Supurbia

Car Bibles : The Engine Oil Bible

The stuff I use carries these certificates

SL CF

ACEA - B3 B4

And a few GM LL ones that I won't bother to list

The SL rating is an API approval stated to be suitable for all engines since 1998

I've been running it 8k now, no problems as of yet, cost me 23 quid trade for 5 litres and is 5/30 fully synthetic.

Obviously it's buyer takes his choice here, but I feel VAG 505+ spec is basically oil that meets the same criteria only using VAG's own certification, I also read the VAG oil is infact Castrol Syntec 5/40

rotodiesel

If you're going to gamble the replacement cost of a VAG PD engine why do it to save £10? (2 gallons of fuel).

I bought 4 litres (one fill + a little left) of Fuchs 507.00 oil on the Internet delivered for £33. It will be changed within 10k miles.

There is an old saying, oil is cheaper than bearings - the labour is the same whatever you choose to pour in.

rotodiesel.

Supurbia

That's my point Roto, this oil is recommended and passes all the expectations of it all except having the VAG re-branding, I take your point but Skoda gives the game away by stating you can use semi synthetic 10/40 in emergencies, there's no such thing with a car engine, it will either be lubricating properly or it won't, if it doesn't then Skoda would say DO NOT USE 10/40 UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, you cannot just damage an engine a little bit, it will either be damaged or it won't be.

SL...ALL modern diesel engines since 1998, and as it cost's 300k to get this official API badge, and VX wouldn't brand it falsely, I'd say that includes a PDi engine.

I've never heard so much trickery around one engine before, don't use anything other than our oil, don't engine flush it, don't fuel flush it, at 75 quid an hour labour charges I wonder why?

rotodiesel

I used to test engines for a living. The reason you have not heard "so much trickery around one engine before" is that for passenger car applications the PD engine is unique.

Although unit injectors are very common and are well regarded in the commercial vehicle field, VAG were the only maker to develop this principle for car use. So, they are unique in this field (or were, they've now switched to common rail) and consequently the engines need special oil.

I'm not going to go through the reasons why again.

rotodiesel.

Supurbia

I'm not saying anything you say isn't true bud, what I am saying is there are other oils out there that are up to task for the engine, but VAG decided to invent it's own rating system to confuse ppl and thus ensure they get their money instead of Mobil etc, iirc the VAG oil is Castrol, and I think the GM one is also, that or Mobil, these guys are big player's, they just don't produce sub standard product.

muunster

I must agree with superbia ,The vag spec of oil is a myth for the pd engine ,
In a past life I was heavily involved in engine commisioning and field repairs for a major manufacturer of large diesel engines with marine , commercial and earth moving applications . By the start of the ninties they were fitting pump duse style unit injectors to there full range of engines , at first the spec of oil was stated to be fully synthetic oil that had to be used to maintain engine warranty , however due to the diverse nature of the different businesses that used the engines this was hard to police , but it was found after a few years that synthetic oil was giving other faults in different applictions with different load cycles , the faults that occured with the unit injectors was always down to contaimated fuel or the electronic part of the injector not the oil section .
To cut a long story short , the spec of the oil was ammended to be
a minimum 15w/40 API CF-4 multi grade mineral oil ,with oil supplied from a reputable manufacturer and service intervals adhered to , this policy has not lead to an increase in failure rates but has given the customers a clear guideline to use that keep the warranties valid and the engines safe . As always other manufacturers still use the oil myth to wriggle out of warranty .
Having said this I do use the correct oil and filters as I dont want to give Vag any oppertunity not to honour their warranty obligation in the event of a claim !!!