GTI Oil/Filter Change

[Mi16 Man]

What harm could it do, really? I wanted to change the oil as mine is a May 2010 Build thus the oil was 12 months old. I just wasn't comfortable driving around with oil 'that old' in the car. Along with the fact my GTI was a demo, test driven once only thus it would have been idling, every morning, as the dealers ran the car to keep batteries charged.

I've put 5000kms on her in 3 months so I dropped the oil the other night and replaced with the 504/507 approved Liqui Moly Top Tec 4200. Filter and plug changed also, supplied by Gerald Slaven here in Canberra. As this is my first VW, was surprised that you buy a whole 'sump plug/washer' compared to just getting a free brass 'crush' washer as used on my GTi180.

Firstly, what an easy task to complete. No underbody trays to remove to gain access to the sump plug and the location of the filter is brilliant, along with the 'no spill' mechanism on the the filter ensuring it's a clean job.

Sure, the ease of the oil change was a pleasant surprise but the results were/are even more amazing! The GTI is alive! The engine doesn't feel so taught anymore....it revs easily, throttle response is markedly improved, the turbo seems to spool up quicker, fuel consumption has dropped about 10% and I no longer get any hesitation/bunny hop from idle in 'stop/start' driving (MT).

I've had a mix of cars, from old plodders to high revving 4's, this one included. Both my Golf GTI and old 206 GTi180 showed immediate results/benefits from oil changes.

The Mk6 will be a 10yr car for me.....I will report back in 195,000kms to see if my early/premature oil change did any damage!

Happy reading
Stu

[Mi16 Man]

[Transporter]

Good on you, I always replaced oil much sooner in all our VW cars and in Tiguan I did the oil/filter change at 1,000km, and gues what? The engine survived too and it runs well without the need for oil top ups.

You can replace the washer on that drain plug but VW drain plug is not expensive. The washer is the steel one and easy way of removing it is just snipp it off with the diagonal cutters. If you buy the oil filter from somewhere else than VW dealer watch out, the oil filter could be made in China despite it is in Mahle, Mann Knecht box.

[CarbonVW]

Thats good to hear. Im gonna get this done next weekend on my TDI which is also reaching 5000K's. Any reason why you went with Liqui Moly?

[Mi16 Man]

@Transporter....thanks for the tips on the non-OEM Filter. Purflux make both the OEM and non-genuine oil filters for Pugs and Cits. You pay twice the price to have a brand stamped on the part.

@CarbonVW....bought the Liqui Moly from Autobarn, Belconnen ACT. Even though the were many 5W30 blends available, not many met the 504/507 requirement I've learnt about. Price was a factor too....$61 for 5L. Penrite was $91 and Mobil 1 was $95. The guys at Autobarn advised it is a popular choice for VW owners...their store is next door to the VW Dealership.

FYI....Dealer wanted $78 (5L) for their VW branded Castrol Longlife III.

[Corey_R]

WOW! $61 for 5L of Liqui-Moly Top Tech 4200 (the 504 approved version) is EXCELLENT. The best I've seen is $80 online thus far. So that's what I paid for it. I'll have to check out the Autobarns up here and see what the price is!

[Mi16 Man]

Corey.......I am more than happy to 'collect n ship' for you from Canberra!

Cheers
Stu

[walbjj]

Just wanted to ask, is servicing every 5 or 10k km. I know a lot of people do oil changes at 5k but BMW have that service indicator and it's every 15 or 20kkm
Also, is there a 1000k km break in period with the gti? Need to ask ask as the apr sale ends this month and would like to get ecu flash with at least some km on the clock

[Corey_R]

Neither of your options

It's every 15,000km
There are specific threads on engine break-in etc. You can read them to get peoples opinions, or you can look at your owners manual. As for the ECU flash, there are threads and discussion on that too - essentially, you can get it done from day one if your only concern is engine break-in, as you still control what's happening with your right foot

[jacs]

What harm could it do, really? I wanted to change the oil as mine is a May 2010 Build thus the oil was 12 months old. I just wasn't comfortable driving around with oil 'that old' in the car. Along with the fact my GTI was a demo, test driven once only thus it would have been idling, every morning, as the dealers ran the car to keep batteries charged.

I've put 5000kms on her in 3 months so I dropped the oil the other night and replaced with the 504/507 approved Liqui Moly Top Tec 4200. Filter and plug changed also, supplied by Gerald Slaven here in Canberra. As this is my first VW, was surprised that you buy a whole 'sump plug/washer' compared to just getting a free brass 'crush' washer as used on my GTi180.

Firstly, what an easy task to complete. No underbody trays to remove to gain access to the sump plug and the location of the filter is brilliant, along with the 'no spill' mechanism on the the filter ensuring it's a clean job.

Sure, the ease of the oil change was a pleasant surprise but the results were/are even more amazing! The GTI is alive! The engine doesn't feel so taught anymore....it revs easily, throttle response is markedly improved, the turbo seems to spool up quicker, fuel consumption has dropped about 10% and I no longer get any hesitation/bunny hop from idle in 'stop/start' driving (MT).

I've had a mix of cars, from old plodders to high revving 4's, this one included. Both my Golf GTI and old 206 GTi180 showed immediate results/benefits from oil changes.

The Mk6 will be a 10yr car for me.....I will report back in 195,000kms to see if my early/premature oil change did any damage!

Happy reading
Stu

So the 'no-spill' function is a unique feature of the OEM filter ?, because the first thing i thought when looking under the hood of my mk6 GTI, was how i would change that oil filter without getting oil everywhere ?

[Mi16 Man]

So the 'no-spill' function is a unique feature of the OEM filter ?, because the first thing i thought when looking under the hood of my mk6 GTI, was how i would change that oil filter without getting oil everywhere ?

Jacs, not sure about the non-OEM filters and how they operate. But after changing oil filters on Peugeot's (Purflux OEM brand) all my life, I was pleasantly surprised with the non drip function on the GTI.

[jacs]

Jacs, not sure about the non-OEM filters and how they operate. But after changing oil filters on Peugeot's (Purflux OEM brand) all my life, I was pleasantly surprised with the non drip function on the GTI.

Great, thanks mate. My only problem now is whether to do an early change (hate the thought of waiting 15 000ks), or wait til the prescribed 15000 service, then do one in between (7500ks) each service.............Ive just clocked over the 8 000k mark.

[Finance_Analyst]

I just did mine before xmas. Car was 7 mths old but had only 5,500km (as I get the train to work everyday).

Can't hurt, especially as my car is 90% stop start city driving.

[Mi16 Man]

Great, thanks mate. My only problem now is whether to do an early change (hate the thought of waiting 15 000ks), or wait til the prescribed 15000 service, then do one in between (7500ks) each service.............Ive just clocked over the 8 000k mark.

If you would sleep better after doing an oil change right now, go for it. It won't kill the GTI. Even my new mower with a Briggs n Stratton engine recommends a change after "10hrs"....

I changed mine at that time purely for the reason the oil was already 1 year old, not because of the mileage. Another consideration for me was my GTI was a demo for 4 months. Started every day I guess, let run for 5 mins to charge the battery and then shut down.

Good luck Jacs!

[Lucas_R]

You can never do too many oil changes.....it wont do any harm whatsoever. I changed the oil and oil filter in my R at 5,000km and will continue to do an oil change every 6 months/5,000km (at the 1/2 way point between logbook services) until i sell the car.