Wrong oil in my B5 TDi!

[A4 stu]

By accident I have topped up the oil in my TDi (1998 110hp) with cheap 5/30 instead of quality 10/40. It was registering on the minimum now it's showing near maximum.

I simply picked the wrong bottle up - same colour and design!!!

The car is due a service including oil and filter change in early June. Do I need to worry? Is there anything I can add in as an additive if so?

Stu.

 

[desertstorm]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Adding an extra 0.5l of oil is beter than leaving the car with the oil level on minimum. If youtr really worried just bring the oil change forward.

Karl.

 

[adamss24]

You will pleasantly find out the cheap 5w30 oil is of better quality than the expensive 10w40 semy synthetic oil and will offer better protection. As Karl said, it's better to have oil in the engine than running low- only thing to watch for is "foaming" if the oils don't mix well together...

 

[A4 stu]

Thanks for the replies much appreciated. Why would the lesser oil be better and if so am I better off asking for it at the next oil change?
Stu

 

[aragorn]

All 5w30 oils are fully synthetic.

10w40 is a semi synthetic oil.

I'm not sure why you think the 5w30 is "lesser"? The rating alone only tells you how thick it is, it tells you nothing about the quality of the oil. the 5w bit being how it acts when old and the 30 bit being how it acts when hot. Every engine has a range of acceptable oil thicknesses, often depending on climate. VAG use 5w30 on most of their cars these days.

Personally i would run 5w40. 30 weight is IMO a bit too thin (though it wont cause any harm topping the engine up with it as you have)