Date:         Mon, 4 Jul 94 23:12:26 PDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         David Schwarze <schwarze@io.nosc.mil>
Subject:      Re: oil

Sami Dakhlia writes:
> 
> I'm surprised that throughout the oil and oil change discussion, no one
> has mentioned Castrol Syntec 5W-50 or other synthetic oils. That's what I
> have been using for about a year now, thinking other air-cooled car owners
> would too. "My" mechanic, i.e., the guy who does the yearly state
> inspection, recommended it highly. It's significantly more expensive than
> conventional oils, but it's probably worth it. The van starts real easy
> --even on the coldest days in MO. It also seems to behave rather well
> under extreme heat conditions: the oil pressure gauge showed 20-25 psi as
> I drove in 108F heat through Arizona last month. Compare that with 15-20
> psi last summer with temperatures in the upper 90s. 

20-25 psi?  ack!  15-20 psi?  AACK!  I hope you are not running with that
kind of pressure under load on the freeway.  Maybe you are talking about
warm idle pressure, yeah, that's it.  I'm trying to reassure myself here.
I get nervous if I have less than 35 psi on the freeway, and I feel all
warm and fuzzy inside if that needle stays above 40.  When it drops to 30
I stop and have a bite to eat :)  Am I a fanatic about oil pressure?  I
don't think so, but if I am, hey, someone let me know and I will shut up.

In the meantime, my oil-related mods are as follows:  VDO pressure and temp
gauges, Melling high-volume pump, air flaps removed, long gentle warmups.
The air flaps in the fan housing in the type IV motor, when open, force the
cooling air to do a 180 in order to get to the oil cooler.  I have harped
on this before.

To paraphrase a well known VW guru, the air-cooled VW puts great strain on
the oil.  Not only must it lubricate the motor, but it helps cool as well.
Monitoring the condition of the oil is vitally important to the health of
that little aluminum (or magnesium/aluminum) motor that is pushing all of
two tons around.  Whatever type of oil you use, please don't let it get too
hot or dirty!

-David

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David Schwarze			'73 VW Safare Custom Camper (Da Boat)
SAIC Comsystems, San Diego	'73 Capri GT 2800 (Da Beast)
schwarze@nosc.mil		'87 Mustang Lx 5.0 (Da Bruiser?  Soon...)
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