Rotella t6 0w40

scrambld

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2004
Location
Belchertown, MA
TDI
'06 Jetta...TDI/5spd :) >>>now a '15 Passat TDI/DSG
'06 Jetta (BRM)....bought car in '09 w/56k miles on it.....used "correct oil" in the beginning for 2....maybe 3 O/F changes...since then Rotella T6 5-40. Now have 221K miles on her. Not exactly to your question....

NOTE: Just changed cam/lifters at 218K...some wear, but nothing scary looking.
 

Swaff

Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2007
Location
Manitoba
TDI
2004 Jetta
This oil is new. Not enough people use it, nor used it for long enough, to know of any issues.
Lots of people seem to be using T6 5W-40 in their PDs with no issues, is there any logical reason why 0W-40 might cause issues?
 

Bob S.

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 17, 2006
Location
Central MD.
TDI
A B4V, some ALHs & BRMs
T6 - 5W40 here.
+1. Has served me well. Tuned car, driven had. Preventive cam R&R @ 160 & the bearing wear & cam wear was just starting to show. I should have used it from my first OCI and skipped the factory recommended oil for the first 30 K miles.
 

N.CaTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2010
Location
NorthBay San Francisco, CA
TDI
2005.5 Jetta
+1. Has served me well. Tuned car, driven had. Preventive cam R&R @ 160 & the bearing wear & cam wear was just starting to show. I should have used it from my first OCI and skipped the factory recommended oil for the first 30 K miles.
Have to agree we used factory oil for 1st 50k miles and should not have. While I use Mobile 1 any good oil 5-40 or so will work. Currently at 165k and will need to do cam when I do timing belt.
 

Bob_Fout

Oil Wanker
Joined
Sep 5, 2004
Location
Indiana
TDI
2003 Jetta - Alaska Green (sold) / 2015 GTI 2.0T
Lots of people seem to be using T6 5W-40 in their PDs with no issues, is there any logical reason why 0W-40 might cause issues?
Due to the greater viscosity spread, it *may* not be as thick as the 5w40, or may not remain as thick in service, especially in a PD.
 

craig01b

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 17, 2004
Location
Guelph, Ontario.
TDI
None
Rotella has long been a favourite of mine, but, after just replacing another worn out cam with 60 k, I am now using any 505 oil, along with zddp additive. Rotella on its own didn't cut it with mine sadly. And some will have no issues at all.....roll the dice!
 

1998993C2S

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2006
Location
Georgia & Colorado
TDI
2006.5 Jetta Pkg2 DSG Navi
Nope on the Shell Rotella T6 0w-40 version oil.

The readily available Shell Rotella T6 - 5w-40 version oil has been used for the several 7K mi OCI ... since the cam/lifter service @ 155k / 9 years.
 

mu3098

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2010
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 VW Jetta TDI, 2011 VW Golf Wagon TDI
Here is a copy of my UOA using Rotella T6 0W40 in my 2006 Jetta. All 4 samples are from the same oil change at different miles. I am happy with the results so far.

 

carkey351

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 24, 2014
Location
MN -land of the ice and snow
TDI
2006 Jetta 5 speed 157K(to replace 09 when it goes away)2009 Jetta 6 speed-414K (and climbing), 2002 chevy duramax (303k and climbing).
no idea on the rotella, have been running 0w40 mobil 1 for last 40k with no issues to date. its synthetic and is thin, but i live up north so it seems to work. was going to go to 5w40 but decided against it and the 0w40 is fine. only problem is that is seems to have a bit higher consumption than the factory fill, but at 392k i really don't care about that.
 

N.CaTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2010
Location
NorthBay San Francisco, CA
TDI
2005.5 Jetta
no idea on the rotella, have been running 0w40 mobil 1 for last 40k with no issues to date. its synthetic and is thin, but i live up north so it seems to work. was going to go to 5w40 but decided against it and the 0w40 is fine. only problem is that is seems to have a bit higher consumption than the factory fill, but at 392k i really don't care about that.
but you do not have a PD engine with that great cam :D
 

Swaff

Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2007
Location
Manitoba
TDI
2004 Jetta
Due to the greater viscosity spread, it *may* not be as thick as the 5w40, or may not remain as thick in service, especially in a PD.
Well it has been two years, do we know any more about how this oil performs in a PD?
 

scrambld

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2004
Location
Belchertown, MA
TDI
'06 Jetta...TDI/5spd :) >>>now a '15 Passat TDI/DSG
Car has 249,717 bought with 56,000......it's been fed Rotella 5/40 for 193,717 of it's life. Between 0/40 and 5/40 I am not sure I would sweat it....
 

scrambld

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2004
Location
Belchertown, MA
TDI
'06 Jetta...TDI/5spd :) >>>now a '15 Passat TDI/DSG
I am more curious as to why such "desire" to find and/or use this grade over the tried and true 5/40 flavor. It might be more of a concern in areas that routinely get down to >-50 below but really? :)
 

James & Son

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Location
Maryhill, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 Jetta
I am more curious as to why such "desire" to find and/or use this grade over the tried and true 5/40 flavor. It might be more of a concern in areas that routinely get down to >-50 below but really? :)
My God, this oil looks like a good one. I just looked at the UOA on page 1. This oil is still fit for use at 26000 kilometers. If you look at the make up of the additive package in the oil condition area, the differences I see and the reason this oil can keep going over the 5w-40 T6 is the detergent make up.

The detergent package of 5w-40, I would not( or should I say may not) run past 16000 kilometers because of the amount of magnesium vs calcium and boron. magnesium dominates, if i remember correctly at about 2 to one in the 5w-40

The 0w-40 their is no magnesium, just calcium and boron and it is holding up unbelievably well, look at the BN at 26000 kilometers and it only started at( see far right column for start specs.)

Now lets look at the VI at 179. Not much more than the 5w-40 but worthwhile. I will guess that the 0w-40 has an improved mix of base oil along with an excellent polymer maybe similar to the 5w-40 which holds it viscosity well also.

I would expect this to be a more expensive oil than the 5w-40 from the oil condition results due to better base oil and additive package( more UOA from other cars are needed to be sure)

I would be interested to know the frequency and kilometers per frequency. This oil may not see a lot of warm up and yet has low mileage considering the time interval between UOA?
 

Swaff

Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2007
Location
Manitoba
TDI
2004 Jetta
I am more curious as to why such "desire" to find and/or use this grade over the tried and true 5/40 flavor. It might be more of a concern in areas that routinely get down to >-50 below but really? :)
Where I live, it gets down to -35*C every winter and sometimes -40*C, so i figure the 0 weight is an advantage there. But also, I buy the stuff by the pail for my 7.3 so it just makes it simpler to stock one type instead of two.
As for the price, from what I've seen it sells for the same price as the 5W-40.
To me it seems like there shouldn't be any negative effect to using 0W instead of 5W, but there are people much smarter than I here that can answer that question, including some I can't even understand.
 
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