# Had to Put in 05W30 Oil: Did I Screw Up My Tiguan 2020 Warranty?



## Inpd (Nov 30, 2020)

I bought my Tiguan in Oct 2020 I've done 7000 miles.

I was driving home after a road trip, 300 miles from home and I get a "Check Oil Warning". Pull over and the oil is just below the very bottom of the allowable range. This is odd as I don't recall it being even low a few months ago.

All the local gas stations had was 05W30 not the 00W30 that the manual recommends so I put in a quart and made it home. I monitored the oil temperature all the way home. Normally its 210F but it got up to (in the last 10 miles) up to 212 and even 214 when I got home.

So two questions:

a) Did putting in the 05W30 mess up my engine? I read online that Audi recommends mixing 05W30 and 00W30 hence why I bought the 05W30.
b) I"m due for a oil change in a month. Will VW know I used a non-standard oil and do anything about the warranty? Should I tell them I put in the 05W30?

Any suggestions on what to do next?

Thanks.


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## sp4c3m4nsp1ff17 (Feb 6, 2008)

A) check your manual on oil - iirc they say that in an emergency a small amount of other weight oil can be used
B) the dealer will not know - they're not going to do an oil analysis or anything
C) Check your oil every 1k miles or so from now on. There have been multiple stories of these engines burning oil. I add 1-2 qts over the 7500 miles I run between oil changes.

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk


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## MightyDSM (Apr 16, 2006)

a) no
b) no


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## Inpd (Nov 30, 2020)

sp4c3m4nsp1ff17 said:


> C) Check your oil every 1k miles or so from now on. There have been multiple stories of these engines burning oil. I add 1-2 qts over the 7500 miles I run between oil changes.


Thanks. To be clear, this oil burn happens to just a few engines and its a cause for concern or just something you live with? Curious if the oil burn is a precursor to other long term issues.


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## sp4c3m4nsp1ff17 (Feb 6, 2008)

Inpd said:


> Thanks. To be clear, this oil burn happens to just a few engines and its a cause for concern or just something you live with? Curious if the oil burn is a precursor to other long term issues.


I've asked my dealer to take a look at it but VW considers burning 1 qt every 1,000 miles "normal", so they won't do anything about it. I don't think its a huge deal to check the oil every now and then so I don't mind too much. For your info, this is from the manual:

If you need to add oil and there is none available that meets the Volkswagen oil quality standard your engine requires, you may add *a total of no more than 1/2 quart (0.5 liter)* of an engine oil that meets ACEA A3/B4 and API SN specifications and has a viscosity grade of SAE 0W-20.

OR: if there is no oil available that has a viscosity grade of SAE 0W-20, you may add a total of no more than 1/2 quart (0.5 liter) of an engine oil that meets the oil quality standard VW 502 00 or VW 504 00 and has a viscosity grade of SAE 0W-30, SAE 5W-30, or SAE 5W-40.


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## Inpd (Nov 30, 2020)

Thanks. But that's weird because my Tiguan 2020 manual says 00 w30



sp4c3m4nsp1ff17 said:


> I've asked my dealer to take a look at it but VW considers burning 1 qt every 1,000 miles "normal", so they won't do anything about it. I don't think its a huge deal to check the oil every now and then so I don't mind too much. For your info, this is from the manual:
> 
> If you need to add oil and there is none available that meets the Volkswagen oil quality standard your engine requires, you may add *a total of no more than 1/2 quart (0.5 liter)* of an engine oil that meets ACEA A3/B4 and API SN specifications and has a viscosity grade of SAE 0W-20.
> 
> OR: if there is no oil available that has a viscosity grade of SAE 0W-20, you may add a total of no more than 1/2 quart (0.5 liter) of an engine oil that meets the oil quality standard VW 502 00 or VW 504 00 and has a viscosity grade of SAE 0W-30, SAE 5W-30, or SAE 5W-40.


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## MightyDSM (Apr 16, 2006)

Inpd said:


> Thanks. But that's weird because my Tiguan 2020 manual says 00 w30


You're stressing over this and overthinking too much. 5w30 or 0w30 is fine, your engine isn't going to blow up, and you're not going to get sent to Guantanamo for lying to VW

Also read up on differences between oil viscosities and what those numbers mean so you're not having any more panic attacks in the future.


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## Goingnowherefast (Dec 7, 2014)

LOL. You're overthinking this. 

A. They won't be able to find out 
B. They aren't going to test the viscosity of your oil at the dealership haha
C. People run 5W-30 in vehicles that call for 0W-20 all day without problems - example: half the GT86 world


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## Inpd (Nov 30, 2020)

I'm guessing you have never owned a MB and know the dreaded Mercedes 229.5 specifications ... That puts the fear of god into you with regard to oil types and changes!



Goingnowherefast said:


> LOL. You're overthinking this.
> 
> A. They won't be able to find out
> B. They aren't going to test the viscosity of your oil at the dealership haha
> C. People run 5W-30 in vehicles that call for 0W-20 all day without problems - example: half the GT86 world


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## IbsFt (Dec 15, 2018)

Was the oil you added 502 or 504 spec? I'd be more concerned about mixing oil chemistries than the viscosity difference. If you're keeping the car you might want to do an oil change soon. Given the concerns over the oil chemistry's contribution to LSPI and intake valve deposits I'm sticking with the 508 spec that VW requires. I really don't care about the viscosity until someone shows solid proof that 0W-20 increases engine wear in the 2.0 in our Tigs compared to 5W-30 or whatever. Luckily our car still uses no oil in the 5K miles between changes. We are almost at 30K miles.














LSPI: Low-Speed Pre-Ignition - DSPORT Magazine


While this issue is annoying and power robbing, Low Speed Pre-Ignition, or LSPI, is a more serious issue that can cause catastrophic engine damage.




dsportmag.com


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## Helical (Jul 23, 2021)

Correct take. the oil spec is the most critical.
504.00- 0w-30, the older 504.00 was 5w-30.

Adding 1 quart of 5w-30 to the 0w-30 will not be the end of the world especially if you have purchased 504.00 5w-30.



IbsFt said:


> Was the oil you added 502 or 504 spec? I'd be more concerned about mixing oil chemistries than the viscosity difference. If you're keeping the car you might want to do an oil change soon. Given the concerns over the oil chemistry's contribution to LSPI and intake valve deposits I'm sticking with the 508 spec that VW requires. I really don't care about the viscosity until someone shows solid proof that 0W-20 increases engine wear in the 2.0 in our Tigs compared to 5W-30 or whatever. Luckily our car still uses no oil in the 5K miles between changes. We are almost at 30K miles.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Inpd (Nov 30, 2020)

Thanks here's the bottle


Helical said:


> Correct take. the oil spec is the most critical.
> 504.00- 0w-30, the older 504.00 was 5w-30.
> 
> Adding 1 quart of 5w-30 to the 0w-30 will not be the end of the world especially if you have purchased 504.00 5w-30.


Good question, it's this oil https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/CHVQT46723 but for the love me I can't find out its 504.00 or something else.

Anyway, I'm getting the oil changed at the dealer next Tuesday and not driving it in the mean time.

Thanks again.


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## IbsFt (Dec 15, 2018)

The 508 spec oil is full synthetic, the oil in the link is regular oil which is definitely not 502, 504 or 508. Since the 508 spec oil is hard to find anywhere other than the dealer I'd recommend buying a quart or two next time you're at the dealer. We just did a 2,500 mile round trip and before leaving I threw a quart in the rear door pocket just in case it needed any.

Castrol said they were coming out with a 508 spec oil for the retail market, but I don't think that's happened yet. VW switched to Mobil and Mobil does have a 508 spec oil for retail sale,
Mobil 1 ESP x2 0W-20, but I haven't found anywhere that stocks it yet.


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## gerardrjj (Sep 4, 2014)

great video about viscocities and what happens when you swap them around


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## Inpd (Nov 30, 2020)

Follow up by OP

So I took it into the dealer. No issue as some of you mentioned in that they didn't know I used a non-VW spec oil. Now they did say burning a quart of oil before the FIRST oil change is normal but NOT after that.

I did notice that after adding a quart of 05-30 (non-standard) oil the oil temperature on highway runs was upto 214-216F but after the oil change its down to the regular 210-212. Probably insignificant but there was a difference.

Thanks for all your help.


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## schagaphonic (Aug 24, 2008)

I remembered having to add a quart of non-specific 0w20 and immediately noticed a 2mpg drop in fuel economy which is unusual for my driving.
After 2 tanks of fuel, I changed the oil myself with the VW oil and the fuel economy perked back up to it's normal range.
Didn't make much sense, but I don't mess with different brands unless they're specific for our cars.


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## ottomaddick (Jan 17, 2012)

I read, perhaps here somewhere, that the manual transmission engine shutdowns in 2019 nd 2020 GTI's were partially attributable to the 0-20W oil affecting something. I am attempting to find that thread. My car experienced 2 such shutdowns between 600 and 1900 miles. After much research and investigation, I changed my oil (about 2000 miles) to a different Vis oil (meeting other VW specifications) and I never had the problem. Like many, I received and complied with a VW recall to reflash the ecu. That was about 5000 miles. It remains a non-issue. I am not an oil engineer and no amount of Holiday Inn stays will make me any smarter on oil. But it is interesting that of all the engines I have ever owned, including BMW, Mercedes, 2 different VW diesels, Honda and Kawalski Sportbikes and some beefy V8's, this E888 has ONE viscosity regardless of environment. Conspiracy to accelerate the wear of the engine? It wouldn't be the first time VW did something questionable. But who (besides VW) knows? 

Those in the "Community" saying to use X or Y or even Z viscosity have no exposure to risk if MY engine goes kaboom. With the oil I am using, I get around 33-34 MPG driving 75MPH with an oil temp registering between 208 (70mphish) and 217 (78ish MPH) and that is an extended 60 minute commute on I-95 twice a day. That is actually down from the 221-225 I was seeing prior to the change. I also installed a WORTEC aluminum pan, replacing the plastic pan, adding an additional 1.7 ltrs of oil. That could have more to do with the lower temps then the viscosity change though...

Without someone from VW actually expressing the significance of the 0-20W oil requirement, it's largely speculation as to what damage, if any will be incurred with use of say 0-40W oil. In fact, I have posed just such a question to VW about a hypothetical track car with the 2020 E888 engine. Unfortunately, they probably saw right through my charade and tossed my (snail) mail into the round file. Maybe I should have written it in Spanish? If only there were some well resourced YouTuber to forensically tear down a 2020 GTI engine that had used 5-30W oil....


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