Date: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 02:23:21 -0400
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: oil change interval for non-wbx setups
In-Reply-To: <CAHTkEuK6DxTxPFcfCnueU34ktG924g86ae6_ddA-JqpuMTn_zA@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Even with frequent oil changes an oil analysis can be beneficial. For the
water boxer one thing I learned is that you should address the seals under
the cylinders whenever the heads are pulled. It takes a lot of antifreeze in
the coolant before it becomes visible but very small amounts can be
hazardous to bearings. You can also find out if your air filter is doing
its job. With engines that hold small amounts of oil analysis may not save
any money. Coolant analysis can also be a valuable tool. Most vehicles these
days call for extended oil changes. Even VW's now often call for 10,000 mile
intervals. While oil changes are inexpensive over a couple hundred thousand
miles unneeded services can add up. Keep in mind the difference in cost from
us do it yourselfers to those paying for the service.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Don Hanson
Sent: Saturday, October 26, 2013 12:56 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: oil change interval for non-wbx setups
It's my opinion that frequent oil changes are a fairly inexpensive
preemptive step that I can take to prolong the life of any of my engines.
So I change the oil in them quite frequently. I have no scientific
background to give me any credentials as an expert on oils and change
intervals but....
In my relatively mild-tune motors, I think a decent oil that is changed
often is better for the motors than really expensive synthetic that has
been left in for a long time. In my race motors that are tuned to the
Edge of blowing up and run as hard as they will go..I do use the best oils I
can find....and I change that very often as well....My sports car race
motor's oil system held 16 quarts...I used Amsoil synthetic and changed it
after every race weekend. That was $painful$.. My vanagon has a Jetta
motor, it holds just 3qts and I use whatever oil is on special....but I
change it at ~3000 mile intervals....My Honda track bike? It too holds just
3qts, but it makes more HP than my vanagon and runs up to 14,000 rpms at
redline...When I do a track day it only logs about 70 miles all day, but I
change that oil out after each track day....
So I spend about $15 on my Jetta motor for oil quite frequently...about
the cost of 80 miles worth of gasoline...I've actually looked at my oil in a
microscope...not from the Jetta motor but from that old Porsche racer, and
you could see the metal micro-bits in it, despite having two Mahle
filters...Changing after each event let me run that same motor for two full
seasons with no appreciable internal wear...
Frequent changing of the oil in my 'used when I got it' Jetta motor has
given me almost 3yrs of service and close to 60k miles...Using inexpensive
but decent brand oil, it's only cost me about $130 to keep the little Jetta
motor happy.
So I'll keep changing oil frequently as opposed to buying really fancy
expensive oil and not changing it very often... For no reason other than
I think it works best...
On Fri, Oct 25, 2013 at 8:10 PM, Dennis Haynes
<d23haynes57@hotmail.com>wrote:
> Yes, engine loading will effect oil and engine life. However there are
> so many variables. An oil analysis program is the only way to maximize
> oil life. In industry we use various techniques to maximize the life
> of lubricants and equipment. We often refer to these approaches as
> "predictive"
> as compared to "preventive" maintenance.
>
> Dennis
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> Behalf Of Harry Hoffman
> Sent: Friday, October 25, 2013 8:58 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: oil change interval for non-wbx setups
>
> Hi All,
>
> So, Dennis and I were having a interesting chat at Blue Rocks about
> different power plants and when to change oil.
>
> He suggested, and please correct me if I'm wrong Dennis, that oil
> change should be based on a few different criteria: miles driven, gas
> consumed, time since last change, and effort needed for the engine to
> move the vehicle.
>
> The last had me thinking about it since our conversation. My oil is
> always super dirty at the 3k point. I'm running a bostig setup and
> hadn't really thought about the reasons why until we talked. Since the
> engine needs to operate at a higher rpm range there's a greater level
> of heat generate and more "effort" required then say if that zetec was
still in a focus.
>
> Are other people changing their oil at a earlier interval? Has anyone
> done a comparison to the amount of money spent on oil (the bostig
> folks recommend full synthetic) if you are changing it more frequently
> vs the cost of letting it go longer and replacing the engine?
>
> Also, blue rocks was our inaugural campout. The wife, myself, and our
> two little girls (ages 3 and 1). The rain was a bummer but overall it
> was very successful.
>
> Looking forward to many years of it until they no longer want to hang
> out with dad, lol.
>
> Cheers,
> Harry
>
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