Dealer put wrong oil in my PD

I know, I know, I should have checked more closely. I specifically asked the service writer to make sure they used the 505.01 oil because some dealers don't work on that many TDI's and aren't familiar with it. He assured me that they work on a lot and would use the correct oil. After leaving the dealership, I decided to call the parts department and ask for the part number of the 505.01. Turns out they used the 505.00 for the ALH motor. They apologized and said they'd swap it next time I could get down there. The problem is that I was stuck in traffic trying to escape Houston because of Hurricane Rita. The dealership is closing tomorrow and I have to drive to Austin. How much damage am I likely to cause by putting a few hundred miles on the engine with the 505.00 oil? I'm worried about damage that will show up at 150K miles, not in the next 30K while it's under warranty.

they used the 505.00 for the ALH motor

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What kind of car? (yr., model) ALH is not the same as the BEW (pumpe-duse) engines. 505.00 spec might be appropriate in this case.

Your not the 1st and you won't be the last.

Where the rubber meets the road, where the cam lobes meet the lifters and injectors- what will happen to your engine?

Nothing!

Well nothing has YET been reported that a engine exploded as claimed by the VW manual that any incorrect oil will void the warranty on the PD engine and can cause failure.

Good for you it was a VW dealer.

So what should you do?

SINCE VW manual claims the engine is possibly ruined they ( the dealer) has some issues to settle.

1. Where you posted you are in Texas there is a STATE OF EMERGENCY, therefore you are under no responisblity to worry about the engine or go back at this time.

2. I would file a case with VWOA and the dealer and I have read on this forum where the dealer PAID FOR a 100k mile extended warranty to the person for their error.

One guy demanded a new engine or for them to buy the car from him. The dealer gave him a 100k extended power train warranty.

don't worry about it at all. the dealer probably put Castrol Syntec 5w-40 505.00 oil in, and that oil will almost certainly do no damage (it may even be identical to Castrol's 505.01 oil), but you should swap it for 505.01 the first chance you have. there are tons of PDs that have gone 20,000+ miles with Castrol Syntec 5w-40 505.00 and not one oil related issue has resulted.

505.00 is a very broad, and relatively easy to pass specification. 505.01 is a much tighter, more difficult to pass specification, but IMO the premium 505.00 oils would probably all pass 505.01 if they were sent to Wolfburg for 505.01 testing. however, that's just my speculation.

for warranty purposes, and to ensure the long-term health and performance of your PD, drain the 505.00 ASAP and then exclusively use PD approved oils in your PD-TDI (505.01, 506.01, 507.00).

The car is a 2006. It was the first oil change at 5K miles. I didn't figure there would actually be a problem, but since VW is taking the position that there will be, I'm taking that same position. I had the oil changed at Hewlett VW in Georgetown yesterday. Those guys are top notch professionals. I only put 200 miles on the other oil. Thanks for the replies.

before I knew any better, before I came to this board, before I realized that the right oil was important to use... I got frustrated with the local VW for having hours I couldn't get my car in for. So I went to the jiffy lube down the street. They wanted to put regular oil in, but I insisted on mobil 1 synthetic.

this was the 5k oil change, and I waited until 10k to change it again (still not knowing better, but going to VW at least).

I've had no problems. I wouldn't mention this to VW, if I did have a problem, but... the car is doing fine.

I'm not recommending this. USE 505.01 oil, at least! But I don't think you have anything to really worry about right now.

we hope.