Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2002 18:30:44 -0500
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Subject: Re: Summer Oil pressure drop + higher temperatures with oil error
(Was: Is 20w50 Oil OK in the winter?)
In-Reply-To: <CAEOIPKOOCKNBBDDDMBPGECHCHAA.jeff@tssgi.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Te 10W-30 is more of a problem than the brand of oil filter. It is
common for the oil to get hot and the oil pressure to drop when the
engine is operated at high speeds for long time periods. When used in
this fashion, 20w-50 or synthetic equivalents are the only way to go.
Also, if the water temp is raising excessively during these periods, it
is a sigh that the cooling system is not keeping up. Possibly a clogged
radiator or the internal separators are cracked allowing some coolant to
bypass the radiator core. To help the oil temps, reduce the oil level
(between the marks, not full) and occasionally reduce speed to allow the
oil cooler to "catch up".
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
Of Jeffrey Schwaia
Sent: Monday, December 23, 2002 2:58 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Summer Oil pressure drop + higher temperatures with oil
error (Was: Is 20w50 Oil OK in the winter?)
Did they put in a Mann or Mahle oil filter?? Any other brand could
cause
the symptoms you described.
Cheers,
Jeff
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
Of 80 Westy Pokey
Sent: Monday, December 23, 2002 8:16 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Summer Oil pressure drop + higher temperatures with oil error
(Was: Is 20w50 Oil OK in the winter?)
This new learning amazes me.
Here is something interesting. Last summer I brought Pokey in
for an oil change (yes I know I should be doing it myself but
oil changes are cheap and I find myself too busy sometimes)
and they inadvertently used 10w30. All of a sudden I saw a
drop in oil pressure (maybe to 20 psi on the highway), and
much higher operating themperatures. Hence I went out and
bought an auxillary oil cooler (as yet to be installed).
The season was ending, it got colder out and my temperatures
fell back into acceptable levels. The pressure did not come
back and I was going to look into this over the witer. I was
going to get the oil changed again (hence my original
question - If you did not read my previous post, I was
wondering about using 20w50 in the winter as that is what I
normally run.).
Now forgive me, my mechanical incompetance is surely
showing... but could the change in oil from 20w50 to 10w30
account for this drop in pressure and higher temperatures?
Thanks,
Chris
---- Original message ----
>Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 15:20:06 -0500
>From: 80 Westy Pokey <pokey@vanagon.org>
>Subject: Is 20w50 Oil OK in the winter
>To: The_Bug_Pack@yahoogroups.com, vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com,
type2@type2.com
>
>Is 20w5 Oil OK in Winter? I drive my van almost exclusively
>in the summer and have always used Castrol GTX 20w50 Oil.
>Now it is December, temperature is just below freezing, but
>the roads in Toronto are free of snow and salt. I was
>thinking of using the van to help in my move. I have to
>change the oil nyway so I was wondering what weight I should
>use in the winter months. In my Chevy I always use 10w30 in
>summer and 5w30 in Winter.
>
>Thanks,
>Chris