Black_Thunder

Dry clutch DSG have a much slacker hold on the bite point when stationary on the brake. They also have a gearbox temperature warning on the dash. And if you ignore the high temp warning, it will turn of the engine. This has happened to a few customers I know. As for wet clutch DSGs cooking their oil, there are hundreds, possibly thousands of threads on many other forums. I have changed the oil and filter on many DQ250 boxes. It is very evident to see from the state of the old fluid who are the drivers who shift into neutral when stationary and who don't. Not just the colour of the old fluid, but also the amount of particulate matter suspended within the fluid. And you can also smell when the oil has failed and oxidised due to overheating. As for the filters, the original DSG filters were highly efficient - arguably too efficient. Because they often got blocked. VW subsequently changed the design of the filter to be less efficient. But irrespective of which evolution of filter - there is always sludge at the bottom of the filter housing, and the sludge is primarily friction lining particles from the clutch. The manufacturers will try to tell you about 'improvements' in filter technology, and other general improvements in build quality! Regarding any 'reducing' of servicing intervals - that is contrary to the ethos of the car manufacturer of minimising maintenance costs. How many manual boxes or rear axles (NOT Haldex couplings) have a scheduled oil change recommendation? Yet ask anyone who has changed the oil on a manual transmission about the state of the old fluid. At the end of the day, car manufacturers are just money-making enterprises. They no longer care about the longevity (or general reliability) of their products. They would rather shaft the innocent car owner for the extortionate cost of a new DSG (or engine, or indeed any other major component) - rather than explaining the benefits of more frequent oil and filter changes. Or even better, they prefer you to buy a new car when your previous steed could have had much longer life!

When the DSG was first introduced, thousands of DSG boxes needed to be replaced - the clutches fail due to driver error. People coming to DSG from a conventional slush box auto behaved in the same way as they always behaved. So they just kept it in D with their foot on the brake - for many minutes, and longer! And people coming to DSG from manual were simply given poor advice.

Unless you are familiar with the time phasing of a particular set of traffic lights, and know that you will not be held stationary for more than 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, the clutch heat rises dramatically, not only cooking the oil, but also causing increased wear on the clutch friction plates, which then contaminates the oil.

Yes, absolutely.

That is categorically NOT what main dealers are instructed to use.

The point of this is???? It is quite simply a misleading advert from Fuchs about which oils they WANT you to use. It has zero relevance to the official Volkswagen AG requirements.

@toot the VWFS pdf you supplied has nothing VWAG oil specifications. It is simply a policy booklet for used car insurance from VW UK. " ŠKODA Approved Used Warranty cover is administered on behalf of ŠKODA UK by Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) Limited". It has no authority regarding which oil a main dealer is to use

It is also very important to select N (on DSGs which still have that option) if you know you will be stationary for more than a few seconds. For three separate reasons. The first is that when stationary (in D, or any other 'gear' mode, and engine running), the ECU for the DSG holds the clutch on the bite point. This is perfectly normal and okay for a few seconds, but prolonged holding of the clutch on the bite point causes excess heat, very high heat locally on wet clutch DSGs - and this can cause premature ageing of the DSG fluid. The second issue is that this uses more fuel compared to selecting N - this is proven via live datalogging on VCDS of requested engine torque when in gear but stationary, compared to in neutral and stationary. The third is that it is just a bad idea to hold a stationary car using the footbrake (for two separate reasons itself).

Nope, I have given the official Volkswagen AG instructions to all main dealers throughout Europe. Authority by VWAG to use 502.00 was removed for use by all main dealers across all VAG marques in 2006. If you choose not to follow that - it is entirely your own choice. But don't force your blatantly incorrect diatribe of factually incorrect information on others. How many more of your teddy bears are you going to throw out of your perambulator?

Why so hostile? I guess you just don't like being proved wrong! I actually go on FACTS, not some ill-informed internet troll. My knowledge on automotive engine lubricants is deep enough to be head-hunted by Fuchs UK to work for them! Your point is? And you clearly demonstrate your lack of real knowledge about automotive engine lubricants! All VW Group engines must only use oils officially approved by VWAG. 'Suitable for . . .', 'meets specification of . . .' or any other similar weasel words are just terms used by snake oil sales folk - when referring to OEM specifications, be they VW, MB, PSA, Renault, Dexos, and the JASO and JALOS collectives.

Official main dealers have no need to access erWin. They have access directly to the Volkswagen AG secure portal. erWin is basically just a mirror of the official VW portal, but for use by the independent motor trade

Your actions do not match your words. I don't wish to be unkind, but anyone who uses a non-approved oil frankly must have a few marbles floating around in their bonce. Furthermore, the lubricant is not the sole element of weather an engine goes bang or not! Nobody will argue about trying to save money, especially in this economic climate. But using inferior products on such an high value item is very poor logic. I fo agree about advertising, and it is very well known that certain American oil companies spend massively more on advertising than they do on R&D. Mobil is by far the worst! Yawn! Care to name which oil has been crap? Huh???

That is extremely irresponsible and frankly dangerous advice! Specific engine families are designed and engineered to use a specific standard of lubricant for their entire lifespan - not just for the warranty period! It is no different to telling folks to fill up their diesel fuel tank with petrol once the warranty has run out! I totally agree with you there. For decades, many official VW Group dealers have been using incorrect oils during servicing, and supplying incorrect oils for topup or home mechanic oil changes. The really annoy thing is that VW UK just don't give a flying **** about incompetent stealers! If they are NOT on the VW approved list, how do you actually know if they meet the required specification? Frankly, a very narrow-minded opinion Oh dear, Fuchs do like to bull$hit. Fuchs have NEVER had any factory-fill at any VW Group supplied engine. They are all supplied by Castrol - who are owned by BP. It was Castrol who developed the original LongLife specification for VW, along with the LL2, LL3 and LL4 specs. The ONLY reason other oil companies are allowed to make oils is due to European Union anti-monopoly laws, and that is how Fuchs and others are able to make OEM spec oils.

You can also ask at TPS to give a full printout of all PR codes installed for a given VIN - and this list is considerably larger than the limited selection of PR codes on the data sticker in the boot or service book

Apologies, I thought you were referring to the PDF attachment earlier in the thread.

Which part of 'for U.S. only' did you miss? Technical bulletins in the USA and Canada are NOT valid for any European market

The top one is categorically NOT a genuine VW oil. It is simply not possible to meet a 504.00/507.00 approval with a 0W/30 - because 0W/30 is the specification for LongLife TWO (ie, 503.00/506.00/506.01). The part number is also NOT a genuine VW part number. Autodoc have a long history of providing factually incorrect information, and are often reported on in the various aftermarket subscription trade journals. As for Quantum, they are NOT recognised on ETKA for main dealer use. Quantum products were only ever designed for the independent motor trade. Quantum products should never be used by official main dealers. OEM specific and approved oils from the primary oil companies should be used within franchised main dealers. So for Castrol, that is their 'Professional Powerflow' range (basically identical to the Castrol 'EDGE', but with additional additives for use in bulk storage). Shell Oils, Motul, Mobil, Esso, etc - all produce main dealer OEM specific offerings - which most every day folks will probably never know about.

Let me clarify. In 2006, Volkswagen AG in Germany issued a Europe-wide instruction that ONLY 504.00/507.00 be used in ALL vehicles from all marques (with three exceptions, the B5 RS4, the 5.0 V10 TDI PD, and I forgot the third, though I vaguely recall it was for the 225PS TT and S3) - for all FRANCHISED MAIN DEALERS. 502.00 was still acceptable to be used by independent dealers and workshops. But that still does not mean that 502.00 is the 'best', especially in a TSI or TFSI engine. Another issue with 502.00 specification is that there is no ACEA 'C' requirement - which is basically about clean-burn oils

That may well be the situation at this moment in time. But I have closely followed Comma OEM claims for three decades. And on average, at least 70% of Comma Oils claiming to meet OEM specifications never had formal approval. They just print the specifications on their labels and hope to wing it. Yes, and erWin is a fantastic resource for anyone seeking facts on engine oil approvals In general, I totally agree about the 504.00 comment. However, not all oils are made equal. Some officially approved oils will only just creep over the 504.00 requirements, whereas others meet the 504.00 with considerable ease and headroom. Viscosity is moot - because only 5W/30 can meet the 504.00/507.00 spec

That specification was from when the engine was ORIGINALLY DESIGNED. And for the record, a 502.00 oil is still perfectly acceptable for fixed interval servicing. However, 502.00 specification was designed for normally aspirated petrol engines, and includes no HTHS rating. Turbocharged engines have much greater requirements which makes the 502.00 specification very borderline for turbos. The original LongLife II and the subsequent LongLife III both include a much stricter test requirement, namely the HTHS rating. The original LL2 had a HTHS of exactly 3.0, whereas the LL3 standard allows a little flexibility, with HTHS of between 2.9 to 3.5 NO manufacturer now recommends 5W/40 grades. Not all TDIs can use 507.00. The V10 TDI PD in the Touraeg can only use 506.01 - which is the LongLife 2 spec

Fuchs is a current commercial arrangement solely between Volkswagen Group UNITED KINGDOM. Previously, Castrol made all the Quantum products. The reason VW UK changed to Quantum is simply because VW UK wanted to expand their TPS operation to cover consumables (ie lubricants, greases, bulbs, wiper blades, etc) to cover ALL marques and brands of vehicles. Castrol refused to supply non-VW specification lubricants to a VW Group operation (Castrol did not want TPS to be supplying Vauxhall, Ford, Mercedes Benz, PSA, Renault, JASO, etc specification oils to protect the other vehicle manufacturers 'trade' programmes). Fuchs had no such morales, probably because Fuchs have never had any direct R&D with tier 1 OEMs. Quantum Oils are NOT an official 'brand' of Volkswagen AG in Germany. All Quantum products begin with the ZGB parts code prefix - which indicate it is a UK-only product. Quantum products do NOT appear on ETKA.

You are confusing between what the individual specifications were that were 'available'. However, Volkswagen AG gave Europe-wide instructions that ONLY LongLife 3 specification oils should be used - ie 504.00/507.00. They notified all authorised main dealers, and updated ETKA to reflect that only 504.00 or 507.00 should be used. As for Comma Oils - they repeatedly LIE about MANY of their OEM approvals. erWin and BeVo from Mercedes Benz will give categoric detail about which oils have been officially tested to meet their own relevant standards.

Castrol is the commercial partner who co-create and develop all Volkswagen Group engine oils. So Castrol Edge will be the best option. Motul are a fantastic oil company, and so are Petronas. Choose any reputable brand, but avoid cheaper brands, and avoid Mobil (because most American oil companies prefer to use much cheaper Group 3 base-stocks, which are not 'true' synthetics). Group 4 (PAO) or Group 5 (esters) are the only genuine fully synthetic base-stocks!

Wrong. From 2006, Volkswagen AG mandated that ONLY 504.00/507.00 be used, irrespective of service regime. This was applicable to nigh-on all models from all marques/brands (with the exception of two or three very specific models). Furthermore, the 504.00/507.00 specification is backwards compatible with all their former oil specifications. Comma Oils are utter shyte products. They should be banned! 502.00 is different from 505.00

NEVER use copper grease on any rubber component! Copper grease is not a 'grease', in the traditional sense of being a lubricant. Copper grease is actually an anti-seize compound, designed for high temperature applications - and should only be used on metal-to-metal surfaces. Most copper greases are actually an abrasive, and if used on constantly sliding surfaces, will cause rapid wear - especially on rubber bush sleeves on brake callipers. Just use the correct red-coloured 'RubberLube' brake grease on rubber calliper bushes (decent motor factors will stock this, though refuse anything from the Comma brand). If you can't get hold of RubberLube, then any conventional silicone grease will do, though be aware that Rocol silicone grease has a high NLGI rating, so could potentially make the slides a little sluggish. 95% of drivers probably would not realise, though! Copper grease CAN be used on spark plug threads, and also on roadwheel bolts - on both threads, and the taper or conical bolt-to-wheel interface. Anti-seize compound is strongly recommended on aluminium (or magnesium) alloy roadwheels - including hub-centre, and mounting faces. As for the sump drain plug, because these now have an integrated and non-removable sealing washer, the entire sump should be replaced. Though many stealers often fail to replace it.