My first oil change

A VW engine holds a little more than 2 1/2 qts. of oil, so start with that. Does it have a  bolted on sump on the bottom (a pic would help)? That will hold 1 1/2, 2 or 3 1/2 qts., depending on which one it is. A full flow filter, bolted in the left rear fenderwell with about 2 1/2 feet of oil lines will add another 1/2q. +, and the front mounted cooler has got to hold 1 or 1 1/2qts., so you're looking at 9-11 quarts of oil. Drain the oil from the sump and take the filter off and see how much oil you end up with; that will tell you if you have to open an oil cooler line somewhere. I prefer lighter oil (10w-30) as it lets the stock cooler function properly, the engine isn't trying to push around tar when it's cold and still develops enough pressure (10 lbs/1,000rpm) when warm. If with 10w-30 you find you don't have enough oil pressure then go for something a little thicker.

 

You don't have to bother flushing out the crankase or lines; with a filter there's really no need. Ideally, let the thing sit overnight; in a stock engine 4 more ounces of oil will drain out, so with your set up there will probably be substantially more. Though, with horizontal lines that long, air pressure may have to be added to drain the cooler and lines completely. Do the lines to and from the cooler go through a thermostat? It will look like one of these; #1 will be in the lines and #2 will be between the filter mount and filter-

 

 

Great tip! Looks like I need to get under there and inspect some more to see what I actually have.

Any pics of how a bolted on sump vs. stock will look?

 

I also have a front mounted oil cooler (dual Setrabs), but don't have the car on the road yet.  When I do get to drive it and do an oil change I don't plan on doing anything different than if the cooler was mounted in the rear, near the engine.  I'm not sure if the oil from my front mounted cooler will drain back to the engine when I change the oil, but I'm not going to worry about it.  If there is oil left in the cooler it will mix with the fresh oil.

Make sure you keep a record of how much oil you add and keep the oil level halfway between the low and high marks.  I don't recommend filling it up to the 'full' mark.

 

If you can, post of photos of your front mounted oil cooler.  What oil pump are you using?

 

Edit:  Do you have your oil cooler mounted in front of the front wheels?  If so, I've seen photos of your setup.

 

I bought the car as it sits so gonna do some sleuth work on it this weekend. It now makes sense that the oil level is between 1/2 and 3/4. I almost added some!

Ron:

 

Any chance you will have your car on the road by next summer?

 

This is an engine with a sump bolted on to the bottom- 

 

 

Perfect. I plan to climb underneath mine and verify what I actually have tonight. So the bolt-on sump is just to get more oil in the system?

 

If you have a vertically mounted oil filter you may want to fill that up too. I think the photo shows a 1 1/2 qt. sump like mine. When you're done you don't want more than 1/2 to 3/4 of the way to the full mark on your dipstick. Have fun and don't over tighten or over fill anything.  BTW what are you using for oil?

 

Also, if you have a billet drain plate and plug on the sump you might want a new crush able copper washer or a dab of high temp silicone.

Currently it has vertically mounted Fram HP1 filter so I will be sure to fill it. Haven't bought oil yet but I'm pretty sure it will be Valvoline VR1 20W/50. We've been having a heat wave lately here.

You cheeky bastard!

 

Seriously, I'm going in to see my mechanic on Friday for a 'finish it by X date, or I'm taking it home' conversation.

 

 

OK, Mr O'Black: Please define "X" in this equation. What is the drop-dead date?

 

The bolt-on sump is so there is more oil available to the pump pick-up in the middle of a corner or in full acceleration at higher rpm's. Oil in the lines, filter or cooler is not available to the pump pushing through a corner or when blasting up a sweeping freeway entrance, and it doesn't take long before the intermittent oil starvation to the bearings seizes the engine. A VW's slightly over 2 1/2 quarts stock oil capacity is designed for an engine that only revs to 4500rpm, installed in an economy car never driven the way we do today.

 

What Gene Berg had to say about adding oil capacity-

 

http://www.geneberg.com/article.php?ArticleID=229

I've kept the car insured, because I laughingly thought it would be finished last Spring.  The insurance runs out at the end of October and if the car isn't finished by then I'm having it towed home. 

The shop has had the car for a year and a half.  I'm starting to think the shop owner is an ex  SAS employee.

 

       
       

What are you having done?

"I'm starting to think the shop owner is an ex  SAS employee."

 

Now that's funny!

Boy there is no way I would use 20-50 wt oil. 10-30 or 10-40 is plenty thick.  My car is set up like yours and uses about 5 or 6 quarts to fill.

Many of us use 20W-50, as that is the weight recommended by certain engine builders and manufacturers.

I'm hoping I'm wrong, but I'll bet $10 it won't be done. If he hasn't done anything in 18 months, he isn't going to do anything in 18 days.

In a street engine, the decision of what weight oil to use should be dictated by how much pressure the engine develops when at operating temps. 10 lbs./1,000rpm is sufficient and allows the cooler to do it's thing. As the VW engine's passage to the cooler is controlled by pressure (and not temperature), too much pressure when warm (above 45 lbs at highways rpm's) will cause the oil control valve(?) to think the engine is cold and divert the bulk of the oil straight to the bearings and not through the cooler, without first ridding itself of heat.

I had him take the engine apart and look for signs of overheating damage (none found), install a Porsche 5 speed 901 gearbox, which he said would be an easy task-it wasn't.  I also had him fabricated an exhaust system coming off the A1 header and sort out my fuel injection problem.

Everything is supposedly done, but nothing is back in the car yet.

Wow, that's some horse'isht right there!

Best if luck getting it completed

Ted