Audi Long Life servicing

Moanin

I have a 2011 (New Shape) Audi A6 2.0TDI and tend to get it serviced every 15k kms - normally twice per year. The oil the garage use in the 'long life' type. The car has 255k kms opn the clock and does approx. 100kms per day commuting. I'm wondering could I stretch out the service intervals to 30k kms per service?

What are peoples thoughts on this?

biko

From DIY to main forum.

rex-x

I really wouldnt if you are keeping it for any length of time

Moanin

rex-x wrote: »

I really wouldnt if you are keeping it for any length of time

Ya I'll probably keep it serviced every 15k kms. I do intend driving it for another while anyway

Toyotafanboi

They are capable of the 30k intervals, it's not a stretch. You don't really see many, if any cases of premature engine failures relating to overly degraded oil.

Sure 15k is better, 10k would be better again, 5k better again and changing the oil before every drove would be excellent but the law of diminishing returns applies.

If your commute is mainly motorway or steady driving, it's a particularly good candidate for 30k intervals.

Moanin

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

They are capable of the 30k intervals, it's not a stretch. You don't really see many, if any cases of premature engine failures relating to overly degraded oil.

Sure 15k is better, 10k would be better again, 5k better again and changing the oil before every drove would be excellent but the law of diminishing returns applies.

If your commute is mainly motorway or steady driving, it's a particularly good candidate for 30k intervals.

Thanks for your advice. Yes commute is 95% motorway and 5% city driving. I'm then just wondering about condition of air and oil filter if left for 30k kms....

Toyotafanboi

The air filter will be fine, it does very little work it's just a static item, the service interval on the air filter could be 60 or 90k kms anyway.

If the correct spec oil is used, those oil filters are designed to last 30k so it should be in serviceable condition until changed. It won't be perfect, it will be spent but that's what it's there to do.

SBPhoto

If you are doing 25k a year then the long life oil every 30k will be fine.
I have an A6 2.0TDI and i get it serviced every 25k. if i was doing smaller mileage say 15k then i would get it service every 15k shouldn't be any problem with air and oil filter, fuel filter is changed everu 60k approx

CJhaughey

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

The air filter will be fine, it does very little work it's just a static item, the service interval on the air filter could be 60 or 90k kms anyway.
.

I think you may be underestimating just how much work an air filter has to do.
A turbo diesel could be sucking 7.5m³ per minute x 60 =450m³ per hour. Thats a whole lot of air that is being cleaned by that filter.
As the filter clogs it reduces efficiency a lot.

Toyotafanboi

Those numbers, while impressive looking are a bit arbitrary though aren't they, what do they actually tell us except for that the intake sucks in air and that "this is a number it could be". It could also be "2".

Clogged is dramatic, you'd rarely see a filter clogged/ blocked. A few dry leaves and some shiney little flies and the filter media a little blackened is usually the extent of it and I'd say the performance difference between that and an out of the box filter would be imperceivable. It is designed to catch stuff so it must still work while stuff is caught in it and everything is designed around it still working while it has a reasonable amount of matter stuck in it.

Obviously it depends on useage and stuff but on a modern car that is a city/ motorway dweller an engine air filter can and does comfortably last far in excess of 30k kms.

rex-x

The oil is really the critical factor, 30k is just too long in my experience. The engine will survive but the turbo, camshaft etc won't thank you for it and with 260k already up I would stick to 15k intervals for oil at least!

Vw don't actually use a special oil for long life servicing it's just the same oil as they use for normal servicing left in longer but branded long life 507 00 or 504 00

CJhaughey

A description of the performance difference between a used air filter and a brand new one in terms of being imperceivable is pretty arbitrary as well, unless you can measure it your opinion is just that, an opinion.

You can calculate volumetric pass through on a car pretty accurately, its the cylinder volume and the revs it does plus the amount of extra air pushed in by the turbo. Even at the low end of the scale a 2.0 engine will still pump a lot of air.
Its not just flies and leaves you are worried about its the small stuff that you can't see like dust and silica that does the damage.
I wouldn't dismiss an air filter as an irrelevant item, they do an important job as diesels unlike petrols run on WoT all the time.
There is a big difference between 30k and 90k in terms of filter life, yes oil is important but filters are just behind in terms of importance.

mfceiling

I would change the oil every 15k tbh. If you think about it the oil is the lifeblood of the engine and in the grand scheme of things is actually not that expensive.
I take my wife's car (audi a6 also) down to George Dalton for servicing and he set the computer to register an oil change every 15k instead of every 30k.

FR85

What everyone here has said, 10-15k. I had the previous 2l TDI lump in a Seat Altea that was traded in with close to 400k on the clock and she was flying it. I did oil in that every 10k just to keep it in top nick. When trading it in the guys in the garage laughed, there was no more space in the service book so guys I had servicing started stamping the back cover and dating the stamps!!

Damien360

All Leaseplan diesels are on 30k intervals. My superb 2.0 (similar engine to OP) was set to 15k on dash. I rang Leaseplan and they said 30k. Rang Skoda and they said normal was 15k but Leaseplan have long life interval. It's the same oil. My car does 1000km a week so 15k was too short for me. I was always told that the high mile cars didn't need the short interval but I never thought about the air filter. Is it part of normal service to change air filter every time ?

Air filter in damp Irish conditions with no dust in the air will last almost forever before it get glogged. Water logging is actually the biggest worry. It's different in desert or other dusty conditions like working on a quarry. As of the service intervals: You have to be careful to use the correct spec oil. A semisyn 15W40 won't last enough but will break down and turn to sludge. It's important to have exactly the correct synthetic low ash stuff that meets the spec of your engine in the sump.

The modern engines have bigger oil volume and the oil is way more hard wearing. Also the oil filters have dramatically larger surface area to hold more contamination than in '80's where 10k oil changes were the norm. For example a Ford Escort CVH had 3.5 liters of 10W40 semi syn. and a tiny oil filter necessitating the 10k intervals. Total cost of service items 20 yoyo. A Merc Sprinter with 50k oil change intervals have a mahoosive filter element and 11.5 liters of expensive synthetic oil. The oil itself will cost some 100 yoyo per change so the cost is still competive and comparable to the 80's engines.

I would have no quibbles running the oil for 30k in OPs case and the air filter will be fine for 60-90k. Lots of cold starts and driving with a cold engine is what affects the oil more. Engine operating at relatively low load at optimum temperature on the 6th gear on the Irish motorway is probably the best case scenario for the oil.

Farfromhome02

I change my oil regularly,around 8000 km
Bit excessive perhaps but 5 litres of oil for 30 quid doesn't break the bank

It may be the correct thing to do if your driving is under severe conditions and you only cover for example that 8k in a year.

Severe conditions according to Mercedes mean (and I'm sure Audi is similar):

Frequent use in stop/start traffic
regular use on unpaved roads
extreme short distance driving
extended idling periods
frequent cold starts.

If you live in Dublin and commute to another side of town you hit almost all of the conditions (except the unpaved roads).

CorkMan_

Personally I would not leave it 30k. I do all my cars at 10k max but that is because I keep my cars a long time. 15k should be fine for the A6.