[T3] Oil weight once more

Adriel Rowley adriel_rowley at hotmail.com
Tue Nov 19 22:42:01 PST 2013


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1971 Sunroof Squareback with F.I. - Located in Coastal San Diego County
1985 Mercedes-Benz 300TD-T - Dog Wgn
Master's Student, A.S.U., living in north central Mesa, AZ


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> From: jadney at vwtype3.org
> To: type3 at vwtype3.org
> Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 21:41:22 -0600
> Subject: Re: [T3] Oil weight once more
>
> On 19 Nov 2013 at 21:39, John L. Morgan IV wrote:
>
>> He said I need a single viscosity oil. Now, I'm questioning it all
>> over again. What oil do you use and why? As soon as I read something,
>> someone else contradicts it.
>
> When our cars were new VW recommended single viscosity oils in most
> situations. The problem was that a 1970 10W-40 oil would turn into a
> SAE 10 over time at the higher operating temps of the VW air cooled
> engines. At that time multi-grade oils were in their infancy, so it's
> likely that they have improved since then.
>
Interesting!

> Single weight oils are still good, and if you can find a good one, at
> an appropriate weight, it would still work well in your engine, but
> you're not likely to find many today.
>
I was using strait 30 for winter; 10W-40 was too thick.

> There is another problem, however, with modern engine oils. Some of
> the oil additives that were particularly useful in the past, have now
> been banned (or perhaps just severely limited) because they poison
> modern catalytic converters. So these oils can sometimes lead to cam
> failures in our old engines.
>
> The missing additive is ZDDP, which is a phosphorus compound. One way
> to get around the ban is to buy expensive racing oil. Another is to
> find an oil that doesn't meet the modern standards.
>
Valvoline VR1 by the case wasn't bad, but that was a long time ago...

> The oil I've found that seems to fill our need is a Diesel engine oil
> that meets all modern Diesel oil standards but not the latest gas oil
> standards. You have to acquaint yourself with the standard on modern
> oils: I think that is SM with the API seal on the front. The Diesel
> oil I've found lacks the API seal and meets all the Diesel standards
> plus SL. The really good news is that it's a 15W-40, which is a
> really nice multi-range spread, AND it's cheap: ~$18 for 2 gallons.
>
Be careful with the diesel oil! The new formulation (CJ) doesn't have near as much anti-wear agents! Be sure to get CI or CI+ oil. Modern diesels now have catalytic converters instead of soot converter (started in Comufornia in 1985, so another reason why I bought a Comufornia 1985).

Diesel oil isn't a S oil. S stands for spark and C stands for compression motor, a.k.a. diesel engine. C engine oils have a lot more detergent to handle the high soot of a diesel combustion. I had this fight with the P.O. of the diesel who said to use a S engine oil. Not sure that be good idea in an old engine unless a bottle of A.T.F. was put in and the oil changed at 100 miles to get all the junk out. 

> It's the house brand here at our local Farm & Fleet store. Don't look
> for it at your FLAPS. Look for a farm supply store, Tractor Supply,
> or Farmer's Co-op. Unless you live deep within a large metropolitan
> area, there will something near you.
>
I bet that is for off road vehicles; if so, should be CI or CI+ which is what you want. I found Walmart has a large selection of diesel oils, both dyno and synthetic. So, even here in metropolis, very easy to get. I can even walk and get some!


Thank you so very much!
Adriel 		 	   		  


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