Oil Analysis: 2003 Beetle TDI, 12900 miles on oil
- Thread starter segfault
- Start date
SUNRG
Top Post Dawg
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2003
- Location
- Roanoke, VA
- TDI
- None currently. Previously owned 04 Golf TDI & 05 Passat GLS Wagon TDI
segfault - wear rates are great, as you would expect from a TDI with over 100k driving nearly all highway miles. the oil has thickened beyond the 40 weight range, and the TBN has dropped to below 1/2 of the VOA value - so I would personally limit the OCI to 12.5k.
once US fuel becomes ULSD (next year) your dad could probably go 15k+ with no TBN or viscosity concerns. cleaner fuel is easier on motor oil.
however, if your dad would like to increase his OCI beyond 12.5k <u>right now</u> i'd recommend installing an Amsoil bypass filter. it increases the sump capacity by 20+%, keeps the oil very clean and all-around makes life easier on the oil. with the Amsoil bypass he could easily go 20k and maybe 25k+.
drewd - the last UOA of yours i saw returned a 68.2 which is in the 40 weight viscosity range, have you had another sample analyzed since then?
plus, your wear rates were the lowest of any 10-25k ODO PD-TDI [average Fe wear rate was 9.08ppm / 1000 miles, your wear rate was 4.20 ppm / 1000 miles]. considering that your oil sample was in service in a nearly new engine (from 10k ODO to 20k ODO), the last 10k UOA of yours that i saw was excellent. but you seem unhappy with it - am i missing something?
as a comparison, see this 2003 TDI UOA w/ 5k on oil and 25k on ODO. this UOA is OK, but your '04 PD-TDI took 10k to produce the amount of Fe this '03 created in 5k...
once US fuel becomes ULSD (next year) your dad could probably go 15k+ with no TBN or viscosity concerns. cleaner fuel is easier on motor oil.
however, if your dad would like to increase his OCI beyond 12.5k <u>right now</u> i'd recommend installing an Amsoil bypass filter. it increases the sump capacity by 20+%, keeps the oil very clean and all-around makes life easier on the oil. with the Amsoil bypass he could easily go 20k and maybe 25k+.
drewd - the last UOA of yours i saw returned a 68.2 which is in the 40 weight viscosity range, have you had another sample analyzed since then?
plus, your wear rates were the lowest of any 10-25k ODO PD-TDI [average Fe wear rate was 9.08ppm / 1000 miles, your wear rate was 4.20 ppm / 1000 miles]. considering that your oil sample was in service in a nearly new engine (from 10k ODO to 20k ODO), the last 10k UOA of yours that i saw was excellent. but you seem unhappy with it - am i missing something?
as a comparison, see this 2003 TDI UOA w/ 5k on oil and 25k on ODO. this UOA is OK, but your '04 PD-TDI took 10k to produce the amount of Fe this '03 created in 5k...