VW jetta oil and filter recommendations

[scott37300]

Might as well get some advice on oil and filters for this car also. Family member got a 99 jetta 2.0L with only 55,000 miles on it. It came with no owner's manual so I'm searching all I can for the maintenance info.

From what I can tell it takes 5W30 oil but not positive on that? Any recommendations as to type/brand? Also what about the filter? All the other vehicles I take care of are ford, chevy, chrysler so I just buy motorcraft, acdelco, mopar OEM filters for them. But have no clue what would be a good filter for this car.

Also what is the oil change interval for these cars?

 

[gregk24]

If it takes 5w30, I would go with a name brand synthetic. If it takes a 40 weight, Mobil 1 0w40 no doubt.

 

[Cooper]

I always liked German Castrol Syntec 0w30 in my 00 Jetta VR6 when I had it.....

I used Mann filters on mine, but I would recommend Fram Ultra at this point.

 

[147_Grain]

Amsoil's website is calling for a 5W-40 oil, with a 5W-30 also listed as an option. You can use a dino or synthetic and a Fram Tough Guard is a decent filter to begin with.

Since you don't know much about the vehicle's history, I'd do two shorter OCI's before setting into 5,000 mile oil changes for starters.

Might want to also check the belts, hoses, air filter, transmission fluid, spark plugs, PCV valve, and cooling system.

 

[artificialist]

VW calls for 502 oil in many of the 2.0L NA engines. Some oils are 5w40, 0w40, and sometimes a 5w30 or 0w30.

M1 0w40 is on sale at Walmart stores everyday for ~$26, and some also have Castrol black edge 0w40 for the same price. Autozone usually sells black edge 5w40 or European Forumla 0w30, and when they have a "Buy 5 quarts get a premium filter sale" arrives, it sometimes is a better deal than getting everything at Walmart. Advance Auto has black edge 0w40, and sometimes they have the "Buy 5 quarts get a filter" sale.

Know when your timing belt and related components were replaced. Any timing belt over 10 years is a risk for breaking, and it results in an expensive repair.

As for a filter, the "Buy 5 quarts get a filter" sale usually includes a premium grade filter, so no worries there.

 

[stephen9666]

I think the 2.0 (two point slow) technically requires oil meeting VW's 502 spec. But for our beetle I totally ignore that spec. Google it, but I'm not sure the 502 spec is that critical in this engine. Use a name-brand oil and a reasonable interval and you should be fine.

The 2.slow is mostly known for being pretty much bullet proof, but many examples burn oil. Our beetle is one of the oil burners. It's way worse if you drive a lot on the highway.

Our beetle is running very well (but suffers many electrical problems

) at 115k. In a 99 beetle, a 2.0 should be just about the least of your worries. Your major problems (other than the timing belt) will be in the other systems of the car.

Your big concern should be the timing belt. At only 55k, you don't have that many miles, but you could have a very old, very dry-rotted belt that could break at any moment.

I did the timing belt on my wife's beetle and it's a big job. The dealer wanted $800. I did it for about $200 in parts and a weekend. I also bought the best parts I could get, so I used a genuine VW belt and tensioner and a better-than-OE Graf water pump with a metal impeller instead of the plastic impeller on the OE pump.