Originally Posted By: renegade_987
Hey guys, my buddy just picked up his first car, a 2003 Passat 2.8L V6. He wants to know if he can use conventional oil in it as opposed to a more expensive Mobil 1 0w40 or similar. If so, what are some good choices? the car has 79K. Thanks!
By 2003 VW had specified 502.00 for most gasoline models. I would highly recommend using a 502.00 oil. While the 30v 2.8 is not has hard on oil as the 1.8t, following the manufacturers recommendation can not hurt. IIRC change intervals were 5000 miles for 502.00 oil. 503.01 was the long drain spec. M1 0w-40 and GC 0w-30 meet both specs so a 7500 OCI would seem reasonable if the engine is in good health.
As mentioned above, check to see if the timing belt has been done. The 30v engines are interference and machine work is very expensive on those heads. It is very easy to pull a timing cover off to inspect the belt. Usually the belt is ok, it is one of the idler pulleys that fail. If the timing belt needs to be done, change everything! You only want to do this job once, so do it properly. The V6 can be tricky to do a timing belt on. Some places like BlauParts and ECSTuning will let you rent the special tools to do the job. If you want to tackle the job yourself, go to Passat World forums under the B5 platform, there are tons of write-up on timing belt changes, and what you need to do the job properly. If you take it in, expect to pay $900-1300 for the timing belt change.