Have you ever heard of this happening. A friend has a 2004 Jetta TDI with 133k miles that just had to have the cam replaced. The car has always gotten the recommended 10k mile synthetic oil changes and they have all been performed at a dealer. At 130k the car wiped the cam out. The dealer said they've seen it once before. Has anyone else heard of 1.9s wiping out camshafts?

He was pissed needless to say. I suggested going to a higher zinc oil and change more often from now on.

__________________
68 280SL - 70 280SL - 70 300SEL 3.5 - 72 350SL - 72 280SEL 4.5 - 72 220 - 72 220D - 73 450SL - 84 230GE - 87 200TD - 90 190E 2.0 - 03 G500

Nissan GTR - Nissan Skyline GTS25T - Toyota GTFour - Rover Mini - Toyota Land Cruiser HJ60 - Cadillac Eldorado - BMW E30 - BMW 135i

yep those pd engines have to have a very specific oil.if you want more stories go to fred's tdi site (tdiclub.)

+10

"Regular" synthetic oil is not good enough.

You have to get the oil from the dealer.

It's got a funny name....something like..."103.102"

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

My GF has the '06 and I think it requires 505.015. It has warning stickers under the hood of serious damage to the engine if the correct oil is not used.

However, if the dealer is doing the changes, I would HOPE they knew the correct oil to use. I'm not sure though, as our local dealer seems to be clueless about most mechanical things...

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

He is aware of the specific oil, when he bought the car it wasn't available for purchase so he let the dealer do all of the changes. He had 13 oil changes done at $118 each. Hopefully they used the right stuff.

__________________
68 280SL - 70 280SL - 70 300SEL 3.5 - 72 350SL - 72 280SEL 4.5 - 72 220 - 72 220D - 73 450SL - 84 230GE - 87 200TD - 90 190E 2.0 - 03 G500

Nissan GTR - Nissan Skyline GTS25T - Toyota GTFour - Rover Mini - Toyota Land Cruiser HJ60 - Cadillac Eldorado - BMW E30 - BMW 135i

yeah, that's it. I was close though

__________________
Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

I bet you they did not use the proper oil but he will have a hard time proving it.

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

It's 505.01 that the PD TDI needs.

Castrol makes some, but theirs went from 10w-40 to 5w-30 shortly after we got the car. Motul makes a 5w-40, and I use that. It's more expensive than Castrol, but it's the only 40-grade 505.01 oil that I can find.

Matt, you are able to actually find 505.01 oil out in the real world?

I get my MB and VW oils and transmission fluid spec numbers mixed up when I'm pulling them from memory... I always double check when I do them for real though...

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

here is the story on Mobil One and Castrol synthetics. Due to this information, I'm into synthetics made from Group IV base stocks, NOT Group III.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-tech-performance/620326-full-synthetic-engine-oil-comparison-mobil-1-vs-castrol.html

I know several diesel owners who have been concerned with the latest CJ/SM spec oils that came out in the last few years, with significant reduction in the amount of ZDDP (zinc and phosphorous) - the primary anti-wear additive for camshafts and such.

If you do some research over on tdiclub, the camshaft failures in 04 and later PD engines seems to be blamed on two factors -

1 - the design of the PD camshaft, which has a very narrow contact area with the lifters, concentrating all the force in a very small area.

2 - the reduction of zinc and phosphorous levels, even in the VW-speced oil. Word is the EPA mandated longer life for catalytic converters in gas cars, and now with particulate filters on diesel exhausts. Easiest way for the OEM's to achieve this was by reducing zinc and phosphorous levels in the oil, which tends to clog up both from the blow-by oil getting burnt in the engine and sent out the exhaust. Thus the SM spec for gas engine oil, and the CJ spec for 07 and later diesels with exhaust particulate filters.

Many owners on tdiclub, and several other diesel forums (ie, Turbo Diesel Register for Dodge Cummins) have gone to adding ZDDP supplements to raise the zinc and phosphorous levels in their pre-07 diesels when they can't get ahold of pre-CJ spec oil - ie, CI-4+ or earlier.

FWIW, there are other design issues with the PD engine I've heard of - such as the timing chain and gear, which VW has come out with a rather expensive mod to fix. Might be worthwhile for your friend to do a little research and find out what other issues might be coming down the road.

As far as the oil issue, for me it's enough of a concern that I stick with CI-4+ spec diesel oils on both the 87 MB and the 05 Jeep CRD.

__________________
Just say "NO" to Ethanol - Drive Diesel

Mitchell Oates
Mooresville, NC
'87 300D 212K miles
'87 300D 151K miles - R.I.P. 12/08
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD 67K miles
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club

I run a zinc additive in my 300D, that 8.5 quarts is 8 quarts oil and then a .5 quart ZDDP additive.

What Zinc Additive do you guys recommend?

Which oils are CI-4+?

Some of this info is going to benefit my 300D more than his 1.9. I think his plan was to stick with dealer oil changes because that is part of his angry letter to VW. He paid top dollar for their recommendations and 6 years later the car has a pretty substantial engine problem.

__________________
68 280SL - 70 280SL - 70 300SEL 3.5 - 72 350SL - 72 280SEL 4.5 - 72 220 - 72 220D - 73 450SL - 84 230GE - 87 200TD - 90 190E 2.0 - 03 G500

Nissan GTR - Nissan Skyline GTS25T - Toyota GTFour - Rover Mini - Toyota Land Cruiser HJ60 - Cadillac Eldorado - BMW E30 - BMW 135i

Caterpillar still carries CI-4+ oil, the regular DEO grade, in 15W40 and supposedly 5W or 10W30, gallon jugs. You can get it at most any Caterpillar or OTR truck service center. I've seen Castrol GTX Diesel in the quart bottles 15W40 still CI-4+ at the auto parts stores as recently as last week. Depending on which Wal-Mart you hit, you can still find their Supertech 15W40 in the gallon jug still CI-4+.

If I remember correctly, Valvoline still sells Premium Blue Classic CI-4+ at Cummins service centers, but in a 5 gallon container.

As far as which ZDDP additive, can't speak as to which is best, but most readily available would seem to be by Redline - 16 oz bottle, and they have a chart on their website detailing PPM increase zinc/phosphorous by number of quarts.

As far as synthetic oils, probably more luck finding hen's teeth than a synthetic still rated CI-4+ or earlier.

In a pinch, most motorcycle oil still adhers to the older SG/SH/SJ gas engine specs - ie, high levels of zinc and phosphorous.

__________________
Just say "NO" to Ethanol - Drive Diesel

Mitchell Oates
Mooresville, NC
'87 300D 212K miles
'87 300D 151K miles - R.I.P. 12/08
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD 67K miles
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club

it sounds to me as if there may be a design issue with the VW that involves more than just motor oil..........

to me, a diesel engine should be more robust than a gasoline engine. it seems when one tries to build a "light" or "small" diesel engine one may be asking for trouble. check out a Mercedes Diesel engine. MASSIVE, built to take anything you throw at it. the term "Over engineered" comes to mind. make mine benz.

That was my friends point, diesels are supposed to be robust. He paid a premium for the brick ****house of a motor. He could have had twice the hp and less cost on a 1.8T if he wanted a motor he knew would die at 100k.

__________________
68 280SL - 70 280SL - 70 300SEL 3.5 - 72 350SL - 72 280SEL 4.5 - 72 220 - 72 220D - 73 450SL - 84 230GE - 87 200TD - 90 190E 2.0 - 03 G500

Nissan GTR - Nissan Skyline GTS25T - Toyota GTFour - Rover Mini - Toyota Land Cruiser HJ60 - Cadillac Eldorado - BMW E30 - BMW 135i