# 5w30 too thin in a vr6?



## biss101 (Feb 1, 2012)

*Help with oil light on a mk4 vr6*

hello all,
i have a 2000 vr6 gti, im curious to know if 5w30 dino oil is too thin of a weight and if its causing my oil light to come on. The car has a fresh oil pump on no more then 1200 miles on it a new oil sending unit and no sludge in the motor. The light comes on at random times in the lower rpm after driving the car for about 30 mins. Revving the car doesnt make the light go away and it doesnt come on when the engine is idle.

My question is what are the chances that the light is on for the wrong weight oil? car doesnt sound any different then it usually does and its had 5w30 all summer and the light is just now starting to come on 

has the continuous extreme heat broken down the viscosity of the 5w30 so now its extra thin?

all responses are welcome please help


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## biss101 (Feb 1, 2012)

I hooked up a mechanical oil pressure gauge to my car and the results are

at the first bar after 120 degrees on the coolant ( i think 1/8 ) the oil pressure read about 20psi at idle and once the car was warmed up the the gauge read around 15 psi at idle

around 40 psi at 2000 rpm and around 60 psi at 3000 rpm 

with the sensor unplugged and the oil gauge plugged up the light flashed at right under 2000 rpms everytime and didnt go off until the car went back to idle

the original problem included the car flashing the oil light and beeping at random times in the lower rpm under 2000 rpm once the car was warm never at idle and revving the engine didnt turn the light off it just went off on its own

car has an oil pump with less then 1500 miles on it and same for the whole chain setup 

oil light never came on within the 1500 miles that the oil pump has been on

there is a little noise coming from the pulley side of the motor could either be lifters intake manifold shift rod or possibly a pulley

no rattles on cold starts the car runs really rough for about 20-30 seconds and calms out to a smooth calm idle

In your opinion

could this be possibly a clogged pickup screen/ pick up tube?
bad oil flow instead of bad oil pressure
clogged oil passage ways
or anything else i'm possibly forgetting any help would be

greatly appreciated please respond


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## biss101 (Feb 1, 2012)

no help from anybody??


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## T Dog (May 22, 2014)

You have a mechanical issue that's best addressed on an engine forum. 

Yes, thicker oil will develop more pressure, but less flow.

I'd stick w/a 10w-40


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## dohc (Sep 28, 2001)

The lower the first number the better (though generally the larger the difference between the two numbers, the quicker the oil thins out over use/time. Personally I wouldn't use an oil with a delta larger then 35); so the 5w is fine. VR's run pretty hot, so a 30w in the summer is pushing it. I've run 30w conventional in my VR in the summer and an oil analysis said my copper count went up significantly, and thinned very quickly (Valvoline 5w30 conventional). I don't think your oil pressure light issue has much to do with the 30w oil, but it's not expensive to swap in some 5w40 and see if it costs itself.

BTW, I changed out the above mentioned oil at around only 2200km and suspected it because the chains got suspiciously louder. Your ear is a very good under utilized tool.


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## biss101 (Feb 1, 2012)

so basically youre suggesting to goto 5w40 conventional ? 

Also why does the temperature of outside matter if the coolant is operating in the same temperature zone?

I also didnt have this problem ay the beginning of the summer could it be the oil is wearing down at a faster rate due to the outside temps and the 30w oil?


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## T Dog (May 22, 2014)

15w-40 Track
10w-40 Summer
_5w-40 Winter
_0w-40 Arctic


QS Defy 10w-40

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/message...4855_key_140007079157_201203220840-312312.pdf


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## 2006_A3_2.0T (Jan 11, 2013)

T Dog said:


> 15w-40 Track
> 10w-40 Summer
> _5w-40 Winter
> _0w-40 Arctic
> ...


good info. What about the FSI?

we have mild winter and warm summer. Should I stick with 502.00 spec? what weight?

Mobil 1 5w40 isnt 502.00. But its safe to use it ?


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## T Dog (May 22, 2014)

Sure, any 5w-40. Here we have Shell Rotella T Synth, Chevron Delo Synth and Mobil 1 TDT 5w-40 all on the shelf at Wal Mart.

It's your choice to switch to 10w-40 dino in the summer. See, I maintain a bunch of car that I don't get paid back for, so when I can do an oil change with a $12 to $14 jug, I do it. 

You could try the 10w-30 HD oils, they are semi-syn, fwiw. That is if 40 weight slows down the engine a bit for you. 


10w-30 HD for winter and 10w-40 for summer? Maybe 10w-30 and 15w-40 of the same brand of HD oil would be another way to go, say Rotella...?


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