Oil change - did I get screwed?

Hey all,

You may recall my belly pan sob story. Well, I got it fixed today, and while I was there I had them do the 10K service, which of course includes an oil and filter change. Now, the manual sez that an '03 Passat V6 (actually both engines) should be fed 5W-40 oil, meeting VW

505.01. The oil they used is part number ZVW-352-530. Anyone know what grade that is? My sneaking suspicion is that that "530" at the end means 5W-30... does it?

Thanks,

-- Mike Smith

Reply to
Mike Smith
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I would not worry. Even if you now have 5W30 it should be fine for the next six months. It is just a little lighter weight in a hot engine and in North America, you should not be experiencing too much hot weather over the next six months.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

EXCEPT. If he ahs a problem with the engine, based on my experience, VWoA will deny a warranty claim and send him back to the dealer. Trust me on this one. They are right by the book!

Reply to
Diarmud387

EXCEPT. If he ahs a problem with the engine, based on my experience, VWoA will deny a warranty claim and send him back to the dealer. Trust me on this one. They are right by the book!

Reply to
Diarmud387

The dealer will never be able to tell the difference in the oil by looking at it. You would need a hot viscometer test to know and dealers don't have these, only oil analysis labs do.

RM

Reply to
Rufus McPiddlegump

Right, except when he has a problem, they'll ask for the oil change receipts and deny the warranty claim based on the oil used. VWoA will tell him it's his responsibility to make sure he uses the right oil, not the dealers. The dealer will tell him tough luck, go figure! Been there, done that! . . got the t shirt!

Reply to
Diarmud387

We give the owner the option to run synthetic on the V6 Passat. We presently have a 2001 Jetta 2.0l engine in our shop with a BIG hole where the rod came through the block. Owner has his own white oil filter on the engine. Bottom line... it's warranty repair. In my opinion VW is more interested in regular service over if a person uses synthetic or dino oil. Now if it was way over the change interval then I think VW would deny the repair. Now the 1.8t may be another issue with the recent notice of sludge issues in the engine. The dealer must follow VW's guide lines... If I was a DIYer I would keep all my purchase receipts for oil, filter, oil, etc as proof of the work you did.

Reply to
Woodchuck

Well, thanks again. A little web searching turned up that -530 is indeed 5W-30. And rather than worry about how VW *might* handle the situation in the future if something goes wrong, I think I'll just get it changed out for 505.01 (if I can find it, otherwise I guess I'll go for Mobil 1 0W-40, which meets 505.00 - comments, anyone?)

-- Mike Smith

Reply to
Mike Smith

Comment? Kill this thread already. It's giving me the creepy crawlies with all this paranoia. Take your meds and be happy. You have a receipt and technically you shouldn't know what -530 is if you visit a dealer for service. So, you are in the cat bird seat and if anything did go wrong you got the dealer by the nummies. Way too many paranoid people out there. Just check to make sure they didn't over-fill.

Drive it with the oil and be happy.

Reply to
Peter Parker

If this was a dealer repair, and they made a mistake, the dealer itself usually covers any subsequent damage resulting from their mistake. Always keep all your paperwork. If you're really concerned, you should be calling the dealship and explaining the issue to the service manager and have him either remedy it now free of charge, or have him sign off on it in writing that they knew what they put in it and it will be covered.

Reply to
Biz

What's that supposed to mean? Because I don't want to crawl around on my back in 30-degree freezing rain (and because I figured that I should have my in-warranty-period work done at the dealer for what was

*supposed* to be my own protection), that means I have to be technically ignorant?

-- Mike Smith

Reply to
Mike Smith

VW 505.01 or 502.00? Seems like 502.00 is more likely to be used for a gasoline engine.

Anyway, ZVW352540S is Castrol Syntec 5W-40 (which has VW 502.00 and 505.00 but not 505.01). Putting ZVW352530 into

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givesa listing of "5W-30 GTX L" priced at $2.46 along with two other listingswith suffixes to the part number and prices over $6. If you really want VW 505.01 rated oil, that is an unrelated part number.

Reply to
Timothy J. Lee

If you are in the US, VW 505.01 rated oil is not easy to find. VW dealers have Castrol TXT 505.01 (different from Syntec), and impexfap.com has Motul Specific 505.01. Supposedly some VW 505.01 rated oil from Elf is also available. But does your engine really specify VW 505.01 if it isn't a 2004+ TDI engine?

Reply to
Timothy J. Lee

No. It means you don't have to be as smart as you are. The dealer will never know unless they read RAMVW. :)

Reply to
Peter Parker

Remember all the Keep your VW, a VW stuff you get in the mail. That's supposed to cover this stuff without you knowing that much detail. But, everyone messes up, so go back by the dealer and calmly explain your concerns and ask them to fix if for you. I'm betting after a little, uh, "It's not dead, it's resting", they'll fix it.

If they won't fix it (not likely) and won't sign off on it, then document who you spoke with, time, date, etc and call VWoA. If that doesn't get anywhere, I'm betting there are plenty of warranty lawyers that would LOVE to take care of this.

Mark '95 Jetta GLS

Reply to
Mark Randol

It all depends on how much your time is worth. People that are important and don't have that kind of time let it ride. That is why they get away with so much. They probably were out of the correct oil and need to use up the -530 stuff.

The irony of this all is that they say sure no problem, stick it in the back for an hour to waste your time and just redo the paperwork and not replace the oil. hehehe.

Reply to
Peter Parker

Or "accidentally" drop some metal filings into the crankcase, etc. I will be taking the car *elsewhere* to have the right stuff put in this time, and if I ever do get the oil changed at the dealer again (e.g. 20K service), I'll bring my own.

-- Mike Smith

Reply to
Mike Smith

I don't have the manual in front of me; it might have been 505.00. But I do know that it specifies 5W-40 *synthetic* (that word is specifically included, IIRC), VW 505.0-something, for both US 2003 Passat engines (1.8T and 2.8V6).

-- Mike Smith

Reply to
Mike Smith

Saith the manual:

"Your engine was factory filled with an all season high quality engine oil that has a viscosity grade of ILSAC GF3 SAE 5W-40. You can use this oil over all temperature ranges for normal driving. If you need to add oil between oil changes use any high-quality petroleum- or synthetic-based oil with correct specifications. If engine oil viscosity grade SAE 5W-40 is not available, you can also use SAE 5W-30, but *only for adding* or topping off.

To assure that the oil you use is of the highest quality required by your vehicle the following terms must appear on the oil container singly or in combination with other designations:

- VW 503 01, VW 505 01 or

- ILSAC GF3 SAE 5W-40 (when performing an oil change or adding)

In exceptional cases you may use

- ILSAC GF3 SAE 5W-30 for topping up only!"

Funny, I seem to recall synth being explicitly specified, but I guess not. But it is supposed to be 5W-40 (or broader range, like 0W-40, I assume?), and meet those two VW specs (503.01 and 505.01). Whatever. I'll change it.

-- Mike Smith

Reply to
Mike Smith

Why are you still whining about this? Take it back, show them the work order, and have them fix it.

Reply to
Biz

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