2006 jetta tdi oil change

This is long winded, but search the Internet if you do not believe me as I personally experienced this and with my car being 2 years old VW dealer wanted $7200+ for repairing head. I never missed an oil change with correct VW oil that is recommended by VW in this write up. My very knowledgeable service man recommended heavier 40 weight AMSOIL due to below problems.

A common problem in VW and Audi TDI with pumpe duse TDI engines (PD) are worn camshaft lobes, lifters (camshaft followers), and bearings. If you have a 2004-2005 VW Passat TDI (BHW), 2004-2005 Jetta (BEW), 2004-2006 Golf, New Beetle (BEW), 2005.5-2006 Jetta (BRM), or V10 Touareg TDI, you have a PD engine. Pumpe duse technology was also found in other markets with other engines years before and after North American availability. It's unknown if the V10 Touareg has this problem since there were so few sold and it uses a completely different cylinder head design than the 4 cylinder engines. Unit injector (generic name for pumpe duse) technology is also used on a few non VW/Audi diesel engines.

The major difference between pumpe duse VW/Audi TDI engines and other TDI engines is the unit fuel injectors which are actuated by the camshaft. Because there's limited space on the cylinder head, pumpe duse engines sacrificed valve lobe width to fit the extra lobe for the fuel injector rockers. See 1000q: direct injection and pumpe duse for more details on how the fuel injection system works.

VW recommends engine oil VW spec 505.01 for pumpe duse engines but if was only an engine oil problem it doesn't explain why there isn't even wear across all lobes and why some engines are not affected. Camshaft wear is an issue in both North America and Europe. See 1000q: TDI engine oils for a list. 5w-40 oil should provide more protection than 5w-30 and it can slow, but not repair engine wear.

The exact reason for excess wear is unknown but contributing factors could be manufacturing defects, poor design, thin engine oil, insufficient oiling at the bearing, incorrect specification oil used, or other factors. Some believe that even using the recommended specification engine oil won't help because of low zinc phosphorous in modern engine oils. ZDDP engine oil additive would add zinc but shorten catalytic converter life. It's unknown if this makes a significant difference over the long term. Regardless of the exact cause, the fact is that symptoms usually aren't noticeable until the car is out of warranty. If the car is under warranty, this is definitely something that should be covered.

Editorial speculation: It appears that #1 and 4 intake lobes are more likely to wear first. Franko6 has a theory that that the factory torque spec on the rocker bolts is too high. The rockers don't go all the way to the end of the cap and when combined with other factors such as insufficient oiling, slight warping could be a contributing factor to camshaft lobe wear. This is just a guess and I am not a professional mechanic or engineer - it also doesn't explain why only some engines get wear. There are modifications to the bearing cap that will increase oiling and might reduce wear (not just because of more lubrication but because oil takes away heat) but it hasn't been tested over the long term. Bearing caps are matched to the head and are not interchangeable. There are also the option of performance camshafts from KermaTDI linked in the parts section. Feel free to post in the myturbodiesel forum for more details. Any non factory modification or torque spec is done at your own risk!

VW installed a mix of black nitrided hardened lifters and silver color non nitrided lifters across model years. VW probably recognized there was a problem and changed the lifters. As far as I'm aware, all mk4 PD engines came with silver lifters. Early mk5 came with silver and then half silver/half black lifters because I'm guessing they wanted to save money and use the older ones or get by with minimal changes. All replacement lifters should be black. PD cylinder heads share many parts but the BEW engine has a shorter lobe and shorter duration vs. the BRM and BHW. This means decreased contact time, a better oil film, and in theory, less chance of camshaft wear. While any SOHC PD camshaft will fit any SOHC PD head, using the wrong camshaft will change 2 major engine operations: long the valves are open and how the fuel injector rockers press the fuel injector. Both/either may result in sluggish engine response.

Consult the Owner's Manual, or view the oil specifications on the fill cal or dipstick (usually the fill cap) located under the hood. Depending upon mileage you may not want to vary from manufacture specifications, or risk voiding your vehicle's warranty should any remain. The VW TDI's are typically high maintenance engines. I would strongly recommend staying with the manufacture's oil specifications, and do not overfill the oil in your vehicle.