Engine oil

rastafoo · Post by **rastafoo** » Sat May 24, 2008 9:16 am

What type of engine oil would the itinerant gurus recommend? Synthetic? Different types for a split or bay?

Westy78 · Post by **Westy78** » Sat May 24, 2008 10:19 am

Oh man, what a con o' worms you've opened now.

I won't give any specific recommendations because every person has their own opinion. Instead, take a read through here and see what you think.

http://lnengineering.com/oil.html

spiffy · Post by **spiffy** » Sat May 24, 2008 9:03 pm

Or you could watch Alton Brown on the food channel to see what he fries stuff in and why

I'll go ahead and throw out castrol 20w-50 for the PNW climate year round, has worked for me just fine. Be careful of the snake oil folks, just like head temperature readings there are some that will speak of impending doom or moments of great accomplishment depending on what they use.

I always try to keep in mind the age of the vehicle and what it was originally built with and its operating parameters. Keep your eyes, ears, and feelers on the engine at all times and it will do you well.

bretski · Post by **bretski** » Sun May 25, 2008 7:15 am

...and if you really want to have some fun, do a search on the type2 and/or samba archives. You'll find plenty of friendly banter.

http://www.type2.com/archive/search-type2.html
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/search.php

This is N-O-T a recommendation,

but I ran Castrol for years with no probs. A while back, I switched to Brad Penn 20w50. During the cold months, I use a blend of 10w30 and 20w50 to thin it out. Just because I run this stuff doesn't mean you have to spend the extra cash. It's my bus, it's my choice.

Seeing that you're in Florida, you may need to run something thicker during the summer. Read, search, read, search, read some more. Sit back, drink a beer, and form a reasonable opinion of your own. Implement.

***This worm can has been hermetically sealed for your comfort and protection***

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Sun May 25, 2008 7:59 am

Castrol SAE30 year round.

Bleyseng · Post by **Bleyseng** » Mon May 26, 2008 7:28 am

I run Royal Purple 20-50 or Mobil 1 ACmotorcycle oil 20-50 as both of these have high Zinc content which you need for the flat lifters we have. Most modern oils have eliminatated Zinc as its bad for CATS...beware of permature lifter wear!!!!

I still have to try Brad Penn oils..

Despite what Spiffy says its not snake oil...hehe try some of these other oils.

Post by **Amskeptic** » Mon May 26, 2008 7:36 am

Bleyseng wrote:I run Royal Purple 20-50 or Mobil 1 ACmotorcycle oil 20-50 as both of these have high Zinc content which you need for the flat lifters we have. Most modern oils have eliminatated Zinc as its bad for CATS...beware of permature lifter wear!!!!

I still have to try Brad Penn oils..

A steady diet of high zinc will erode the soft babbit bearings we use. Seen it first hand. . . . .

We have engines that not only barely outperform your average Sears garden tractor, but also have massive bearing area. I get a gallon of Castrol 20/50 for $7.86 at Advance Auto Parts or WalMart, and change it every 3,000 miles in the Squareback or 3-5,000 miles in the bus.

Stock factory lifters work fine with clean Castrol, it is the miserable crap aftermarket stuff that fails due only to intrinsic metallurgical deficiency, and no oil is going to save us from that fact.
ColinOnThirdSetOfFebiLiftersFromBD

Hippie · Post by **Hippie** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 8:15 pm

Yeah, I don't think there enough valve spring pressure on any ACVW to grind up the tappet interface unless you are using a high lift performance cam and/or racing valve springs. Zinc only comes into play when there is metal to metal contact and you can probably use a dose or STP for that for the extra zinc (properly ZDDP or ZDP).

But read this and the lnengineering page and use what you feel good about. http://www.steelsoldiers.com/index.php? ... c&p=167978

Rob
PS
I use 10W-40 in cold weather and 20W-50 the rest of the time.
Castrol and Valvoline are good brand choices, in my opinion. I personally use Kendall because it seems to burn a little less oil in the Bus engine for some reason. Maybe my imagination?.
Synthetics are great, but I change my Bus oil about every 1500-2000 miles and it gets pricey for that, so conventional is what goes in.

vdubyah73 · Post by **vdubyah73** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:08 am

20-50 popped my filter and external oil cooler on my buggy this winter. I started it in January, after reinstalling flaps and thermostat. OOPS

, what a mess, at least both bursts of oil went down instead of up, just ended up with a nice mess on the garage floor. I run Castrol 20-50 in the summer and 10-40 in the winter in the Bus. I put a blue bottle of STP in there in the summer also. Was STP the first snake oil?

Hippie · Post by **Hippie** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 7:00 pm

vdubyah73 wrote:20-50 popped my filter and external oil cooler on my buggy this winter. [...] Was STP the first snake oil?

Youch. I was thinking Fram there for a second, but if it popped the oil cooler, too, there must've been some real pressure there.

"Scientifically Treated Petroleum ™" has been around for a long time for sure. I think it does what it's supposed to do when used in moderation and when there is a need.
I'd rather use a long tried product than some new fangled stuff that might be pulled from the shelves due to engine destruction.

Rob

vdubyah73 · Post by **vdubyah73** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 3:53 am

Hippie wrote:
vdubyah73 wrote:20-50 popped my filter and external oil cooler on my buggy this winter. [...] Was STP the first snake oil?
Youch. I was thinking Fram there for a second, but if it popped the oil cooler, too, there must've been some real pressure there.

"Scientifically Treated Petroleum ™" has been around for a long time for sure. I think it does what it's supposed to do when used in moderation and when there is a need.
I'd rather use a long tried product than some new fangled stuff that might be pulled from the shelves due to engine destruction.

Rob

Funny you say that. I have been using a Fram HP 1 filter for years and decided to try something else due to all the talk about Fram quality. Frams have never popped on me before when I start it in the winter. Maybe they are as cheap as people say and just bypass extra pressure , I don't know. I had a Bosch equivalent on there, Bosch 3500. It popped at the seam joining the top and the bottom. The external oil cooler was 8 years old and also popped at a seam, Not using an external cooler this year as my oil never went over 180* in fact it rarely hit 180* .My CHT runs about 250-275* , has not hit 300* I have flaps and thermostat now, still the same CHTs my oil does get over 200* now without the cooler. We'll see what happens as the weather gets hotter. I may be replacing the external cooler, or I may try one of those finned oil filter covers and see if that works. I always felt that this engine ran cold. CPR built the long block for me. Anibal Chico is the bomb. I paid the same price for the same displacement as I paid Bernie Bergmann several years earlier. This engine is hands down waaaaay better, blueprinted and balanced, dual valve springs, D ported and polished, ( for those that don't know, D port is the shape that the intake ports resemble after welding some beef to the area, reshaping and enlarging the intake ports as well as opening up the exhaust ports. Estimated 180 hp at the flywheel. Buggy weighs 1500# with me in it.

Bill

Hippie · Post by **Hippie** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 7:44 am

180? That ought to run like a scalded ape! =D>

I think you want your oil temp to get a bit over 200F at full temperature to boil out any water.
IMHO, Bosch is just a Chinese made Fram.
Maybe see if you can get an ordinary Purolator (not the Pure 1 version) or Mobil 1 Extended Performance to fit?
The latter, in particular, is a good Champion Labs product with a heavy duty steel casing and internal filter media end caps.
K&N and WIX are also tough, but I don't think they filter quite as fine.
(I have some question as to how much super-tiny particles actually cause wear though.)
Most, if not all, Fram use paper end caps.

Rob

vdubyah73 · Post by **vdubyah73** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:19 am

Hippie wrote:180? That ought to run like a scalded ape! =D>

Rob

Not real fast, VW gearing and all. But damn, it'll wrench your back if you hammer the throttle in 1st or 2nd while in the power band and your not ready for it. Extremely quick, violent, acceleration in 1st 2nd and 3rd, all done by 80-90 MPH. It will go over 100 but thats too freaking scary, only 1/8" of fiberglass between me and eternity ya know. Passengers, describing a ride to others, use terms like roller coaster ride and amusement park rides.

Post by **Amskeptic** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 7:54 am

Sorry, I deleted some posts that were irrelevant to the Technical Forum that this is. Judgment call and all. . . . good dicussion on oil, should it be moved to Engine Forum?
Colin

Hippie · Post by **Hippie** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 5:23 pm

Amskeptic wrote:Sorry, I deleted some posts that were irrelevant to the Technical Forum that this is. Judgment call and all. . . . good dicussion on oil, should it be moved to Engine Forum?
Colin

No problem. We did get off on a tangent there.
I don't know where oil goes...maybe an oil sticky?
Or oil slicky? (Couldn't help it.)

Rob

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Engine oil

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