Check the API rating on the Castrol Edge container: the SL(in red print) refers to 2003 vehicles.Modern engines should be SN rated. Castrol Magnatec,"Stop Start and Fuel Saver 5w-30 are both SN rated and are revelevant for most modern engines.
marte,
Jan 3, 4:46pm
The thing is with engine oil these days, it's doing so much more than lubricating the engine. It's lubricating the Turbo, @ 250,000 rpm, and cooling it as well. Its operating cam chain tensioners, cam belt tensioners, variable cam sprockets, engine cooling & counter balancing equipment.
10,000km or once a year max if you wish it to not deveop expensive problems . and older stuff 5 to 8000 km or once a year What ever comes sooner. With correct factory specified oil. you dont go use synthetic oil and fill it in a Morris minor and then you can do 15.000km. That vehicle does not magically comply to long live service. and often not a good idea to use synthetic also on old engines.
From about 9:30 is the most interesting, there's the solenoid acuator, the hydraulic valve part, the filter, the vanes inside the sprocket itself & the idle sprocket locking pin. While the vanes springs can break causing problems, the filter can block up, then break, and the vanes can leak & that sprocket locking pin is hydraulic actuated, but at a dead end of oil flow, so it can get varnish buildup in it from bad oil, causing it to not unlock, or slog out & move while there's no pressure on it, causing codes.
He mentions using liqui-moly oil products which is probably the best product practice, or original VAG products.
I'm only learning this because I'm looking at a Audi with symptoms caused by this ( probably ) which means possibly that it just needs a oil flush & proper oil. And the proper oil filter. And spark coils @ $300
tygertung,
Jan 3, 10:02pm
OIl is cheap vs engine rebuild would depend on the engine.
I've done a couple of engine rebuilds which only cost me about $150-200 (new rings, bearings, seals, timing chain/belt). No machining required, which kept the cost down. Just honed it myself with a 3 stone hone on the drill.
Of course on a new brand new type modern engine I would expect it to cost more.
marte,
Jan 3, 10:36pm
That might cover headgasket, camshaft cover gasket & head bolts on a 4 cylinder. More like $1000 for the basics now.
Even the best oil/filter & sump plug won't cost $150
cabrio1,
Jan 4, 8:04am
Oil is only $20 for 5l from these people. http://www.oilrecovery.co.nz/ Top brands, fully synthetic. They buy mostly damaged packing , job lots. I went the other day bought 10l engine oil and 10 litre trans fluid, both Castrol product, $80 for the lot. Check your area for other waste oil collectors. So glad someone recommended them.
intrade,
Jan 4, 10:39am
#22 so you go buy some oil that is of who knows what standard to save 100 bux and when the engine is stuffed you blame the dealer who sold you the vehicle or what exactly. oil is so expensive because the additive packs costa lot of money and additive get destroyed Thats the main reason you have to change the oil in the first place. additive packs are what makes the oil so ultra expensive like the DPf oil that i need for my passat like the quertz iNeo from Total.
intrade,
Jan 4, 10:47am
Hats not a rebuild That is putting round rings in a Egg shaped boor. Some modern engines are not rebuild-able at all they also have no hone marks in the boors from new. and once rings collapse burn oil like hell correct rebuild you measure every last component for wear and renew it all if its outside tolerance so basically if you just hone it its based on luck if the boor was still round enough or not if you did not mesure it as a hone hones also the EGG shape it dont make a boor round.
mechnificent,
Jan 4, 10:56am
But it is a rebuild Intrade. He didn't say an overhaul or recondition. he said rebuild. I'd happily, and have, put rings and bearings in customers cars while I had the head off. And they were rapt. The motors went for years and years and didn't need a drop of oil between oil changes, and some people reckoned they were the best motor they'd ever owned.
Mechanics need to be able to use their experience and discretion !
tygertung,
Jan 4, 12:53pm
One engine was a Toyota 5K and the other was a Mitsubishi 4G63. Neither burnt any oil afte the rebuild, they ran quiet and they had excellent compression.
I learned about piston engine rebuilds during the piston engine module of my aircraft engineering training, and we did an engine rebuild during that module.
I've built many motorbike engines from when I was racing motorbikes and mucking around with old motorbikes, so I know a little bit about engines, although have only completely disassembled and built up a couple of car engines.
I'm sorry to hear about your modern disposable engines, what is the world coming to! Seems like one doesn't really want a car much more modern than the year 2000 or so!
mrcat1,
Jan 4, 1:17pm
And you know this how?
marte,
Jan 4, 3:37pm
Depending on the driving style, I wouldn't be surprised. Though I wouldn't leave it for that long. If everything else is maintained properly then the oil will last a lot longer. On my B5.5 2.4 the dash brings up a 'untill oil service' kms reading. and it's not at a set amount of kms, from what I read it uses a little heating element to heat the oil & a sensor to read the heat, so it actually reads the quality of the oil. The distance left untill changing dropped twice as fast as the one I was doing because it was mostly short trips with a cold engine. But on a good long out of town drive, it would hardly drop at all.
I think the A6 has a ridiculous amount of oil in it. Like twice what the 1.8 engine has. And it runs at ≤90°C, with a oil cooler. The original VAG oil filters probably the size of a thermos flask.
framtech,
Jan 4, 3:57pm
Well one of my cars the computer sets the oil changes by history of use and time and the oil is 100% synthetic and 0 - 40 and costs around 200 bucks a change for the oil (well worth it). If the motor is thrashed or sits for months it automatically sets the oil change interval. but all my vehicles get new oil every 10k and the new ones are factory serviced because they all have a factory warranty for the first 100k.
framtech,
Jan 4, 4:09pm
Engines in modern cars make a hell of a lot of power compared to pre 1990 cars and they are much more fuel efficient, it's the old saying ,"you can't get something for nothing". These days a 1500cc turbo with an eight speed box can sling a car up the road on the smell of an oily rag and when required zip past old tech like its standing still and out brake longer and handle better in the hands of a skilled driver. Try comparing a newish V8 bathhurst holden against a 1957 chev. therefore oil changes and maintenance are important.
jesus2000,
Jan 4, 6:49pm
Same. Both my cars get full synthetic every 10k.
evotime,
Jan 4, 7:35pm
All this talk of extra oil changes, I can’t remember the last engine problem (on a modern engine) caused by lack of oil changes coming through any workshop I’ve worked in. Mostly either overheating from a rubbed through hose or leaking egr cooler- a low coolant warning system costs similar to that extra oil and filter. The 2nd big cost is dirty diesel killing injectors- a prefilter may mitigate this a bit. A fresh air filter occasionally wouldn’t go astray especially on fleet vehicles. There is severe use to cover extended towing or idling and normal use in most manuals they are heavily researched and like it’s already been said a lot of modern engines hold close to 10 litres which is a bigger volume to contaminate than the old 3.5litres oil capacity which were fairly common. Caveat I have seen a lot of problems caused by incorrect selection of oils especially on dpf equipt vehicles and different problems caused by poor quality oil filters.
jesus2000,
Jan 4, 7:39pm
There is a new GF-6 oil rating for the latest modern engines. Small turbos with direct injection and variable valve timing.
Cool answer, but still doesn't say how you know that the oil is doing what its supposed to be doing. The vast majority of modern cars don't need synthetic oil, mineral oil will do and does the job just fine. Have you actually thought instead of wasting money on oil that you car doesn't need, just use mineral oil and get it sampled to confirm that its doing its job? Because if mineral oil is working fine and samples up fine then you are just wasting money for no advantage, apart for the tug factor.
martin11,
Jan 5, 7:41am
Had the car for 8 years and when sold had overv 200,000km on it and still going well .
martin11,
Jan 5, 7:44am
The 3.0 litre 2004 model had 4.7 litres in the engine .and the filter was not all that big . but I changed it at each oil change time
cabrio1,
Jan 5, 7:50am
Intrade , Wrong, as usual. The oil comes in original packaging, So the standard is written on the bottle Just less than half price.
intrade,
Jan 5, 9:48am
i did not think that i would see skotty say something thats actuarly correct. The opel have made a special additive to add to the oil to try and make this sort of oil spec. for engines that require oil that dont exists. Think it was to try and combat the detonation problems some of them new opel engines had. Guess thats gona be the problem for psa groupe to deal with. in the case of them opel ones as the oil was a fix a bit like the corona virus vaxeen.
framtech,
Jan 5, 10:13am
What is being over looked here is the contamination of oil from the pistons, fuel and carbon getting in the oil past the rings which is good because it removes heat, friction etc, the dip stick might look clean but the oil will be black if seen in a drain container, yes the filter removes particles over certain microns but they break down and are mixed into the oil. Also dirty oil wears down seals both from chemical wear but also abrasion once the engine ages. The critical area is the cam lobes and followers that if worn reduce the power as well as turbo seals and friction, its just not worth being a penny pincher with mechanical moving parts that need to deal with below zero mornings in winter, to piping hot summer days, cold starts and towing the titanic.
jesus2000,
Jan 5, 10:46am
What he says is correct. GF-6 is a new standard to supersede GF-5.
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