Oil Change HELP!!

Rick

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 11, 1999
Location
Glendale, AZ
TDI
2000 Golf White
I brought my Y2K Golf in for it's 5,000 mile oil change. They said they used 5-40 Castrol Syntec.

I drove the car home and checked the oil. The oil on the stick is soot black and seemingly of VERY low viscosity. Should it be pure black after only 5 miles of driving from the dealer to my house? Or didn't they change the oil?

------------------
2000 Golf GLS
TDI, 5 speed
Tuning Box, MAF Screens Removed, K&N Filter

Rick Horwitz, AB7FH
rick@4x4central.com
www.explorer4x4.com
 

TDI Believer

Responsible For Global Warming
Joined
Sep 20, 1999
Location
Charles Town,WV
TDI
2012 Touareg TDI
Welcome to Diesels - and don't worry. All is well. I had the same thought after my 5,000 mile oil change.
 

BUG*PWR

RIP, Gone But Not Forgotten
Joined
Aug 25, 1999
Location
Plymouth, CT .
Rick, Castrol is dark right out of the bottle. Plus The TDi normally turns the oil black with soot very fast. 5W40 is a low viscosity oil so don’t fret it should be fine for the next 5,000 miles.
 
S

SkyPup

Guest
Welcome to the deep dark blackened world of soot spewing diesels, where days-old burnt coffee and sooted diesel crankcase oil are virtually indistinguishable.

No harm done, as mentioned by the good folks above, this is absolutely on par!
 
M

mickey

Guest
You'll be fine. That's just the nature of the beast. Make sure they didn't overfill it, though! Let the oil drain down into the pan for at least an hour, and check it. It shouldn't be any higher than the BEND in the dipstick above the crosshatched area. (Top of the crosshatches is the target when you check a minute or two after shutdown, like when you're at the gas station.)

At 10K miles you'll want to switch to a good synthetic diesel oil that meets the API catagory requirements mentioned in your owner's manual: CG-4 or CH-4. Mobil Delvac 1, Amsoil series 3000, and Chevron Delo 400 Synthetic are popular choices. The Mobil and Chevron are most commonly available in a 5w40 weight, and will work year-round in virtually any climate south of the Arctic Circle. The Amsoil is available in a 10w40, and because it's fully synthetic it will flow plenty good when cold in almost any climate. (Just not quite as cold as the others will handle, but certainly good enough for anyplace in southern Canada or the lower 48.)

Look around in this section. You'll learn more than you ever wanted to know about oil!

-mickey
 
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