So the manual says vw502 as it’s a petrol and change every 9000 ish mile /12 months.

 

that’s easy enough I think, except I have :

 

0w30 - quite expensive (60 less discounts for 5l)

5w30 - same price as above but 4l  not 5L

5w40 - about 40 less discounts for 5L.

 

All are full synthetic and shell or Castrol 

 

Car book just says vw502.

5w30 suggested

most manufacturers of oil suggest 0w30 and 5w30 or 5w 40 A’s alternatives.

 

engine has about 90k miles and it’s a fair age.

 

i’m thinking 5w40 will give better wear protection on the older engine and hopefully less past the rings etc.

 

0w30 would be fine too, but will the super thin just go past old rings etc?

 

thoughts please petrol owners.

Also worth asking, is it worth paying extra for NGK plugs over berg/Bosch ?

 

theykre claimed to be factory fit, but at twice the price are they really any better?

VW 502 00 is 5w 40 Full Synthetic and you will get 5 litres if you want in ASDA in a ASDA Container for under £20.

Or elsewhere.  4 litres maybe £16.

No need for Castrol / Quantum, or Shell , Mobile etc, COMMA is fine.   0w 30 FS LL is just wrong, even though some recommend.

 

9,400 miles / 372 days, which ever comes first.

 

Forget the Long Life oil,  VW504 / 507 which is the 5w 30 FS LL.   Long life oil . maybe not long lived engine.

 

NGK are the same as OEM, just the correct plugs from anyone, Bosch, DENSO etc.  Be sure the gap is checked before fitting, they come pre-gapped, still check.

http://livingstonautoparts.co.uk 

Edited 12 September, 20187 yr by Offski

Thanks,

 

i’ve only ever run dirty diesels myself, but I figured the 5w40 should protect better even if there is a tiny economy hit.

 

it’s 22 after discounts, so that’s fine by me and the really cheap plugs are copper with a narrow temperature range, so probably worth the 3 extra per plug.

 

are HT leads a problem on these or just as and when they look tired?

ditto the single coil pack?

 

last petrol cars I did were carb based fiestas...

Sorry i know nothing about that engines really other than about oils. 

5w 40 FS is not an economy hit,  Long Life Oil killing engines costs thousands.  Toyota went 0w30 when Euro 5 emissions was hitting economy/

VW have just gone VW 508 /509 0w 20 FS LL from the factory for the WLTP tests, some want £17 a litre for that crap. They say new technology, best oil...

 

Check out the coil pack price and leads, it is likely best for your pocket to get better economy from fuel by a well serviced and maintained car, 

oil. filter, plugs, *Air Filter* most important, and be prepared to replace the coils and leads if need be.

http://livingstonautoparts.co.uk   Good for an idea of Motor Factor prices.

Edited 13 September, 20187 yr by Offski

thanks for your help, like you I know sod all about these, but they have a single coil patch and 4 ht leads.

 

car is getting:

 

- Fuel filter

- Air filter

- pollen filter (if it has one as no a/c)

- oil filter and fresh 5w40 vw502

- new pair of long life h4 headlights to replace clearly mismatched ones

- new spark plugs (NGK) and new HT leads.

- a general check over (but it just passed it’s mot so hopefully nothing too bad

 

A quality brand coil pack is approx £90 so I’ll probably have a listen to see if it’s misfiring and give it a scan for fault codes.

 

parts cost approx 100 for Oe quality parts! The local Indy garages wanted about 200 plus extra for sparks, no ht leads, no new bulbs, no fuel or pollen filter and air only if on schedule.

 

it reminds me what a total con a lot of these checks are, in that raise the basic oil change price from say 80 to 200, most of which is chargeable if needed.

 

Don’t get me wrong checks are important, but 5 of the extra items are check schedule for X, advise if required (extra charge).

8 hours ago, cheezemonkhai said:

thanks for your help, like you I know sod all about these, but they have a single coil patch and 4 ht leads.

 

car is getting:

 

- Fuel filter

- Air filter

- pollen filter (if it has one as no a/c)

- oil filter and fresh 5w40 vw502

- new pair of long life h4 headlights to replace clearly mismatched ones

- new spark plugs (NGK) and new HT leads.

- a general check over (but it just passed it’s mot so hopefully nothing too bad

 

A quality brand coil pack is approx £90 so I’ll probably have a listen to see if it’s misfiring and give it a scan for fault codes.

 

parts cost approx 100 for Oe quality parts! The local Indy garages wanted about 200 plus extra for sparks, no ht leads, no new bulbs, no fuel or pollen filter and air only if on schedule.

 

it reminds me what a total con a lot of these checks are, in that raise the basic oil change price from say 80 to 200, most of which is chargeable if needed.

 

Don’t get me wrong checks are important, but 5 of the extra items are check schedule for X, advise if required (extra charge).

I have the 1.2 Fox as a runabout and buy all parts from ECP to routinely self service at a fraction of garage cost.

I am no mechanic but the simplicity of the car lends itself to self servicing.

Incidentally, there is a pollen filter accessible under the glove box.

The only specialist tool I have needed is a spark plug coil puller that I got online for £8 instead of the VAG tool in excess of £30. (A simple hook shaped item to ensure easy coil removal).

 

You may find the attached pdf useful.

Good luck

fox_2004.pdf

Edited 14 September, 20187 yr by kevberlin
Add pdf

So one Saturday later and it’s all done.

 

The hurdles:

 

• The dipstick is too too narrow for even the narrow pela pump hose.
• The jubilee clip holding on the fuel filter was rusted to hell, but there was no space for a saw. (Cutters to the rescue)
• Sparks were solid, fixed with penetrating oil left overnight.

 

Long and short, the previous garage chain, which apparently contained a H, appears to not have changed anything, bar maybe the oil.

 

The servicing prior to that was done from 2012 to 2014 at a local garage, to whome it will be going back for anything I can’t easily do myself.

 

What I found:

 

• pollen filter dated 2013 and cross land branded. (Half of a forest was in there and it stank - Fixed with detol and cloths and new charcoal filter). 
• Air filter full also 2013/crossland and full of dirt and some oil. (VCDS has lambda reporting too rich.... i’m not surprised with the state of that)
• Breather was full of cooked oil & sticky, now fixed.
• Throttle and I guess intake full of carbon. (Cleaned with spray in egg/intake cleaner)
• fuel filter also crossland and 2013. (Was still clean fuel, but the flow rate on testing was very low)
• oil filter was crossland, date worn away, but rusting. (You have to wonder if this was ever changed at the oil change services it had).
• leak under oil filter, seems to have gone away now with the new filter.
• Spark plugs, 1 clean but worn, 3 heavily fouled and black with a reasonable amount of rust (probably original and the car is at a few miles short of 100k)
• HT leads, tired and rusted shielding plus tired looking seals and contacts. New set on for piece of mind.
• sump has been allowed to rust a fair amount externally. Cleaned up around plug and will do the rest and oil/paint later or replace the sump at next change.
• the oil came out stinking of petrol and like dirty black water. Akin to what you used to see on older diesels, but thin. (I assume they used poor oil and thin oil which may explain some leaks. VW 502, 5w40 shell ultra in now with just under 2l spare. Other Leaks seem to have stopped after a clean up and test drive -fingers crossed)
• only one working reverse lamp and odd headlight bulbs.upon removal found all bulbs discoloured and looking very tired. So 2 new h4, new front sidelights and indicators, all new rear bulbs and replaced the blown reg plate holder bulbs which seem to have died in the last week.
• A dose on injector cleaner in the tank, because it probably won’t hurt at 100k miles and with the uncertain maintainable.
• toped up coolant and put a tank of proper screen wash in place of whatever was in there.

 

It sounds and drives like a much happier car now.

The drive down here is downhill and took half a tank, on the way back it’s taken 1/3 of a tank, so a marked improvement hopefully. It also smells a lot less of I burned fuel at idle and doesn’t try and stall at every traffic light.

 

still to do:

 

• new drivers side electric window switches.
• wheel liners off to remove leaves that have built up
• source two new headlights at some point.
• fix the rear window wash. Connected the hose which was off at the wiper motor and still no go, so next is to check the connection in the rear boot area.
• get some 501a bulbs for the side repeaters.

 

Really simple car to work on and if we can get the above sorted, the short of potentially needing a new exhaust come next mot (quite rusty), hopefully cheap motoring for a while to come.

 

So thanks for the useful input and any help you might be able to give on the to do, please fell free.

Just a quick update on the car, fuel consumption prior to service  was about 28mpg.

 

A motorway journey and half a week of commutes and so far it’s in the low to mid 40s. 

 

Far better than I expected bearing in mind the official figures are low to mid 40s.

 

Once again, thanks for your useful input, have a very happy owner as it’s likely the cost of service will be covered in a month or two in fuel savings.