my manual says this is the recommended oil for my Passat 1.8t. today I checked it and it has used 1qt in its first 3000 miles, which I guess is OK but seems a bit high. the problem was I could not find any gas station or auto supply store that sold 5w40 oil, so I topped it up with
5w30 which the manual says is only OK for topping up. fine, great.so where do I get 5w40 oil other than the VW dealer?
VW's manual does not insist on syn for the 2003 Passat 1.8T.
Wal*Mart supposedly has 5-4- Mobil 1. The local did not. It did have Shell Rotella as a previous post says -- $13 for 1 gal.
I've seen various brands of 5-40 in AutoZone and the like.
I've been in a p*ssing match with the local dealer. It uses 5-30 non-syn and has told me that VW recommends the same due to *alleged* problems with
5-40. I had a great inde mech do my last change w/ 5-40 syn Shell Rotella that I got at Wal*Mart. The mech said that Rotella was fine, but he preferred 10-40 for our hot climate. He said that the 5-40 pours out like water when he changes it. Next time, I'll use 10-40. Your mileage may vary.
Not a good idea. The internal engine clearances in your engine have all been designed for a 5W oil upon start-up. If VW thought it was okay to use a 10W oil, even in super hot climates, they would have listed 10W-40 alongside 5W-30 as acceptable substitutes if 5W-40 was not available.
That has absolutely nothing to do with it. I analyze oil in a lab for a living. For a multigrade oil (anything with "##w##"), the numbers indicate the equivalent viscosity oil at 40 degrees C and 100 degrees C, respectively. In the case of 5w40, at 40 degrees it has the viscosity that an SAE 5 weight oil has at 40, and at 100 degrees it has the viscosity that a 40 weight oil would have. At operating temperatures, a 5w40 and a 10w40 are virtually identical. The real idea behind a 5w is so you get better low temperature fluidity. If you take into account warmup time, *maybe* you would get slightly better mileage with a 5w40 than a 10w40. Hope this helps -Dave
VW recommend 5w-40.
However of all the viscosity types this blend is the hardest to find. It is just not generally available in North America at regular shops.
So they have to give an alternative in the manual.
Personally I like the 40 part and think 30 is just too thin for our high revving , stressed motors.
So I use Mobil 1 0w-40 as this oil is just about perfect.
It sadly is difficult to find.
so 10w-40 is preferable to 10w-30.
What worries me more is what the oil does in -25 C, my Grand Am run for a few minutes (ok, maybe shorter) and sounded like it didn't pump any oil around. Don't want that to happen to my Passat. So, I would want thin oil at low temperatures, higher number is lower viscosity, so do I have to look for a 40w40 (which means it might be a weight of 5 at -25C)? Or does this mean I'm running on almost pure polymers which will screw up my engine even more?
_Lower_ numbers are lower viscosity. That's the 0 or 5 part. A "40w40" (which actually would be sold as a "straight" 40-weight oil) would resemble taffy at -25C.
sd
A Google of "0W40 oil" turned up
Good question. Given that you can't have 50ml, 60ml or 200ml of oil flowing through any size hole in zero seconds, what on earth does the 0W rating denote? Well it's a special case denoting a difference in the 'pour point' of the oil. Most 5W oils have a pour point at -40°F (-40°C) The base oil is the same in 0W40, but it's pour point has been lowered even further - sometimes to as much as -50°F (-46°C)
Pour point is 5°F above the point at which a chilled oil shows no movement at the surface for 5 seconds when inclined. This measurement is especially important for oils used in the winter. A lot of manufacturers tend to quote pumping temperature rather than pour point. Pumping temperature is the temperature at which the oil will pump around the engine and maintain adequate oil pressure. This is typically 20°F above the pour point - ie.
25°F above the point at which the oil is basically a gel.So 0W oils don't flow through a viscometer in zero seconds - they rate at 5 seconds like a 5W oil, but they will be pourable at a much lower temperature. The bottom line then is that if you think your car is ever likely to see a cold morning in the -45°F (-43°C) range, you should be considering 0W40 oil. If not, 5W40 will do. Note that at -45°F, you'll probably have more to worry about than your engine oil - like your radiator fluid, brittle tyres, frozen locks, permafrost on the windscreen etc.etc.etc.......
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