Oil brand type and weight.

Let the holy wars begin!

I'll start: Texas in the summer? Brad Penn 20w/50.

Hater's gonna' hate.

Sully,

As Stan's post hints, motor oil is a subject many owners feel strongly about.  Brad Penn is a favorite of air-cooled engine owners as it still contains the metallic additives that have been removed from other, old-time favorites.  The best advice is to run quality fluids and change them at recommended intervals.  I suggest that you visit one of the most informative sites on motor oil available on the internet: bobistheoilguy.com.  You can learn as much or as little about motor oil as you want.  Some of the science is beyond most of us non-science majors.  Happy hunting. 

X2 on the Brad Penn

non synthetic:  Valvoline VR1 

synthetic:  Brad Penn

I'll be using VR1 for my engine's break-in and probably after that too, since VR1 is readily available at my local Walmart and is cheaper than Brad Penn (where I live).

What Stan and Lane said.

Summer;  Brad Penn 20W50

Winter;    Brad Penn 10W40

There are TWO kinds of Brad Penn.  Must only use the green Racing Oil otherwise you don't get the zinc and other goodies flat tappets require.

Mann p/n 021 115 351 A oil filters--change @ every oil change.

Another school of thought says that you have to look at the temps and oil pressure figures the motor is operating under as it's not that affected by the ambient temps/conditions around it. You want the first number (cold designation) to be light enough that the bearings are being lubricated as soon as the motor starts up; with most VW aircooled motors fairly tight bearing clearances a heavier oil will not flow through and lubricate or carry away heat properly until it starts to warm up (and the oil starts to thin out). Do you have huge oil pressure when cold and only slightly more reasonable pressure figures when warmed up? Is the motor seeing over 45psi at highway speeds and running hot sometimes? You may need to experiment with a slightly lighter weight oil. Remember, the oil cooler circuit is pressure (not temperature) dependant and excessive pressure (even when hot) will close off the cooler as the motor is acting like it's still cold.

A friend drove in his beetle (2 liter, FK43 or 44, 40x35 heads, dual IDF's) from Vancouver (BC) to Los Angeles and found he was having overheating issues in the warmer weather. A friend he was visiting suggested changing oil and stepping down from 20-50 to 10-30; the motor still had 10psi per 1000rpms and now stayed cooler on the highway due to the oil going through the cooler instead of bypassing it because of excessive pressures. All the way to Mexico City and back and no overheating problems, as the system was working like it's supposed to.

I'm not saying this will work for everyone, but think about it for a moment; a difference in outside temperature doesn't necessarily change what the motor is seeing, so why change oil weight based solely on a temp change? If the motor is perfectly happy with 20-50 (or whatever your flavor is), great, but if you're still having issues occasionally in warmer weather, maybe it's time to try something different. Let the motor tell you what it needs; it won't lie. You just have to learn to speak it's language. Al

Thanks Al for your response, I have decided to use a Castrol 10/40 during my driving seasons of the year.

Thanks again, Sully

Nice response, Al, as always.

Rick:  you can use whatever oil you want, but I personally would not use Castrol in an aircooled, solid-lifter engine, but I wonder what led you to that decision?  In the past ten+ years, Castrol has been reducing the amount of traditionally-used components in their oil that makes it "slippery" to metal surfaces, because those very things (among others) cause damage in catalytic converters.  The formulations they've gone to use stuff more converter friendly, but what they use for slipperiness doesn't work as well in our engines.

None of our speedsters (except those built by SAS running late model Subarus) have catalytic converters and we need those slippery oil components for less engine wear.  Before you finally decide on an oil to used in your air cooled engine, you might want to read what some industry leaders have to say about what oil to use in your air cooled Porsche, here:  http://www.lnengineering.com/oil.html

ZDDP (trade name? anyway, it's zinc and phosphorus) needs to be up around 1200-1600 (I think it's ppm) to protect our motors' cam and lifter faces, and this is even more important with stiffer single and double valve springs. The current SM and SN rated oils are only 600-800ppm, and as Gordon mentioned, this is to extend the life of catalytic converters. There are ZDDP additives for those wanting to dose new oils, but don't overdue it as too much doesn't play well with the detergent pack. Camshield, ZDDPlus, LucasTBZinc Plus, Redline Break In Additive are all available and not that expensive.

It's the zinc that bonds to the cam lobe and lifter faces and acts as a sacrificial layer, preventing metal on metal wear. There is some discussion as to whether the detergent packs in these latest oils allows the added ZDDP to do it's thing or keeps it from adhering to the metal surfaces in the motor. Some people believe that you're better off with an oil formulated with the right amounts of additives from the get go.

 Good comment, Al.  I think adding zinc/phosphorus to a modern day oil with low zinc/phosphorus content (and high detergent content) is a crap shoot. You may get it right, but you also may not.

Why risk it when there are good zinc/phosphorus oils on the market.