[T3] Stupid question #395 Oil change time?

[Jim Adney]

On 28 May 2019 at 14:27, William Jahn wrote:

> I'm lost on all the terms on oils. Since I've been using 20W50 Castrol it
> has no zinc or ZDDP. The Valvoline 20W50 has 1400 ppm zinc and from what
> I've read the zinc basically is a metal coating that stays on the bearings
> and other moving parts. Would this oil be good enough?

Since all your trips are short, your engine spends most of its time in warmup, 
so I'd think that 20W-50 oils would be a very poor choice for you, unless you 
think this engine is old and very worn out. I would look for a straight SAE 30 
that has more than 1200 ppm of zinc, or just any 30 to which you could add a 
bit of that Lucas or GM EOS to it at each oil change.

VW recommended straight weight oil for our cars under almost all 
conditions. I tend to forget that VW continued to recommend them even long 
after they were first introduced. Multi-grade oils are a much later 
improvement that we really don't need.

I looked for a Tractor Supply Company near here and found one. They have 
their house brand (Traveler) of SAE 30 in 5 qt plastic jugs for $9. I don't 
know about the zinc content yet, but I submitted a question. That's an 
excellent price, which will help make any additive affordable.

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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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