vw passat 2.5 engine oil choice, FF drain

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Just picked up a Passat 2.5. I guess this is the very last batch of 2.5 Passats.
My dealer will give me two free oil changes but I would like to do my first change at 3000.
What oil/filter do you recommend? Is new Castrol 0-40 good?
How about M1C-451 filter? Is there any reason this filter is not common among VW owners?
 
My sister uses Mobil1 0w-40 in her 2.5L Beetle per my recommendation. Cheap and readily available, meets the proper VW spec, and an outstanding oil! I will miss the 2.5s too. 5 cylinders produce such an exotic sound. I test drove a 2.5L Golf MTX once just to hear the engine noise while rowing through the gears
smile.gif
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: 08sienna
Just picked up a Passat 2.5. I guess this is the very last batch of 2.5 Passats.
My dealer will give me two free oil changes but I would like to do my first change at 3000.
What oil/filter do you recommend? Is new Castrol 0-40 good?
How about M1C-451 filter? Is there any reason this filter is not common among VW owners?

That engine is not hard on oil like 2.0TSI.
Cheapest way:
Get in Wal Mart Mobil1 0W40 or Castrol 0W40.
Both oils are MUCH better then what VW uses, which is Catsrol 5W40 (does not meet MB 229.5 requirement, which is big deal).
I personally LOVE Castrol 0W30 (aka German Castrol). It is truly exceptional oil.
 
The Mobil 1 0w40 would work well, but if you want to use Castrol 0w40 then go for it. Some Advance Auto Parts stores carry Pennzoil Ultra 5w40, another good choice.
 
Originally Posted By: 08sienna
What oil/filter do you recommend? Is new Castrol 0-40 good?

Any oil carrying the VW 502.00 spec will do fine, Castrol 0w-40 included.
 
I have read in the gasoline engine forum about someone who bought an OEM filter so nobody at the VW dealer would suspect something was wrong. That sounds excessive since he would be running approved oil anyway.

If you plan to use an OEM filter, just get M1 0w40 at Walmart.

If not, wait for Advance Auto or Autozone to have a "Buy 5 quarts get a filter free" sale. I recommend this because many modern European cars take uncommon filters that are extra expensive, even the aftermarket ones are expensive.
 
Originally Posted By: artificialist
I have read in the gasoline engine forum about someone who bought an OEM filter so nobody at the VW dealer would suspect something was wrong. That sounds excessive since he would be running approved oil anyway.

If you plan to use an OEM filter, just get M1 0w40 at Walmart.

If not, wait for Advance Auto or Autozone to have a "Buy 5 quarts get a filter free" sale. I recommend this because many modern European cars take uncommon filters that are extra expensive, even the aftermarket ones are expensive.

Yep, they are expensive, for a reason!
 
Originally Posted By: 08sienna

How about M1C-451 filter? Is there any reason this filter is not common among VW owners?


It's overpriced. And you're really not benefitting from paying too much money.

A mann, mahle, or hengst will be about half the price. Even the Mann filter in VW packaging & markings costs less.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I've seen Frams for these engines that look good.


Fram CH9911 used to be good, since they used to be Made in Germany Mann or Mahle filters.

Since sourcing from China, I'm not particularly fond of the crushed filter when I remove the filter for a change.
 
Originally Posted By: 08sienna
Just picked up a Passat 2.5. I guess this is the very last batch of 2.5 Passats.
My dealer will give me two free oil changes but I would like to do my first change at 3000.
What oil/filter do you recommend? Is new Castrol 0-40 good?
How about M1C-451 filter? Is there any reason this filter is not common among VW owners?


We had an early one of those in a Mk5 Jetta. Not as refined as the Volvo five, but a nice, solid, fun engine.

Unless something has been changed, it's a relatively easy 502.00 oil user with a generous crankcase capacity. The only aggressive factor is the timing chain. You shouldn't need a hyperpremium oil in it. We ran Schaeffers 7000 on ours with no problems. Trouble free car. Moved it in '09 for the new TDI.

I would go the recommended OCI on the factory fill to prevent consumption issues. Every 5k thereafter and it should run forever.

If you don't mind older stock, I may have some unused Manns for that engine still crated away somewhere. If I still have them, I'm sure they're fine. PM me if you are interested.
 
Thank you for the kind offer Volvohead though northern New England to SE Pa travel might not be easily justified..
BTW can you please elaborate your "recommended OCI with FF prevents consumption issues" theory? My intuition was, longer FF = more initial wear = more consumption in the long run..
 
Originally Posted By: 08sienna
Thank you for the kind offer Volvohead though northern New England to SE Pa travel might not be easily justified..


That's why we have UPS, FedEx and USPS.

Originally Posted By: 08sienna
BTW can you please elaborate your "recommended OCI with FF prevents consumption issues" theory? My intuition was, longer FF = more initial wear = more consumption in the long run..


If you dig though the archives here, you may find some chatter about it. But if you parse deep through the various VW enthusiast fora, where owners are quick to discuss and complain about consumption and other issues, there is some loose correlation between folks who do early FF changes (some as early as 1,000 miles, and especially with full-synthetics) and consumption. We're not talking heavy usage here, but it's more than zero. It's also a little more with the diesels than the gassers. I know that flies in the face of modern foundry machining standards and the general understanding that an engine is essentially broken in when you take delivery. But the voices of these owners are what they are, and there's enough of a pattern to take notice.

If you accept these owners' reports, the causes can only be speculated upon. Whether it's assembly or other special components added to the factory fill, VW specific ring tension specs (which I only looked at cursorily), or a slight abrasiveness later in the OCI helps them bed-in fully (or some combination) ... no one has really pinned down the exact reasons. But that tendency still surfaces among the early changers. Some early changers have no problems at all. So it's not statistically conclusive. But there's enough of an inference to consider more carefully the practice of dumping the FF prematurely.

Whatever the case, I and a few local VW owners I frequent with (about 5-6 of us) decided to stick with the full interval on the factory fill, a couple of us (me included) on more than one VW. Among us all, we've all experienced zero consumption issues thereafter. These are all post-2000 models.

Certainly leaving the FF in for way past the manufacturer's interval will eventually risk the excessive wear you are fearing. And this isn't one of the tiny crankcase VWs that were grenading 10-15 years ago, before VWoA got much stricter with their oil standards. Since the full manufacturer OCI shouldn't hurt that particular engine at all, you shouldn't be doing any harm whatsoever in doing what VW says, at least this first time.

A little long-winded, but I hope that helps you.
 
Originally Posted By: Volvohead
Originally Posted By: 08sienna
Thank you for the kind offer Volvohead though northern New England to SE Pa travel might not be easily justified..


That's why we have UPS, FedEx and USPS.

Originally Posted By: 08sienna
BTW can you please elaborate your "recommended OCI with FF prevents consumption issues" theory? My intuition was, longer FF = more initial wear = more consumption in the long run..


If you dig though the archives here, you may find some chatter about it. But if you parse deep through the various VW enthusiast fora, where owners are quick to discuss and complain about consumption and other issues, there is some loose correlation between folks who do early FF changes (some as early as 1,000 miles, and especially with full-synthetics) and consumption. We're not talking heavy usage here, but it's more than zero. It's also a little more with the diesels than the gassers. I know that flies in the face of modern foundry machining standards and the general understanding that an engine is essentially broken in when you take delivery. But the voices of these owners are what they are, and there's enough of a pattern to take notice.

If you accept these owners' reports, the causes can only be speculated upon. Whether it's assembly or other special components added to the factory fill, VW specific ring tension specs (which I only looked at cursorily), or a slight abrasiveness later in the OCI helps them bed-in fully (or some combination) ... no one has really pinned down the exact reasons. But that tendency still surfaces among the early changers. Some early changers have no problems at all. So it's not statistically conclusive. But there's enough of an inference to consider more carefully the practice of dumping the FF prematurely.

Whatever the case, I and a few local VW owners I frequent with (about 5-6 of us) decided to stick with the full interval on the factory fill, a couple of us (me included) on more than one VW. Among us all, we've all experienced zero consumption issues thereafter. These are all post-2000 models.

Certainly leaving the FF in for way past the manufacturer's interval will eventually risk the excessive wear you are fearing. And this isn't one of the tiny crankcase VWs that were grenading 10-15 years ago, before VWoA got much stricter with their oil standards. Since the full manufacturer OCI shouldn't hurt that particular engine at all, you shouldn't be doing any harm whatsoever in doing what VW says, at least this first time.

A little long-winded, but I hope that helps you.


I think these points are valid. I know quite old, but on my '99 Passat it was important to keep the FF in for at least 5,000 mi. which I did. 15 years and 175,000 mi. later all is good. Uses about a quart every 1,000 miles. Valvoline Synpower 5W40 and 5W30 every 8-9,000 miles.
 
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