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2019 GTI Requires 508 spec 0W-20 oil

octaxguy13

New member
Location
Orange County
OK now I am a little bit scared. I have a 2019 GTI Rabbit and I put in 6 quarts of Castrol 0w-40 502 VW approved oil. Is anything going to happen? Did I do something wrong? It said European formula and is A3/B4 approved.
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
OK now I am a little bit scared. I have a 2019 GTI Rabbit and I put in 6 quarts of Castrol 0w-40 502 VW approved oil. Is anything going to happen? Did I do something wrong? It said European formula and is A3/B4 approved.

I don't think so and welcome to the forum.
 

dequardo

Autocross Newbie
Location
America’s Dairyland
Car(s)
‘21 GLI Autobahn GLI
You’ll get lots of conflicting advice here. Mine is to change it out to 508 spec during the warranty period.
 

RennWerks

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Hither n Yon
OK now I am a little bit scared. I have a 2019 GTI Rabbit and I put in 6 quarts of Castrol 0w-40 502 VW approved oil. Is anything going to happen? Did I do something wrong? It said European formula and is A3/B4 approved.
1) You needn't be scared, or even concerned for that matter, despite the prognostications soon to appear here advising you that your engine warranty is shot. Nothing untoward is going to happen, and you can take comfort in the fact that you happened to choose the brand and oil weight recommended by VW AG for years for use in the EA888 engine series. Castrol's 0W-40 weight oil an excellent product with superior chemistry. (If you doubt that, Google "Castrol 0W-40 oil weight" with "bobistheoilguy.com," and you can read pages upon pages regarding the use of Castrol's 0W-40 in Mk7 GTIs.) You are also likely to discover, if you already haven't, that the engine stalling problem others have experienced, you won't.

Do us all a favor and report back months from now regarding your non-event experience.
 

GroceryGTIer

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Tri-state
1) You needn't be scared, or even concerned for that matter, despite the prognostications soon to appear here advising you that your engine warranty is shot. Nothing untoward is going to happen, and you can take comfort in the fact that you happened to choose the brand and oil weight recommended by VW AG for years for use in the EA888 engine series. Castrol's 0W-40 weight oil an excellent product with superior chemistry. (If you doubt that, Google "Castrol 0W-40 oil weight" with "bobistheoilguy.com," and you can read pages upon pages regarding the use of Castrol's 0W-40 in Mk7 GTIs.) You are also likely to discover, if you already haven't, that the engine stalling problem others have experienced, you won't.

Do us all a favor and report back months from now regarding your non-event experience.
Actually, there’s a reflash for the stalling problem rather than the oil
 

octaxguy13

New member
Location
Orange County
Rennworks, I spoke with the jiffy lube guy and he said that because of the use of a 0w-40 oil compared to the recommended 0w-20 that they had that my car will be working 3x as hard and suffer 3x worse fuel economy and performance. I asked him if my cars engine will become damaged and he wouldnt answer. I have been monitoring the oil temps and its solid at 221-223 degrees fahrenheit. My coolant goes to the middle and is at 200. I dont know where else to look to see if anything else has been affected negatively.
 

RennWerks

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Hither n Yon
octaxguy13: I'll say it again: Until 2019, VW AG recommended either 0W-40 or 5W-40 weight oil for the EA888 series engine. For years. Why the change to 0W-20? To improve Volkswagen's average fleetwide fuel mileage results. This was done in order to avoid potential financial penalties for every MPG or portion thereof that its fleet of vehicles sold in this country missed the prescribed CAFE fuel standard. (Footnote: For the better part of two decades Honda and Toyota have been selling their fleetwide energy credits for tens of millions of dollars each year.) Volkswagen doesn't really care whether you, with your particular driving habits, average a .1 MPG better fuel mileage, but the V-Dub boys sure as hell want to avoid being fined if their fleet of vehicles fails to achieve the results they project annually to the Fed government.

But let's go at this another way: If your "Jiffy Lube guy" were a tribologist, then arguably his opinion regarding your engine's performance might have some persuasive value. However, because he is, in fact, a "Jiffy Lube guy," I wouldn't give his opinion regarding your engine's performance a lot of credibility. As in none whatsoever. Indeed, the notion that a 0W-40 weight oil would result in "3x worse fuel economy" (a nonsensical remark), or that your engine will be working three times as hard is, in a word, ludicrous. Were that even conceivable, then why wouldn't VW AG have recommended 0W-20 weight years ago in order to achieve three times better fuel mileage and three times less engine wear?

If this really concerns you, change your oil. I don't believe that's necessary or advisable, but it's your decision. If you wish to read more on this subject, as I mention before, bobistheoilguy.com is a good place to start. See, e.g., https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/forums/48/1/european-and-import-motor-oils
 

KevinC

Autocross Champion
Location
The land of Wyatt Earp & Doc Holliday
Car(s)
'19 Golf R, '21 M2c
I spoke with the jiffy lube guy and he said ....

 

dequardo

Autocross Newbie
Location
America’s Dairyland
Car(s)
‘21 GLI Autobahn GLI
And ignorance. There may well be good ones out there but this isn’t one. There’s likely close to zero risk leaving the 0w-40 there unless as I mentioned you’d have to have warranty work that would be oil involved. What you should note is that 508 spec oil has a colored dye in it.
 

KevinC

Autocross Champion
Location
The land of Wyatt Earp & Doc Holliday
Car(s)
'19 Golf R, '21 M2c
I sense the jiffy lube guy is prone to massive exaggeration.....

I can't believe someone invoked "jiffy lube guy". The only question he should be asked - maybe - is what fast food joints are located nearby. 50/50 chance of getting a reliable answer on that one. Near zero on anything car-related.

I'm gonna run Castrol euro formula 0W-40 in my new R, same I ran in the '16 R. The sticker under the hood calls for 0W-30 with 504 approval. But the owner's manual conflicts that and still calls for 502/505. So in the extremely unlikely event that anyone tried to blow me any crap over a warranty claim, I'd simply point to the owner's manual.
 

dequardo

Autocross Newbie
Location
America’s Dairyland
Car(s)
‘21 GLI Autobahn GLI
New R as in 2019? If so my manual
shows different oil spec 502/504 with either 5w30 or 5w40.
 
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