To that statement you should also add German made Castrol Syntec 0W-30, an oil that not only meets the 502.00 oil spec, but the far more stringent 503.01 spec as well.
I've topped off with Castrol Syntec 5/40. The cap says Castrol on it and the manual says to use VW approved synthetic 5/40 so I figure I can't do better than that.
Cost...$9 for filter online, $1/QT for Castrol GTX with rebate...so $15 or so...knowing that everythings done right..priceless!
You probably don't \"need\" syn, but its a darn good idea, esp if you want to run 5000k ocis with urban driving and/or want to keep the car for a long time. If you do stick, with conventional, which i don't recommend, make sure its better stuff like Castrol GTX.
I run either 0w40 castrol full syn or 0w40 pentosyn in all my cars. After changing oil every 1000miles for 5oil changes and ever 3k after that my old corolla looked like a brand new engine inside with 125k on it when I pulled the valve cover to do a t-belt.
I put mine in around 20k. The first change I did - it had 2 small metal shavings. I got very nervous. Ever since then there has been the powder you have in the pic above. Sometimes more sometimes less. The 2 times I have used Castrol I found more than other times (This could mean it protects less or that it carries the particles better than other oils). I will only become worried when I start seeing shavings. To me it's only an additional monitoring system. Like in a tranny - powder is ok, but shavings mean save up some cash. oh and my car is now at 125k.
I run Castrol's Syntec 5W 50 in my TD... it's CD and CF rated so fine for IDI TDs like yours... great in the extreme cold but thick enough for the summer.
My VW dealer uses Castrol Syntec 5W-40 that meets the VW 502 standard.
I use castrol
For some odd reason it seems that mobil 1 iron numbers are a bit higher in the 1.8T. I switched to Castrol Syntec 0w-30 and my iron numbers went down.
Write your review about engine oil Castrol
Help others - share your experience with this part.