Oil Change Time

[green A8]

The time has come to change the engine oil of the wife’s 1998 Tdi 110 SE Avant (AFN engine). According to the owners manual I need to buy either 5w-30/5w-40 or 10w-30/10w-40 multigrade or 5w-50 or 10w-30/10w-40 synthetic oil. This car isn’t used a great deal, 1,342 miles in total last year. The majority of this mileage was shorter runs of less than five miles.

My question is what oil type and grade would you suggest ? At the moment it’s got Fuchs Titan10w-40 semi synthetic in the sump. Would I be wiser to choose a fully synthetic oil, if so what grade and make? The car currently has 198,000 miles on the clock. It used to be my old company car. I bought it for the wife in 2000 with 186,000 miles on it.

I look forward to hearing your suggestions.

Kind Regards.


Paul.

[spartacus 68]

The old girl is still in her prime. If you intend to keep it, then I wouldn't cut corners on oil. Castrol Edge 5w-30 is good quality synthetic oil. Type your registration here to check. http://www.castrol.com/castrol/ifram...tentId=7044829

If you get a chance, then take the car onto the motorway or an A-class road and floor it. Carbon build up from short-run journeys isn't good for exhaust manifolds, turbos and EGR valves. If you want you can pour a can of Forte diesel conditioner straight into the fuel filter before doing the oil change. Run it hard in 2nd and 3rd gear and it will smoke like an E-Class frigate for 10 minutes. Replace the fuel filter afterwards. Job done.

[phil miller]

. If you want you can pour a can of Forte diesel conditioner straight into the fuel filter before doing the oil change. Run it hard in 2nd and 3rd gear and it will smoke like an E-Class frigate for 10 minutes. Replace the fuel filter afterwards. Job done.

would also pay to use forte motor flush, would it not be a better idea to change the fuel filter then add the diesel treatment? because most of the diesel gets returned to the tank so the old filter will have the treatment in it which is a bit of a waste of a good product

[spartacus 68]

would also pay to use forte motor flush, would it not be a better idea to change the fuel filter then add the diesel treatment? because most of the diesel gets returned to the tank so the old filter will have the treatment in it which is a bit of a waste of a good product

I've used engine flushes before (such as STP), but have read mixed reviews on how good or bad they are, in terms of attacking gaskets, etc. I normally get the car up to temperature, then (while it's still running) removed the plastic engine tray. Now switch off and pull the sump plug.

Regards the Forte diesel conditioner. It's designed to be poured straight into the fuel tank and topped up with diesel. However for best effect, drain the fuel filter and top up with the treatment. Run it hard and it helps clean the injectors, etc. The treatment will be used up in around 10-15 minutes. Change the fuel filter and top up with fresh diesel. Never had a problem with emissions and helped me get my 80TDi Avant through it's MOT on numerous occasions.

[green A8]

Thank You for those replies Gents. I'll get both the oil and the Forte diesel conditioner sorted. As per usual I'll be using OEM filters.

Looking at the service schedule I see that we're due to do some more in depth work on this car over the next few months Timing belt ect (Time expired not mileage expired, but better to be safe than sorry.) So, it looks like I'll be spending a bit more time on the little A4. All good fun. It's a pleasure to work on this car.

Once again, Thanks for the help.

Kind Regards.

Paul.