Which kind of oil.

[rustydiver]

I know this sound daft,


Before i go down to cornwall for the summer hols, i want to service the van all of the electrical thing has been done, need to change the oil.

What is the best kind of oil people use.

Mine is a 1972, 1600, single carb engine

Many thanks RD

 

[Justin & Muttley]

The Haynes manual says:

Engine: SAE 30 or 40 or SAE 20W/50

Use mineral oil - Castrol GTX would be good but there's no reason why you couldn't use a cheaper 'own brand' oil - it is worth remembering though that an air-cooled engine relies on it's oil for cooling more than a conventional water-cooled engine - I think it's wise to get the best you can afford (and don't over-fill it!).

 

[Guest]

Don't put non-synthetic into your engine if theres synthetic in it already!!,

AFAIK it can bring particulates out of suspension, and you get deposits forming, which will wreck your engine pretty fast.

 

[Scott-Westy]

my 2p: bog standard cheap mineral 20w50 just change it regularly like every 3k :wink:

 

[dropgates]

Shell Rotella 20w-50 for me....good amount of zinc to help reduce the amount of wear in the bearings.

 

[alikat]

You might want to check out info on the reduction of MPZ additives in oil (at the request of the motor manufacturers, to save cats) and the effect on wear in flat tappet motors aka dubs, older motorcycles etc. Shell Rotella has recently been reformulated to CJ spec to meet the new truck cat requirements that are coming in. Get the CI grade whilst you can! Add MPZ with GM Goodwrench Engine Oil Supplement. Alternatively race oils seem to have not been messed with (yet).

Alikat

 

[Clem]

Just make sure its full and changed at 3k tops.

FWIW I use 76 cos it has an excellent API rating.

 

[chrisby]

If your engine uses or loses oil go for one you can get easily anywhere.

 

[speedwell68]

VW's own Brand Quantum 15/40. FTW.

 

[MMMC]

I've always used morris's sae30. A bog standard oil that has served all my VW's well. You can get it at GSF or online....

http://www.morrislubricants.co.uk/

 

[easy]

me too^^^ 8)

 

[speedwell68]

I've always used morris's sae30. A bog standard oil that has served all my VW's well. You can get it at GSF or online....

http://www.morrislubricants.co.uk/

If you read the installation instruction for a new Mexican/Brazilian crankcase it tells you not to use monograde oils. Which I found out after I had just filled it up with Morris. The engine seems to run much cooler now I have gone over to multigrade.

 

[alikat]

Installation instructions from who? Not VW, unless it refers to the hydraulic case - ACD code I think. The reason is the cold monograde will not allow the lifters to pump up when cold. Otherwise read up on the subject elsewhere, a good API rating does not mean it does an aircooled motor any good! Remember, VW no longer makes aircooled motors,and even when Mexico was, the numbers were too few for the oil industry to care. Try a Google/Yahoo search on MPZ in oil for starters.

 

[jabbo]

I use the cheapest 20/50 I can lay my hands on. Just change it regularly. Regular oil changes are by far the best way to keep the engine happy.

 

[speedwell68]

Installation instructions from who? Not VW, unless it refers to the hydraulic case - ACD code I think. The reason is the cold monograde will not allow the lifters to pump up when cold. Otherwise read up on the subject elsewhere, a good API rating does not mean it does an aircooled motor any good! Remember, VW no longer makes aircooled motors,and even when Mexico was, the numbers were too few for the oil industry to care. Try a Google/Yahoo search on MPZ in oil for starters.

So if VW are no longer making aircooled motors, where are all these VW factory engines and bare crankcases coming from.

 

[alikat]

Well, as a friend of mine is sole U.S importer direct from the factories in both Mexico and Brazil I speak from first hand knowledge. The factories quit making complete motors (incl longblocks) when they ran out of 2 parts, one of which was a spring for the pressure relief valve! They basically want nothing more to do with anything aircooled. Check out the pricing from the factory. VWM has just tripled the wholesale price of heads, and individual rocker arms have increased 10 fold. All down to the fact that they no longer make the car, and really don't want to make either small runs to satisfy us, or large runs that just sit on the shelf forever. My friend has 1700 doghouse fans still on backorder - not a small order by most peoples standards. Can't find them anywhere here at the moment.
Crankcases were outsourced earlier this year I believe, and surprisingly quality has increased. we were rejecting upto 75% before this due to crank/cam tunnel mis-alignment.
I believe it was Apple who imported bugs direct to the UK from the factory in Mexico who asked what the future was for aircooled parts, and the factory guy just screwed up a piece of paper and threw it in the bin...nuff said!

 

[Justin & Muttley]

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

but not surprised...

 

[kopperdrake]

Another one here for VW's own brand Quantum 15/40