Hi everyone,

Going to be doing my first oilchange on the Octavia later on today. It's a VRS TFSI.

Just wondering if there was anything I need to watch out for? I've changed oil on cars before without too much fuss...

I've got the right oil and filter, as well as a new sump bolt.

What is the age and mileage of the car and is it on variable or fixed servicing? What spec of oil have you got?

It's a 2006 (56) TFSI on 24,000 miles, variable servicing.

The oil I've got is the VW approved Quantum 5w-30 fully synthetic longlife. That's right isn't it?

Is there a specific torque setting for the sump bolt?

That's the corect Oil. I use that in my vRS

Not sure about Torque setting for the Sump Bolt though. Just do it Hand Tight and that should be fine i would imagine

HTH

Carl:thumbup:

This may help

DIY Oil Change on GTI (without Oil Drain Tool) - VW GTI Forum / VW Rabbit Forum / VW R32 Forum / VW Golf Forum - Golfmkv.com

This may help

DIY Oil Change on GTI (without Oil Drain Tool) - VW GTI Forum / VW Rabbit Forum / VW R32 Forum / VW Golf Forum - Golfmkv.com

Excellent guide.The tool most may not have is the large socket to remove the filter.It is not advisable to use the strap type of tool that you can use with diposables,since you may damage the housing, which obviously is re-used.

Thanks everyone, all went smoothly.

It's now full of lovely fresh oil

Is it not better to be on fixed if you do DIY changes? Think this was covered a little while ago.

If you have VCDS to reset the service indicator I can't see a problem.

Not sure about Torque setting for the Sump Bolt though. Just do it Hand Tight and that should be fine i would imagine

If you don't know the correct torque setting then hand tight plus a quarter turn might be better, you don't want the thing working loose and dropping the oil whist you're batting down the motorway.

Then again you don't want it too tight, after many attempts my next door neighbour asked if I had a pair of stilsons to undo their's.

I don't know if it's still recommended but when I used to do oil changes myself I use to get the engine warmed up beforehand to thin the oil so that it drained more easily.

Oil drain plug, 30 Nm

use a new bolt and captive seal.

I can understand the seal but why do they recommend a new bolt ?

If it's not been overtightened then what would be the problem re-using the original one ?

The plug comes with the seal, you can't buy them from VAG separately

Sorry to hi-jack this one gents but is the Quantum stuff the right oil for the CR TDI too? I've got some left over from the Fabia oil change the other week and I was wondering if I could use it to top up the Octavia if needed.

EDIT - Just thought, I'm on variable servicing so I think I need 507.00. Damn, going to have to buy some.

Edited 28 September, 200916 yr by Chrispy

Okay but why do they supply a new plug, is there a chance of damaging it when you unscrew it or something ?

Aluminium sump, so I'm guessing the bolt is quite soft and hence should be replaced.

I never even touched the sump plug, just sucked all the old oil out of the dip-stick tube instead. No need to even get under the car, deffo the easiest oil+filter ever!

I never even touched the sump plug, just sucked all the old oil out of the dip-stick tube instead. No need to even get under the car, deffo the easiest oil+filter ever!

Controversial....some say what a great hassle free way to do it (as long as you have a suction device)...others wonder if all the crap at the bottom of the sump that would drain out is not all picked up by the suction thingee...who knows:confused:

If there is that much 'crap' floating at the bottom of the sump then the filter isnt doing its job! All the times I have drained sumps via the plug I've never found any 'bits' so I'll not go back to the hard way now. I change mine every 7-8k so I dont forsee any issues.

Controversial....some say what a great hassle free way to do it (as long as you have a suction device)...others wonder if all the crap at the bottom of the sump that would drain out is not all picked up by the suction thingee...who knows:confused:

I've drained by pella, then taken a sump plug out and poured an amount of clean oil through such that it came out of the sump to test exactly this theory. There wasn't any amount of crud in it, so I did the plug up and put that oil and the rest of the oil into the car.

I do think it's worth dropping the oil once in a while just to check all is well.

What I would say though is that as long as you're changing the oil at regular (and not excessive long) intervals and so running really thick dirty oil you'll be fine pulling it out through the dipstick.

The only thing I would say is that if you use the dipstick version, you must warm the oil up first.

Only hitting 24k on a 2006 you should be on fixed servicing as per VAG guidance.

I found this Car Bibles : The Engine Oil Bible that may be of interest (it includes a paragraph on VW/Audi engines)

It also mentions flushing oils which is something I thought hadn't been needed for years.

I found this Car Bibles : The Engine Oil Bible that may be of interest (it includes a paragraph on VW/Audi engines)

It also mentions flushing oils which is something I thought hadn't been needed for years.

Very interesting read,including the bit right at the end about the use of oil extractors.

I was aware that Smart cars don't have a sump drain point.

Very interesting read,including the bit right at the end about the use of oil extractors.

I was aware that Smart cars don't have a sump drain point.

It's not just Smart Cars, there are others including Mercedes and Porsche where the extraction takes place through the dipstick. Often service garages will use this method in standard service schedules as it is easier and quicker than the traditional way, plus they also get an extra couple of quid out of you for a new plug and washer they have not even used

I have a Pela pump. It is great. I get all the oil out, plus extra in the filter housing that would not normally drain (about a coke can full!!!). It is easy. No mess. Works well. Gets all the oil out. I can do a change 2x a year or more often if I want. Easier, quicker, safer than crawling around under a car even if it is on axel stands. Sometimes the force you need to undo the sump nut makes the car wobble and shake. I don't want to be under a ton and a half of metal doing that!

Forgot to add: When I had Golfs and did regular oil changes using the sump plug method I would hardly notice any "crud" or particals in the drained oil. When I dropped the sump pan itself, now that was a different matter - full of white metal bearing shells, silver flakes, loads of crud. I was alarmed to say the least!! So there you go. Dropping the plug is no more likely to remove debris than a suction pump.

Very interesting read,including the bit right at the end about the use of oil extractors.

I was aware that Smart cars don't have a sump drain point.

I have to say I don't agree with the chap on extractors, because with modern oils you don't get clumping (the detergents and suspending agents are much better). I've never had any blockages and have got the full quantity of oil out of the car (measured) even on cars that have done the full variable service without an intermediate change.

Also there are now a few cars without sump drain plugs, so something must have improved.. either that or you drop the sump every change