. For 2001, they've
> actually extended the interval to 120K miles. Strangely, for the
> European models the interval is much shorter - 90K km I believe. In any
> case, I'll be doing mine when I hit 60K miles.
I just had all the drive belts changed at just over 60K miles (which is the
recommend interval here in the UK). I was just going to have the timing
belt change but they recommended having all drive belts changed simply
because it didnt cost any more except for the parts.
Not sure that I'd feel comfortable leaving it to 120K miles though.
"Pete" <escape2music@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:c2djlb$4ke$1@news.onet.pl...
> http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/images/lucas/lucas.htm
>
> Take it as you wish.
>
> Personally I do not see a need for using any oil additives, and even the
> owner's manual is strictly against it.
>
> I do agree with you about the TB interval though. For 2001, they've
> actually extended the interval to 120K miles. Strangely, for the
> European models the interval is much shorter - 90K km I believe. In any
> case, I'll be doing mine when I hit 60K miles.
I just had all the drive belts changed at just over 60K miles (which is the
recommend interval here in the UK). I was just going to have the timing
belt change but they recommended having all drive belts changed simply
because it didnt cost any more except for the parts.
Not sure that I'd feel comfortable leaving it to 120K miles though.