Conventional Oil in an ALH

outoforder

Active member
Joined
Dec 2, 2014
Location
Dover, OH
TDI
2003 Jetta
I apologize for my ridiculously late reply to this thread. I have had multiple oil analysis performed by blackstone which states my oil has thickened up beyond a 5w40. I am attributing this to blow by in the cylinder due to 326k miles on the car. I'm not considering a rebuild and am looking to squeeze as many miles out of the engine as possible. This is the reason for my original post. Again, I apologize for not providing more details in the beginning.
 

Rob Mayercik

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2001
Location
NJ, U.S.A.
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS, Baltic Green/Beige
Are you sure it's blowby? I'll be turning 340K miles this week on my '02, and when I had the cylinder head removed a year ago to have a snapped glow plug extracted, I could see cross-hatching on all the cylinder walls.

Does the car present any other symptoms (reduced MPG, increased smoke, low power, etc.)?
 

KLXD

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Location
Lompoc, CA
TDI
'98, '2 Jettas
I used plain ole conventional Penzoil 10-30 in my '98 for years before I knew any better. About 350k now and the engine is still going strong.

How come my Dodge oil is never black? 200k, Valvoline Premium Blue 15-40 every 7500 miles. It's maybe darker than a gas engine's but still translucent on the dipstick.
 
Last edited:

outoforder

Active member
Joined
Dec 2, 2014
Location
Dover, OH
TDI
2003 Jetta
Are you sure it's blowby? I'll be turning 340K miles this week on my '02, and when I had the cylinder head removed a year ago to have a snapped glow plug extracted, I could see cross-hatching on all the cylinder walls.

Does the car present any other symptoms (reduced MPG, increased smoke, low power, etc.)?

No, I'm not sure it's blow by. I was making the assumption based on the amount of miles on the engine. MPG has remained constant since I bought the car with 269,000 miles on it. Mechanics that have seen the car have remarked on the power it still has considering the amount of miles on it. So to answer your question, I wouldn't say it's experiencing a loss in power.
 

Rob Mayercik

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2001
Location
NJ, U.S.A.
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS, Baltic Green/Beige
Hm. Does it smoke when you drive it? If so, what color is the smoke (white/grey/blue/black)?

You said "conventional oil" at the start of the thread - specifically what oil are you using? Is it perhaps not diesel-rated? (no offense intended, just trying to eliminate the simple stuff first)
 

outoforder

Active member
Joined
Dec 2, 2014
Location
Dover, OH
TDI
2003 Jetta
No offense taken. I really appreciate the help. I do not have any smoke while driving. Current oil is Delo 5w40 synthetic. The reason I asked about conventional is because I'm changing my oil at 5000 miles due to the soot level of the oil. How much soot % can oil take before it needs to be changed?
 

KLXD

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Location
Lompoc, CA
TDI
'98, '2 Jettas
The only source for soot in the oil is blow by but 325k seems low for that to be a problem.

Have you done a compression test?

Do you know the history of the car. Maybe the PO used the wrong oil?

Maybe running some type of cleaner in the oil to unstick the rings?. There have been a one or two brands recommended on this site.
 

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
That delvac rebate deal is pretty awesome. I should take advantage of it. For some reason I'm just terrible with rebates. But that one is really too good to pass up.
I received my rebate check only about ten days after I submitted the form online. Got five gallons for about $62 after the rebate.
 
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