2002 Jetta GLS 1.8T 124k oil recommendations

[alexandru_benza]

Ok so I finally got my account approved, and I searched like a madman to find other previous posts about my car and its recommendations.... but no luck! So I would kill for some recommendations; it seems the interweb is chock full of speculation and "my daddy and his daddy..." garbage.

I have two jettas. Lucky me I found the dealer that sold me a hunk of sweet german paperweight, and didn't even make it 50 miles out of his lot before the water pump went

. Needless to say I found some 19 year old kid selling his immaculately maintained 03 jetta wolfsburg, which I fell in love with instantly so now I'm an idiot with two silver jettas and a lil dent in my bank account.

So I would actually need two recommendations, though I'm sure not much is different between the two...

Just so it's known, I did some research before consulting the ancients here at BITOG. It would seem I'm gravitating towards 5w30 or 40 valvoline synpower. But please, recommend away!

So here's what it is.

1. '02 Jetta GLS 1.8t 124k. Car is a California car (whatever the [censored] that means) and it's miraculously mint. Not a spock (spet?) of rust anywhere, looks like it rolled off the showroom floor about three weeks ago (opposed to seven years ago...) Runs stupid smooth, dealer says conventional's fine.

2. Don't know what the owner's manual says, that car doesn't have one. Researching brings me to 502 oils. Do NOT quote me, I'm going off of sources as stellar as yahoo answers.

3. I live in New Britain CT, and drive all over the place. It's pretty humid around here year round, gets kinda colder starting october, and the winter can be pretty unrelenting. It stays pretty cold until about april.

4. I drive... slightly normal. When I start the car I sit in it and [censored] for about a minute to let the turbo warm up (so says my ghetto mechanic), then I drive off and for about another 1-2 minutes I don't let it get past 3 rpms, and if it does I keep light on the throttle to avoid boost. Then when I drive, I drive. If I'm on the highway, I'll set the cruise to about 75-80, and only step it up to 90-100+ when I'm making moves or wanna scare my passengers. When I drive around a city/town area I drive like the Transporter. I would say I drive it pretty hard but unless I'm on the pike (rarely) I still don't even let it get past 5 rpms! I just drive like I own a porche.

In a nutshell, I drive normal and occasionally squeeze the juice out of this bad boy.

5. My daily drive varies. It is a mixture of short, jerky, speedy trips; longer, steady cruise trips and some days hardly less than 5 miles make it on the motor. Both city and highway.

6. As far as I can tell, being a pedestrian consumer and less-than-two-week owner, it doesn't have any known problems.


I'd like to run synthetic if it's the best option for protection. I wouldn't like to take this car another 100k, and I like to step on it and smack the turbo a bit.

As far as store-bought or online order, I don't care. whichever's cheaper.

I'd like to go a bit longer between oil changes if possible, but I realize what driving hard can do to an oil. I don't have a problem changing the filter often though. A good bit of info I find says synthetic changes at 5k, same for the filter. Then some trace info I find says no more than 20k synthetic, with filter every 5...

whatever's gonna keep my engine alive and kickin for thousands of miles more is what I'm willing to do. I'd appreciate any info about the physical, elbow-grease stuff I can do also, (like engine overhaul, cleaning, etc.) but I realize this is beyond the scope of this thread.




Any help is appreciated, thanks for reading, and have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

 

[EricF]

my best friend has an 01 Passat, same 1.8T motor, she's up to 175k, car runs like a dream, and I have mobil 1 0w-40 and bosch oil filters running thru it. and it's usually running 1-2 quarts low after 3500miles. oci's run about 12k, if not more.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: alexandru_benza


2. Don't know what the owner's manual says, that car doesn't have one. Researching brings me to 502 oils. Do NOT quote me, I'm going off of sources as stellar as yahoo answers.

Can't go wrong with a 502.00-rated oil. Mobil1 0w-40 or GC 0w-30 come to mind, out of the stuff esily available on the shelf. Shell Rotella T 5w-40 would probably also work.



Quote:
When I start the car I sit in it and [censored] for about a minute to let the turbo warm up (so says my ghetto mechanic),

Your turbo is not working when you sit and idle, so I doubt it's warming up.

Quote:

then I drive off and for about another 1-2 minutes I don't let it get past 3 rpms, and if it does I keep light on the throttle to avoid boost. Then when I drive, I drive.

At least take it easy until the coolant temp gauge reaches 12 o'clock. Oil and turbo will still be somewhat cold at that point, but probably warm enough to not do any serious damage.

Quote:

I'd like to go a bit longer between oil changes if possible, but I realize what driving hard can do to an oil. I don't have a problem changing the filter often though. A good bit of info I find says synthetic changes at 5k, same for the filter. Then some trace info I find says no more than 20k synthetic, with filter every 5...

Assuming you use 502.00 oil, about 7.5-10k miles should be doable. Change the filter when you change the oil.

 

[alexandru_benza]

'scuse my noobness... what is OCI?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Oil Change Interval

 

[alexandru_benza]

holy bejesus! take it easy until 190? that seems impossible to me seeing that the needle doesn't even really move until a few miles have passed (can't believe I used past...)

So to clarify: drive 'er easy and keep under 3 and keep off boost until 190?

 

[Quattro Pete]

If you want that turbo to last, yes. It actually takes about another 5 minutes after the coolant reaches 190F for the oil temp to catch up and all the internals to become fully warmed up and ready to be pounced on.

Also, don't shut the engine off immediately after a spirited run.

 

[TiGeo]

Castrol Syntec 5w-40 or M1 0w-40 in my Jetta.

 

[robertcope]

I would suggest, in no particular order: AMSOIL AFL, German Castrol, or M1 0w-40. Pretty sure those motors are sludge-prone, might want to do some research on that and take whatever precautions are recommended. Here's a good place to start:

vwvortex sludge search

robert

 

[pavelow]

If you want a "VW Spec" oil that is found at any AutoZone, use Castrol Syntec 5W40 or Mobil 1 0W40 Euro. If you want a oil that will protect your engine without having to subject yourself to European oil snobbery, run any quality synthetic 5W30 or Rotella 5W40. FWIW-I used to run nothing but 5W40 Syntec in my Jetta, but now I only run Pennzoil Platinum 5W30 and change it out every 5K. And no, I'm not worried about a thing.

Edit-the 1.8s that were sludge prone were the ones used in the Passat. Never heard of any other 1.8s being affected by sludge.

 

[thebeast]

Originally Posted By: alexandru_benza
I don't let it get past 3 rpms

Wow, I've never heard of an engine that can run that slowly!

 

[addyguy]

You're way out of warranty. Don't worry about '502'....

Rotella T Synthetic 5W-40 is an excellent, robust, low-cost oil that is easy to get, and will do a great job in your Jetta.

 

[Gary Allan]

I can sell you extended drains. I can't sell you cheap.

What is the factory drain interval on this engine/chassis? With OEM spec's oil in a Euro, there is no such thing as an extended drain.

 

[CharBaby]

WELCOME!
Just to recap what the others have mentioned:

OCI= Oil Change Interval. Check the UOA(used oil analysis)section periodicly to see what other are running in their engines. You'll learn the accronyms the more you read on. I'll give you some to get you started.
PP= Pennzoil Platinum(syn)
PYB= Pennzoil Yellow Bottle(conventional oil)
PCMO= Passenger Car Motor Oil
HDEO= Heavy Duty Engine Oil. You may want to check out this section for your V-Dub's
GC= German Castrol/Castrol SynTec(only comes in 0W30). Made in Gremany. Group IV synthetic not group III like most other Castrol Syntec Syn oils. Usually sold at AutoZone but, not to say it isn't sold elsewhere. A favorite here amongst many!

Seems that these 1.8t's like heavier wgt oils such as:
0W30, 0W40, 5W40. These wgts only come in syn that I know of.

Best of luck
CB

 

[kbuzbee]

Same car as you have. Mine runs great!

Most of it's life was 0W40 M1 but the last three OCIs were Royal Purple 0W40. Both gave me great UOA (used oil analysis) results. I change mine (with M1 filter) at 5K.

While I'm not convinced the VW spec'd oils are necessary (most of the Vortex guys will tell you to only run them) I do follow the Mfg rec of only Syn. If a dealer is telling you conventional is okay, I'd look elsewhere for advice.

The engine can sludge, though previous post saying the problem was primarily in Passats was correct. The problem with the Passats had something to do with the small oil uptake getting clogged at the filter screen. The only thing I've seen on our car with sludge was that silly PCV system which is made up of soft rubber hoses that can tear easily. Check both your upper and lower hoses for any holes and replace them if they need it.

You don't say if your is a manual or automatic. The Tiptronic 09a is a dicey transmission, mostly, IMO due to it's being a "sealed lifetime" unit. People who regularly change the fluid and filter anyway seem to have fewer problems. Most places charge $450-$650 for this service! The manual tranny is much more solid (again, IMO)

Other than that most of my repairs have been common. O2 sensors and such.

BTW there is a recall on the factory coils (if your car still has the originals, which I doubt. They'll replace them free at the dealership.

Also an older recall on the brake lamp switch, IIRC.

Enjoy your Dub. They're fun drivers.

Ken

 

[GLISHO]

I've always used either M1 5W-40 or Castrol Syntec 5W-40 in my 1.8T's (and S4 2.7T) until recently (last 15k miles). I switched to Total oil 5W-40 although you have to order it online to get it (used to be called "Elf" oil). I've been reading the heck out of this forum for the past couple days and it has sort of talked me out of the Castrol, which I had planned on switching back to due to cost, but looks like I'll be sticking to the expensive stuff (I drive my car very hard

 

[thebeast]

Glisho, how did you get talked out of Castrol?

 

[SLCraig]

Originally Posted By: thebeast
Glisho, how did you get talked out of Castrol?


Not many people here speak highly of it.. Except maybe GC.. (which I personally really like)

 

[GLISHO]

FYI GC=German Castrol, took me a lot of searching to figure that out lol. I got talked out of the Castrol Syntec due to the fact that it's claimed to not be a "true" synthetic, as it uses crude oils as its base stock. From what I read, it also breaks down more quickly than synthetics made out of Esters. I don't claim to know [censored] I'm talking about though so take my advice with a grain of salt

 

[alexandru_benza]

I want to warmly thank everyone who helped with the recommendations. I'm pretty positive I have a good idea of what I want to run in the wolfsburg once I get rid of this mess; check engine light came on twice so far...


So again, thank all of you for your input, if anything I'm far more educated on what oil to use!