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So what is this "process" i am thinking of. Maybe something to do with new car break in or something, before converting to synthetic??
If the inside of your engine is cruddy, you may consider doing a double-pump and change using synthetic oil twice before running it for long periods on each change.
I beleive what you are thinking of with a new engine for break in is that synthetic oil will prolong breaking-in a new engine because it is sooo slippery. Keep in mind that "break-in" is really a slight wearing of the various parts so they 'mesh' with each other better. If you use more slippery oil... then this 'burnishing in' of the parts will take longer.
Of course you are aware that any slight leaks with dyno-oil will leak faster with synthetic oil. This is because of 2 reasons
1) Synthetic oil is thinner and more 'runny'
2) Synthetic oil will remove any crud that is plugging the hole and slowing down the leakage.
As far as fuel goes. 93 without a doubt instead of 89... I have used 91 vs. 93 and find the 93 to perform better and get better mileage. Your results can vary with different brands of fuel too.
am new to cars and recently bought a used 2001 Jetta GLS 2.0 (4 cyl sedan)
and now its time for an oil change. i need to know what kinda motor oil should i use in my car? should i use regular or synthetic? i dunno what kind i have in my car right now, so if i plan to out synthetic in, what do i need to do.
also what abt the oil and air filters? should i change them every time i do an oil change?
what are the gud brands I should look for.
For your needs, regular motor oil (not synthetic) will work fine as long as you follow the manufacturers suggested service intervals. No, you do not need to replace your airfilter everytime you get your oil changed. On the Jetta, it advises you to change the airfilter every 40K miles.
Suppose i need to get the oil and air filter chagned this time (as my car has around 35K miles on it and am guessing the original owner must not have changed the air filter yet), what brands should I look for?
I am looking into an '04 Jetta Wagon GLS 1.8t. The Edmunds site has the Jetta Wagon listed as made in Germany/Mexico. Which is it?
Also, Edmund's reports that it has road clearance of 4.1 inches. This is less than my New Beetle and frankly does not seem right, but I can't find the Jetta's dimensions on the VW website.
Thanks.
Zman
Do not forget that the parts (engine, tranny...etc) are built all over the world and the vehicles are ASSEMBLED in Germany/Brazil/Mexico. Where it is ASSEMBLED dictates what colors are available. (there are some colors that are ONLY applied in certain locales) I am curious, why does it matter where it is ASSEMBLED? We live in a world economy.
As for road clearance, that may be correct. The oil pan is VERY close to the road easy to damage if you live where frost-heaves occour.
The VR6 and TDI are lower than the other 2 engine choices because they are taller engines.
Try pursuing any other questions in the discussion at this link: Volkswagen Jetta Wagons.
Good luck!
Most any place you get your oil changed will be able to provide an air filter. Or...you can just go to Walmart and buy one yourself. A good brand is Fram. Also, don't forget to change your cabin (pollen) filter. This should be changed every 20K miles. I, personally, went to an auto parts store and bought the cabin filter and changed it myself. It cost me maybe $15-$20 at most. The dealer was charging around $60 (parts and labor).
Again, read you maintenance manual and follow the service intervals for the 2.0 engine.
Right now, I'm torn between the seeming reliability of the 6 and the Jetta. Did anyone compare these two cars and choose one over the other? If so, what swayed you in one direction or another? How's the handling of the Jetta compared to the 6??
Thanks for your help!
In fact... the only 2 vehicles on our "short list" was the Jetta and the Nissan Altama. We ended up with the Jetta mainly because of the 12year/unlimited miles corrosion warrantee. We also liked the fit-n-finish, looks and 52 MPG of the Jetta TDI.
Since several past VWs lasted us over 120K miles, we allready knew that it would RUN a long time. Here in Vermont, the salted winter roads will devistate most vehicle bodys after a few years.
None of the other vehicles we looked at (except for the plastic Saturn) had a corrosion warantee longer than 3 years.
Another reason that I personally do not care for Mazda is because it is really a Ford. (Some Ford/Mazda vehicles are actually built on the SAME ASSEMBLY LINE with different nameplates being atached at the end.)
On the other hand, Many VWs are based on Audi platforms. This tends to bring the overall craftmanship of the VWs up.
If you spend some time researching the lineage of the various vehicles, you start to realize where the best values are. A VW is basically an Audi with less options. (In fact, the 1.8T is an Audi engine)
Acura = Honda
Lexus = Toyota
Infiniti = Nissan
Audi = VW (and somtimes Porsche as in Cyanane=Toreaug)
Jeremy
The Mazda is much newer. Reliability is generally average and on par if not better than the Jetta even though the current Jetta has been around so long. There is some rust problems under the weather stipping on the doors that has arised. Not sure what Mazda has done with this, and how good their repair is, or if the '04 have fixed this problem. Either way you definitely need to check this out because nothing is more horrifying on a car than rust. Do not buy a Mazda 6 untill you are reasured your car will not have this problem. The 6 is more of a drivers car, with harsher suspension tuning. Not meant to drive lush like a Camry, but more like a BMW. And the Mazda is more Mazda than it is Ford... expecially the chassis, but the Mazda V6 is Fords and the Mazda 4 cylinder is shared with Ford, but developed with Mazda.
The Jetta 1.8T should have considerably more umph than the Mazda 6i, and a smaller back seat as well.
Remember that the original powertrain warranty is 10yr/100k miles which is reduced to I believe 5yr/60k miles for subsequent owners. I would check directly with VW at a dealer or VW hotline.
IN addition, I would take the car directly to a VW dealer and have them run a check for any service bulletins, recalls and warranty item extensions that would be done totally free. It would save a bunch of time and hassle as the Chrysler folks would have no idea about.
If there is no sticker.... assume that the coiles were never done. Besides, you can check the "sufffix" on the coils yourself. Thre is a list in the the archives that explains which "suffix" was affected by the coil problems.
I suggest you do some intensive research to determine if your engine was covered by the "replace all coils" TSB. If so, you are free to take to ANY VW dealership in the country without the knowledge of where you purchased the vehicle. (exactly what balticjetta18t was trying to tell you)
I'm sure the manual transmission is better than the automatic so I'm not sure if I will get an automatic Jetta. Is there a big difference as far as responsive and power? What about fuel consumption.
What's a good price to sell my Jetta at? The car is in excellent condition, with only some very minor scratches. The car is loaded and has a 6-cd changer. I live near Houston, Texas.
Good luck - let us know how it works out.
I just replaced the wiper blades on my gf's 2000 Jetta.
Do you know that plastic thing that comes attached to the driver side OEM windshield wiperblade? It's supposed to be facing away from the driver and towards the hood once the blade is back in place, right? Also, what is that thing anyway? What's it for?
Thanks!
What you have done is akin to moving the rear spoiler on a NASCAR racecar to the hood ;-)
The closer one looks at a VW, the more impressive all the little engineering attention to details comes into focus. I am, by trade, a deciple of engineering. I can attest that the ol' notion of "German engineering" still holds true.
Here are a few other "German engineering" items that VWs have;
*) hood-release that pops out when the hood is pulled up.
*)Starter WILL NOT CRANK when engine is running and you accidently try to turn the key to "start".
*)Virtually the entire interior is held together with precesion "snap-in" fitment.
*)When you remove the fuel-cap, there are notches in it so it can be "stowed" on the open cover door.
*)If the sunroof motor fails to work, there is a built-in tool to manually control it.
*)There is a center sun visor between the 2 main ones that covers the area above the rearviw mirror.
*)There is a cover over the rear of the headlights to keep the crud away from the electric connectors.
*)DUAL oil-presure sensors so the DIFFERENTIAL can be monitored.
*)"bypass" engine cooling design.
I think a bigger concern should be that the Pumpe-Duse TDI engine we are currently getting will probably get a significant upgrade for the '06 model year, when the entire country is finally forced to use low-sulfur fuel [as opposed to just CA now]. The current PD TDI [the one being installed in '04 Golfs and Jettas] is kind of half horse and half camel - it has the old head and new induction system, and is running on the ragged edge of meeting current emissions regs. There are already a lot of complaints on the specialized TDI websites about driveability problems [shaky idle, hesitation, rough running] with the '04 PD TDIs, usually from those parts of the market [Canada and the Northeast and Midwest] where diesel fuel is especially sulfur-laden and cetane-challenged. I started out thinking I wanted to try one of the '04 TDIs for our garage, but have held back waiting to see how widespread the problem is and what VW does about it.
Ironically, the Passat diesel that will be here in the summer is closer to the final form of the engine for '06 and beyond, but again, the thing would be less of a risk if the diesel fuel in so much of the country weren't...well...such crap.
The ultimate, final irony is that none of the TDIs can be sold now legally in CA [or CA-conforming states], but CA is where the diesel fuel being sold is the best in the country - still not close to EU standards, but somewhere around 25-50 ppm of sulfur, I think.
Small sedans: Honda Civic EX, Volkswagen Golf TDI, Volkswagen Jetta GLS TDI
Jetta TDI is a great car and now Consumer Reports recognizes it.
There is a TDI similar to the Wolfsburg that will be offered in 2004. It will only be offered in Canada. Lucky Canadians!
My understanding is that the radio will think it has been stolen and one must enter a code to get it going again. (this code is provided to the purchaser when vehicle is purchased.)
I am not aware of any other issues that would force the need for dealer intervention after a battery disconect.
thanks.
RUKING1 has allready explained about the manually tranny fluid above.
In reference to your comparison of brake fluid to manual tranny fluid..... these are as different as steel and alumininum. There is no comparison between them except they are both metals.
Brake fluid is hydroscopic. (it wants to absorb water) and over time, it does just that. It eventually absorbs so much water that it becomes CORROSIVE to the brake compoents. At that point, the precesion pistons, cylinders and ABS components will start to self-destruct from the inside-out. This is why brake-fluid MUST be changed every 2 years.
Read the label on any can of brake fluid and it will tell you to only use fluid from a SEALED container. If you open a can of brke-fluid and use half of it then put it on the shelf in the garage.... after some time, it will be so contaminated with water (absorbed from the air) that it has to be disposed of (envrinmentally freindly disposal please!)
PS I have an auto if that makes any difference
3. There are testing strips and machines to test the useful life left in brake fluid. But for 5-15 dollars a quart or liter, it is far more cost effective to just flush it every 2 years. If you have access to it, then yes by all means test it!
Ain't it cool!?
Don't be snookered into a guilt trip, by a technician telling you or even letting you smell the old gear oil. (stinks to high heaven whether it is changed at 10k or 100,000 miles)
thanks,
Any help or advice is appreciated.