Hey everyone

Alright i have a quick question for ya. I have been reading on the forum and it seems most people get their oil changed about every 5000 miles. I know audi suggests once every year or 10,000 miles but im young and i drive my car pretty hard soo this seems like a long time to wait. I just called my dealership and made an appointment for an oil change tomorrow and the woman seemed baffled that i wanted to have my oil changed. So my question is..

1) am i doing the right thing changing the oil now or should i really wait?

2) would changing the oil early really hurt the car in any way, or is more so a waste of money on my part for being paranoid.

 

I change mine every 5k. I think 10k is way to long.

 

We need Shipo, the god of oil to respond to this question! Put oil in your title next time!

 

So, what's the correct OCI for a 2.0T? He-he, that's a million dollar question.

First, a couple of "givens":
[ul][*]Every engine (not engine type, I'm talking every individual engine) abuses its oil differently from every other engine.[*]Every environment causes the oil to be affected in unique ways that can affect its useful life.[*]Every driver in unique in how they drive and as such, the actions of said driver can dramatically affect how long oil should be left in an engine.[/ul]

So, with the "givens" out of the way, I'll tell you what I've learned regarding 2.0T Oil Change Intervals (OCIs):
The Used Oil Analysis reports (UOAs) that I've read for this particular engine design indicate (as a general statement) that lots of hard driving and/or lots of short trips causes the oil to become fuel diluted to an unacceptable level somewhere between five and seven thousand miles. The flip side of course are the UOAs that I've read from folks who have a long steadyspeed commute indicating that even ten thousand miles is a bit conservative (especially if you use Mobil 1 0W-40 which has the highest TBN of any 503.01 certified oil that I've heard about).

I'm thinking that if any given car is driven "normally" (i.e. decent length trips that allow the engine to fully warm, and not a lot of racing), then a 7,500 mile OCI would be a good place to start. Drive harder and/or shorter distances, shorten the OCI to 5,000 miles. Drive long distances at a stretch, push the oil further.

With the above fresh in your mind, please remember that it is advice that is worth exactly what you paid for it. The only absolutely sure way to exactly determine what is the best OCI for any given engine in any given car with any given set of drivers is to send the oil out and have it analyzed a couple of times. If/when my wife and/or I buy an A3, I'll be sure to have the first oil change performed on schedule at the 5,000 mile mark, and then "augment" the 15,000 and 25,000 mile oil services with an intermediate 5,000 mile change (i.e. at 10,000 and 20,000 miles). I will then send out a sample of the 25,000 mile oil (which will probably Mobil 1 0W-40) and have it tested. Assuming that the Total Base Number (TBN) is still strong (it should be very strong), and assuming the fuel dilution isn't too high (i.e. less than 2%), I'll extend my next OCI to 7,500 miles, and resubmit a sample. If the second still shows that it'sgot enough life left in it, I'll shoot for 10,000 miles. Needless to say, I'll keep y'all posted.

 

Haha i know i should have mentioned something about oil in the title i just felt bad it seems like there's allot of oil questions. It seems that most people on the forum do it every 5k i don't know if anyone is familiar with reeves in tampa but they have been great i am going question them to make sure there not putting any bulk conventional oil in the car. I think it will be a good idea to change it at 5k. if it turns out to be a bad idea i can always go back to the 10k change.

 

I just checked my email and they actually sent me a message reminding me that i didn't need any service until 14,897k and if i wanted to cancel to just email them back........I think ill just get it

 

Oil changes are cheap insurance. There is no harm to the car with increased oil change frequency.

 

well i dont know what kind of oil audi uses but i use synthetic oil and it is said to change it every 5000 miles or so regluer oil is every 3000 miles, but if you can change your oil frecuently thats good just check the oil and see how it looks like if it looks too burnt change it,

 

How an oil "looks" has virtually nothing to do with how well it protects your engine. You could easily have a nice clear amber oil that is absolutely worthless at protecting an engine, meanwhilea good high quality synthetic could be as black as night and still be completely up to the task of lubricating all them moving parts, even under the harshest driving conditions.

 

well the point was if your oil looks dark it means you drove that oil for a while, and its burnt, anice clean oil would be better ,woeuldnt it? sythetic is always better. yes but the oil that is on the dipstick is the oil thats circulateing through your pistons so if its dark that means you drove it for a while kinda like a torrtilla in a a pan the longer you leave it the darker burnt it gets so put a new one on.