Date:         Mon, 17 Jun 1996 22:30:31 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         ddes@anet-dfw.com (David Schwarze)
Subject:      Re: Driving Cross Country Advice...

At 12:17 AM 6/17/96, Tomstory wrote:

>It's a 77 (78 engine) that recently had new P's & C's, and rebuilt Mark
>Stephens heads. I've put about 1000 miles on it since then and was
>considering switching to Synthetic. I have no oil leaks at all, and in
>those 1000 miles it used about a half quart of 30 weight. I was thinking
>the synthetic might give slightly lower temps. Any answers to that? And it
>would be less likely to break down in the higher temp range?

True on the last statement, supposedly.  I tried synthetic in my engine at
one time, and didn't notice any significant difference in indicated oil
temperature.

>I plan on doing 60 or so to keep the temps down. At what temps should I
>pull over and let it cool?

I would pull over before it hits 250, as an absolute maximum.  Best to slow
down before it gets that hot, though.  I consider 230 a sign that I am
straining the engine.

>P.S.- Oh yeah, on the way back we'll be towing a small 4 x 8 utility
>trailer containing his stuff. Nothing heavy, mainly stereo stuff, TV,
>etc...anything to look out for towing this?  Thanks

Ack.  Just don't floor it.  Keep the temps down and the RPM's up.  Towing a
trailer cross country with a VW bus is a scary proposition (for your
engine, at least). Good luck...

-David

============================================================================
David Schwarze                   '73 VW Safare Custom Camper       (Da Boat)
Dallas, Texas, USA               '73 Capri GT 2800                (Da Beast)
e-mail: ddes@anet-dfw.com        '87 Mustang Lx 5.0          (13.986@100.81)
http://www.anet-dfw.com/~ddes    '93 Weber WG-50                  (Da Piano)
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