Oil

Just a quick question on oil. I have a 1641 with an engle cam, scat heads,and dual carbs. I've been running a good quality 5w 30 for the last couple of years. What I'm wondering is if this is the correct type of oil for a hot climate (vegas). And what about synthetic. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Wil

P.S. yes, I do have an oil filter setup.

i would for sure not be using a 30W oil in a hot climate. I would be running a 10W40, or 20W50, and i'd prefer the 20W50 in a hot climate. As for synthetic, well this is just personal opinion, but i would'nt run synthetic in a vw, but that's just me. Also for example, a 20W50 oil has a viscosity of 20W weight COLD, and 50W weight HOT. I run 20W50 castrol GTX; very good oil.

martin

Got over 100,000 mi. on two different engines using Castrol 10w40.
1600cc and a 1915cc.

Engine problems were of the clutch / exhaust system type.

Leon C.

Air cooled stock 1600 range straight 30 weight as recommended by VW.
Performance air cooled motors I would go with a 20W50 combo.

For really hot temperatures (what they call tropical) the VW Service Manual recommends straight 40W.

Here's some interesting reading... It's been circulating around most air cooled based bulletin boards

http://www.lnengineering.com/oil.html

The bottom line is that the Govt. is mandating that oil companies remove zinc. Zinc is a major lubrication contributor

Larry, That's a great web site for data and info about (oil). Everyone on this site should take a look at it!

As Larry says, you need zinc for these flat tappet cammed engines to last; otherwise you end up chewing your cams and lifters especially when using heavy duty valve springs.

As a side note, I just ordered a case of GM's EOS, part number
1052367 see: http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/results.cfm?singlepart=1&partnumber=1052367


I also concur that the Shell Rotela oil along with the EOS is probably the oil you should be using in your VW based engines.

As per the article I posted, check to make sure that the oil hasn't been reformulated with less zinc before making a purchase. If your favorite oil has been reformulated, check the chart and buy oil with a high zinc (Zn) and phosphorus (P) count.

Hey just a heads up that all the dino shell Rotella (15-40) that I have seen lately meets the new CJ-4/SM standard so it has 0.06% or less zinc and phosphorus (half of what we need). Same as any other oil that meets the SM standard. The one you want is the old stock that has the previous standard CI-4/SL.

In my area the Rotella 5-40 synthetic is still CI-4/SL