2.0L TDI Oil Change - DIY Advice

[davidstossel]

Hi all,

I am looking for advice as to how easy it is to do an oil and filter change in a MKV Golf 2.0L TDI Pacific? I am approaching the magic number of 7500 km's, and following the advice of countless threads here at VWwatercooled I am going to perform an oil and filter change.

I am happy to confess that I am not hugely mechanically minded although having said that I am not completely lost with a spanner in my hand. I would like to give it a go myself as I can not justify the prices charged by dealer service centers for what I understand to be a pretty simple procedure.

I am not looking for oil advice as I am aware of the spec's required, but would like some technical know how as I can not seem to find any DIY threads.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,
David

[Russ59]

HI David,

I had my first service on the GT TDI done @ 7,500 by the VW dealer. I did however have to have the oil changed in my son's Comfortline as the wrong grade of oil had been used by the dealer we purchased it from (a Toyota dealer in Melbourne) and when we had it shipped up to NSW I had it changed at my local mechanics workshop and as it was his first oil change on a Golf, he allowed me into the workshop to watch the procedure. I can tell you that the first thing you will need to do is get the car up off the ground a bit to give you enough clearance to get underneath it. You will then need to remove the plastic splash guards to enable access to the sump plug. At the front of the car from underneath you will see a hex shaped nut which if you undo that one you will actually be undoing the base of the oil cooler (from memory) which is not really necessary but at the same time, it does hold a fair bit of engine oil which if not drained from that point will only mix in with the new oil once it's put in. The actual oil filter is accessible from the top of the engine at the front and the setup looks pretty much identical to the oiler cooler (a hexagonal nut) You will need to remove the plastic engine cover first which should just pop up if you lift it gently at the holding points. The oil filter itself is an open cartridge filter which fits inside a canister with the hexagonal nut making up the lid. It might sound confusing but once you see it you'll know what I mean. It is pretty messy so be prepared for that and from what I've read before it is very important not to cross-thread the hexagonal nuts when reassembling things. Just make sure you use the correct grade of oil because I can tell you first hand if you don't it will probably smoke like a chimney, the Comfortline did, as they had used 20w50 or 15w40 Toyota diesel oil in it. Once the correct grade was in it ran perfectly. Hopefully this will give you an idea anyway, so have fun

[Transporter]

Remove bottom engine cover (Torx sockets or bits needed). Undo the sump plug and drain the old oil.
Undo the top engine cover cover (10mm 1/4" dr socket - 2 nuts holding it) to get access to the oil filter from the top.
Undo black oil filter cap using 32mm socket or adjustable spanner (be careful around in the engine bay with the adjustable spanner).

If you also undo the bottom cap from the oil filter housing (not necessary) you will drain more oil out of the engine but pour some engine oil onto the oil filter housing before you insert a new oil filter in.
Oil filter in, screw the oil cap back on after you replaced all the O-rings(supplied with the oil filter).
Do not over tighten - 25Nm torque as printed on the cap. Pour the rest of the engine oil in. Do not overfill.

[Russ59]

Undo the top engine cover cover (10mm 1/4" dr socket - 2 nuts holding it)

On my GT TDI the plastic engine cover has moulded plugs on it which push in and lock into rubber sockets. It has no nuts holding it, I think however that Cam's Comfortline does

[davidstossel]

Thank you all!

This is a great start - I will let you know how it goes.

[Greg Roles]

The bottom cap is something I'd probably say to leave alone for a first go. sure it removes the last 5%, but it also holds the fins of the oil cooler to the filter housing, and apart from being very very messy, it's not simple to just line it back up and screw it back in.

View from underneath.




Here's how you get into the top, where the filter is, and I've no idea how you'd manage it with anything BUT a 32mm socket from your local auto supplier. Oh and your airfliter will look a little different!

[Golf Houso]

Here's how you get into the top, where the filter is, and I've no idea how you'd manage it with anything BUT a 32mm socket from your local auto supplier. Oh and your airfliter will look a little different!

Interesting, looks just like the VR6 oil filter housing, just the other way around and not at the bottom of the motor... same size socket as well if I'm not mistaken.

[cetane]

Warranty

Just a word of caution....(but you probably know this already!)...if anything goes wrong you void warranty if any work, no matter how minor, is carried out by anyone other than a registered workshop.

[davidstossel]

Again guys, this is all very valuable info!

Thanks again.

[Transporter]

Just a word of caution....(but you probably know this already!)...if anything goes wrong you void warranty if any work, no matter how minor, is carried out by anyone other than a registered workshop.

What you’re saying is absolutely WRONG.

The warranty is voided only if something was done wrong – you caused the fault.

Warranty is for the faults and defects from the manufacturer, if you maintain your car correctly (it doesn't have to be serviced by the dealer) you can't void the warranty (hence faults/defects which were hidden and show up or happened within 3 years usually 100,000km from the date of purchase of a brand new car). However It doesn’t cover abuse or misuse of the car.

How ever, if you're not a mechanic you will fail to detect any faults, which may be there and need attention/repair under the warranty. You will not noticed them and later, when the car is out of the warranty you spend money you saved on the extra repairs which would be otherwise repaired at no cost to you under the warranty (if only the dealer would noticed them, which is not always the case).

[gregozedobe]

I had an idea (I'm not certain, but I'm sure I have read it a few times) that unless the scheduled maintenance was carried out by a qualified mechanic then VWA wouldn't honour the factory warranty (ie it doesn't have to be done by a VW dealer, but it does have to be done by someone with recognised qualifications).

I certainly wouldn't like to take VWA to court if they were trying to wriggle out of paying for a warranty claim if I haven't followed their conditions - it could cost more in legal fees than the warranty claim.

[Russ59]

I still don't think that VW (like most other brands) would appreciate your average Joe, the backyard wanna be mechanic trying to carry out a service on the vehicle when it's obviously not the simple task that it used to be. IMO if you carry out work on your own and you're either not familiar with the procedure on a particular vehicle or not a licenced motor mechanic and you stuff something up whilst trying to do it, then you do so at your own risk. To then take the vehicle into a dealer and claim that something is wrong with it and expect them to fix it under warranty is going to be a tall ask. It's a bit like intentionally driving your car into a wall and then expecting your insurance company to pay for it without asking questions as to why it happened ? If you're totally confident that you can do it without buggering something, or in the event that you do, be prepared to accept the consequences, then I'd say go for it. Otherwise, I'd leave it to someone qualified to carry out the work. My .02 c worth anyway.

[Greg Roles]

You have to have the scheduled (15k) services done and stamped by a qualified mechanic. It's part of the fine print of any car I'm aware of. What you do beyond that is up to you, and if you're like me and change the car from standard, you start to mess with that warranty, and simply need to accept that. Changing oil more often, if using VW filter and oil, well I'd like to know how they could prove that, and simple things like this are unlikely to ever cause a problem.

In the end, we can debate it all we want, but if and when something goes bang, well we'll find out for sure.

[Golf]

As a few people have described, changing the oil and filter is pretty simple. Undo the sump plug to drop the oil, then undo the 32mm plastic cap on top of the oil filter housing. Repco wanted around $50 for a 32mm socket. So I just use an adjustable spanner. I just take my time and make sure I don't damage the plastic cap.

The 32mm bolt on the bottom (underneath the oil cooler) holds the oil cooler on. If you undo that bolt, then the remaining oil from the oil filter housing will drain out as well as some oil from the oil cooler. As people have mentioned, make sure you fill up the oil filter housing if you chose to drain it.

I have an exploded view of the oil filter housing/oil cooler assembly, but it's on my laptop. Might upload it later.

[Greg Roles]

Jezuz man, I got a 32 socket at my local auto shop for about $12 and it's a kinchrome or something, very nice!