[ShubhamGhute]

Hello folks,

My 2015 Polo GT TDI is due for its 3rd service in coming months. I am not that happy with castrol magnatec 5w40 engine oil. I was considering to switch from castrol to Shell hilux 5w40 or Liqui molly 5w40. Also as my running is within city and bumper-to-bumper traffic, I am inclined towards getting engine oil flush done.

What I wanted to know is,

• Will VW permit me to use engine oil other than castrol?
• Will they permit me to outsource the oil ?
• Will the use oil provided by me?
• Does VW provide engine flush service?
• Will doing so hamper my warranty? I car is under extended warranty till June 2019.

If anyone has used above mentioned oils, it would be great if they share their experience.

Image source: Amazon India.

Thank you in advance

[KkVaidya]

Originally Posted by ShubhamGhute

Hello folks,

My 2015 Polo GT TDI is due for its 3rd service in coming months. I am not that happy with castrol magnatec 5w40 engine oil.

Hello Shubham Ghute: Can you please explain why you are not satisfied with a engine oil?
Any approved grade of oil should be good unless you do not follow the change interval. Any smoothness or roughness feeling is in the mindset as it is not too significant to be noticed even for a keen observer.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Unless you have a close relationship with your service centre, I don't think your wishes will be met.

Oil may be the most important moving part in your car. Whatever the compatibility, and even though we may top up with another brand in between services, I think it would matter very much if a major warranty issue should occur.

I also think that the loss of the dealer markup will be most unwelcome to them!

When our warranties expire... We can go independent and then please ourselves about such things.

[ShubhamGhute]

Originally Posted by KkVaidya

Hello Shubham Ghute: Can you please explain why you are not satisfied with a engine oil?

A close friend of mine has a 2014 polo 1.5 TDI which is not in its top shape and has clocked 85k kms. He gets his car serviced from FNG and uses 5w40 shell hilux engine oil with liqui molly ceratec friction modifier. Even though my car is very well maintained his car was much smoother and eager to drive. Low end response was quite noticeably superior even though mine is a GT TDI which has 15bhp and 20nm extra power at its disposal.

This wasn’t just a game of mindset. His car was really very smooth and he recommends shell. Hence wanted to switchover to shell/liqui molly.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Unless you have a close relationship with your service centre, I don't think your wishes will be met.

Oil may be the most important moving part in your car. Whatever the compatibility, and even though we may top up with another brand in between services, I think it would matter very much if a major warranty issue should occur.

When our warranties expire... We can go independent and then please ourselves about such things.

I have close relations with VW Satara where I get my car serviced. Will have a talk with SA. Hope he agrees on my demands. IMHO as long as oil grade (5w40 fully synthetic) is same there won’t be any issue. VAG cars earlier recommended shell. I know this because my skoda yeti had ‘skoda recommends shell’ sticker inside hood.

Lets hope VW permits me to use Shell/Liqui molly engine oil.

Thank you

[KkVaidya]

Originally Posted by ShubhamGhute

A close friend of mine has a 2014 polo 1.5 TDI which is not in its top shape and has clocked 85k kms. He gets his car serviced from FNG and uses 5w40 shell hilux engine oil with liqui molly ceratec friction modifier. Even though my car is very well maintained his car was much smoother and eager to drive. Low end response was quite noticeably superior even though mine is a GT TDI which has 15bhp and 20nm extra power at its disposal.

This wasn’t just a game of mindset. His car was really very smooth and he recommends shell. Hence wanted to switchover to shell/liqui molly.

I am sure it is not the oil that can make a difference you can feel.
Its all the marketing by oil companies of making your engine smooth.
How can an engine become smooth by using a reputed make oil? Just think that will the pistons moving inside the cylinder get resistance from Oil which is the same grade as any other reputed make? Not possible - if the grade remains same the purpose of protections is fulfilled.

[halfbytecode]

Originally Posted by ShubhamGhute

...
I was considering to switch from castrol to Shell hilux 5w40 or Liqui molly 5w40.
...

It is recommended to only use engine oil conforming to VW 505.01 spec. Apart from Castrol Magnatec Professional OE 5W-40, Liqui Moly TopTec 4100 5W-40 and Motul 8100 X-Clean 5W-40 conform to VW 505.01 specification.

[ShubhamGhute]

Originally Posted by KkVaidya

I am sure it is not the oil that can make a difference you can feel.
Its all the marketing by oil companies of making your engine smooth.
How can an engine become smooth by using a reputed make oil? Just think that will the pistons moving inside the cylinder get resistance from Oil which is the same grade as any other reputed make? Not possible - if the grade remains same the purpose of protections is fulfilled.

Dear, you might be correct but, I know my friend’s car from the day one. Infact I was the only one to accompany him for delivery back in 2014. He also believed that, all oils(similar grade) are same and moving from castrol to another brand might not be that different untill he did so. Moderator Gannu also dumped castrol and used motul and Liqui molly toptech. He also reported the change in engine’s behaviour.

Oils are manufactured by various companies. They use similar but not identical refining techniques and equipments. Hence even oils of similar grade but by different brands might provide better lubrication to engine. So to conclude, different oils do make a noticeable difference in engine’s performance and NHV(to some extent) and those aren’t just marketing gimmicks.

Originally Posted by halfbytecode

It is recommended to only use engine oil conforming to VW 505.01 spec. Apart from Castrol Magnatec Professional OE 5W-40, Liqui Moly TopTec 4100 5W-40 and Motul 8100 X-Clean 5W-40 conform to VW 505.01 specification.

Thank you for your valuable input. Will surely look forward for oil which is conforming to VW 505.01 specifications.

[redcruiser]

Originally Posted by ShubhamGhute

Oils are manufactured by various companies. They use similar but not identical refining techniques and equipments. Hence even oils of similar grade but by different brands might provide better lubrication to engine. So to conclude, different oils do make a noticeable difference in engine’s performance and NHV(to some extent) and those aren’t just marketing gimmicks.

Very true. Even I took Motul Excess engine oil with me for my 2nd annual service of my Polo but the service centre refused to accommodate any such wishes. They didn't even give them in writing why they are refusing me to fill in the same grade of engine oil.
I would suggest you to follow few tricks -

1. Before booking for service ask them if you could use your own engine oil with the exact specification. Or else you would go to some other service centre.
2. Probably the best thing is to shoot an email to vw customer care regarding this and obtain a green signal from them. Mostly the service guys say that this diktat of Castrol engine oil comes from the VW management but it is profits that they are so worried.

[VKumar]

When I sold my 1.5 TDi HL, it was as good as new with 84k on odo and had gone through 8 services (I follow 10k for oil change and 5k for inspection), every time used only and solely the Castrol 5W-40, but I was very clear that:
1) Only canned engine oil - nothing from the barrel
2) I will open it myself
3) Oil change will be done right in front of my eyes

I got a wonderful resale value and equally happy is the new owner with the car. I never used any additive or any kind of suggested oil etc. Heck, even my first set of tyres lasted 78k kms.

Coming to my petrol Polo, I want to clean the injectors and someone suggested me that I can used Iftex system G in my VW Polo by putting 50 ml of it in a full tank of petrol. Anyone here used any additive in the petrol car? If yes, then which one and what were the effects other than the placebo? I absolutely love my Polo P for the responsiveness on offer and the wonderful steering and gearshifts, just want things to feel smoother.

[KkVaidya]

Originally Posted by VKumar

Coming to my petrol Polo, I want to clean the injectors and someone suggested me that I can used Iftex system G in my VW Polo by putting 50 ml of it in a full tank of petrol. Anyone here used any additive in the petrol car? If yes, then which one and what were the effects other than the placebo? I absolutely love my Polo P for the responsiveness on offer and the wonderful steering and gearshifts, just want things to feel smoother.

I have used Iftex System G and it makes the engine run smoother. But the dilution is 1ml per 1 litre. Polo has a 45 liter tank so 45ml for a full tank

[Ferrariwell]

Hi
I'm facing a voltage fluctuation issue with my 2011 polo 1.6. Whenever after a long run the car heats up and the radiator fan comes on and I turn on the high beam all the electronics cut out for a second including the speedo and power steering. My battery was last changed in November of 2016 and this has been happening for a while now so I doubt it's a weak battery. Also sometimes when I switch off the AC I can feel the brake pedal going from really hard to soft I don't know if these two could be connected but with the AC on even the biting point of the clutch changes or maybe the throttle input I'm not sure as with the AC on there are slight jerks while shifting gears. Has anyone else faced this issue ?
My passenger seat tends to vibrate a lot as well and the entire car in general at idle engine speed. There was a recall issued sometime in 2012 for weak engine mounts on the 1.6 polo has anyone got theirs changed recently? I feel mine are on their way out.

[karansm4u]

It seems there are multiple things you are pointing towards
1. Vibrations, Do get you engine mount checked. I faced same issue in my car and after changing engine mount things were normal. Issues were vibration during car start, low speed cruising etc. Open the hood and start car or press padel you will see it yourself might be a good way to check.

2. Battery, Get your alternators checked in. I faced problem where ac and other instrument went off on its own. Display in music system was also showing battery charge and MID was kept on showing battery icon. The problem was not with battery but with alternator not able to hive proper voltage to charge it. Its easy to check, go to fng and they can check voltage coming to battery terminal after car is started. Mine was Coming as 11.5 which was low I think you need 12.5+

[McLaren Rulez]

Quick question: Don't have access to my car at the moment but someone needs to do some work that involves removing the front seats. What type of screws hold the front seat rails to the floor in your Polo? To check, you have to move the front seat all the way forward and the seat rail screws become visible.

Some sources say its Philips head screws but others say it's Torx screws. It seems to be market dependent and I'm not sure which ones are used in India.

[KkVaidya]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

Some sources say its Philips head screws but others say it's Torx screws. It seems to be market dependent and I'm not sure which ones are used in India.

Mine has Torx (i.e. star shape) screws all over.

[Ferrariwell]

Originally Posted by karansm4u

It seems there are multiple things you are pointing towards
1. Vibrations, Do get you engine mount checked. I faced same issue in my car and after changing engine mount things were normal. Issues were vibration during car start, low speed cruising etc. Open the hood and start car or press padel you will see it yourself might be a good way to check.

2. Battery, Get your alternators checked in. I faced problem where ac and other instrument went off on its own. Display in music system was also showing battery charge and MID was kept on showing battery icon. The problem was not with battery but with alternator not able to hive proper voltage to charge it. Its easy to check, go to fng and they can check voltage coming to battery terminal after car is started. Mine was Coming as 11.5 which was low I think you need 12.5+

Hi
With regard to the vibrations my case is exactly the same it only tends to happen at low speed. I did try the method prescribed by you but didn't notice anything abnormal as such.

My head unit has also also shown the low battery sign but only once when the car was idle and the ignition was not on. The AC and other electronics have never cut out completely ever so far only for a few seconds at max. I had this issue once before as well it was traced to a rusty earth wire in the engine at that time it was cleaned and put back.

If you don't mind me asking how much did a new alternator & a set of engine mounts end up costing you ? Also is it a complicated affair removing the engine mounts ?
Thanks for the reply!