What oil for vr6, fully or semi?

[shakir91 10]

I'm sure this topic has been raised many times but I'm a bit confused as to what to go for after reading many posts.

 

Some people saying the vr6's aren't designed for fully synthetic and others say fully should be used if the car is driven hard and if it's a highly miler.

 

My vr6 is on 160,000miles and driven hard most times when I do drive it. Currently running 10w40 Mobil semi synthetic.

 

Would appreciate any advise or experiences

[fendervg 33]

I always use 10w40 semi-synth and have always used it on older VWs and Audis with no problem. Quantum is the dealer brand.You'll get lots of opinions on this. With a high miler you need to start looking at all your seals and gaskets as they are bound to be seeping. Fully synth can be too thin for an older engine where the tolerances aren't that tight.

[VAG-hag 0]

Viscosity is determined by the w (wt or weight is used by single grade oils) number not by the type ie mineral, semi or synthetic.

 

Multigrade oils have labels like "10w/40" or "20w/50". Their thickness changes with temperature, but they change the opposite way from single grade oils. A 10w-40 motor oil behaves like a 10 wt oil when cold and behaves like a 40 wt oil when hot. So it's thinner when cold and thicker when hot..... Which is nice.

 

mineral, semi and synth are all made from refined crude oil. Synth is then chemically altered to adjust its makeup and suit the specification it was designed for. Semi is a blend of both again to suit the requirement of application.

 

Fully synth oils are designed to be more stable, take more of a beating and perform better all round. Ie from cold and when hot.

 

So..... you pay your money you take your choice. Quantum 10w/40 (semi)as said above is a great oil, used by VW for our cars and is chirpy cheap. I used it for years in my vr before I went fi. I now use 10w/50 (synth) in my vrt which is reducing temp variation during hot runs and I believe is helping the engine run quieter on start up, it really is quiet now. The swap has caused no leaks aside from the bit I spilled when filling up :lol:

 

Is your car modded? How hot does the oil get when you are on a jolly?

[shakir91 10]

Car standard apart from an induction system. Driving normally, my oil temp hovers around 104-108 degrees Celsius and as soon I give it a bit of stick, creeps to around 114-124

[shakir91 10]

What seals should I be looking at to replace?

[seanl82 23]

Unless you have any oil leaks, I wouldn't be too concerned with replacing seals unless you want to for peace of mind. Cam cover gasket and sump gasket are easy enough to do, but you've gotta start stripping lots of things down to get to anything else. A simple oil and filter change with 10w-40 Quantum from VW will be perfectly fine, but if you want to lavish a bit more money on it, check out the Opie oil website for some 10w-50 like Fuchs Titan pro or similar. Check suppliers forum for discount code. 6 litres needed.

[VAG-hag 0]

Car standard apart from an induction system. Driving normally, my oil temp hovers around 104-108 degrees Celsius and as soon I give it a bit of stick, creeps to around 114-124

 

You should be fine with quantum 10w/40 by the sounds of it mate. You could fit an additional oil cooler too if you have concerns.

[swiftkid 1]

I wouldn't bother with fitting an external oil cooler with temps like that, I've heard people say they can barely keep the oil temps at proper running temperature during colder days. My VR ran similar temperatures but used a bit of oil so I opted for a 10w50 fully synthetic, from what I've read semi breaks down quicker than fully so if you are doing regular oil changes (not more than about 8k maybe?) then it will be fine.

 

I also read that the higher temps break down oils quicker, I think about 130 and above warrants a 10w50 but as its only for short bursts and not all day every day at high temps its not a problem

[shakir91 10]

Thanks for advise

[fendervg 33]

VRs will run hot anyway and were designed that way - oil temps up to about 110-115 are ok - anything much higher and you may have an issue with your cooling system if you are only running a standard engine. First suspect would be the oil cooler on the front of the block, as that's quite small for such a large engine.

[Mrbaldhead 10]

Im using 0W-40 fully and had no problems, oil temp sits at 85C normal and 95C when the right foot is planted on those country roads..