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Post by busaddict on Aug 4, 2015 21:29:36 GMT -8
Many things have been written about using synthetic oil in a VW bus, or any air-cooled motor for that matter. John Muir didn't seem to have much time for it, but that was written long ago. I've often used conventional Rotella T 15w40 oil in my van with great results. What about this offering, Rotella T6 Diesel 5w40? There are people using it out there, see the Samba. Are their any dos and don'ts with synthetic oils, other than not mixing it with regular oil? Should I use T6 in my T2? Thanks!  Another oil thread has been started here: "What Type of Oil Do You Use?" miacvw.proboards.com/thread/931/type-oil-use |
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Post by Volktales on Aug 6, 2015 21:09:06 GMT -8
Synthetic vs Conventional oils... What a topic that was when synthetics first started to becoming common. I have never used them in my VW's, but then synthetic oil is significantly more expensive then conventional. None of my VWs are daily drivers and they get their oil changed once a year regardless of distance travelled. Synthetic allows longer intervals, but this is meaningless for my usage. I remember reading that the molecules in synthetic oil are smaller then conventional, thus could leak easier. If that was true, then that is not necessarily a good thing given that leak free air-cooled engines are a rarity. None of our customers ever specified synthetic in their vintage VWs, so I have no real world observations to add...
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Post by PICTUP on Aug 7, 2015 7:38:40 GMT -8
I had an affiliation with Amsoil products at one time. When I first started driving my Westy way back in 1987, yes, the dark ages(!), I switched to Amsoil gear oil in the transaxle. It made shifting in sub zero temps much, much easier. Since they wanted to "clean" your engine by running some sort of chemical with your existing oil first before switching, I was a bit leery of the process. But my friend was a dealer and a friend of the VW and he finally wore me down. I ran it for quite a while after going thru the cleaning process. All seemed well thru a couple oil changes while running the Amsoil with a remote cooler and filter system I had installed earlier. Then came a time before going off to work in the field that I needed to once again change the oil and filter. Since Amsoil wanted their customers to use their proprietary filters along with the oil, I usually did the oil changes myself at the dealer's place(small town(Penticton), way back, remember  ). All had been fine until the dealer installed a different filter, not recommended for my system. Unbeknownst to any of us there was some sort of check valve in that "incorrect" filter. My inlet/outlet were the wrong way for the filter, so what happened next was not good. It did take about 12 miles to become apparent that what was happening(but that is another story that I will post elsewhere). Suffice to say things got a little hot, not just the oil  I never ran synthetic after that, but I can't say anything bad about when I was running it. I can say that that gear lube was fantastic and for lasted years providing smooth shifting even when driving my 68DC to and from my work in -20C, yes, I was more hardcore back then(and my feet were solid blocks of ice).  |
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Post by busaddict on Aug 7, 2015 10:45:10 GMT -8
Interesting points, thanks guys. Russ mentions the molecule leak theory and Don has more of a problem with service than the oil. Anyway, I was very lucky to receive this oil as a gift from a Victoria VW member who was leaving town and couldn't pack it. He said he ran it in his bus no problems.
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Post by busaddict on Jun 16, 2018 9:58:50 GMT -8
Just came across this interesting note on the VW Heritage website in the U.K. "Mineral oil vs. Synthetic Oil Synthetic oils typically have quite different heat transfer characteristics to mineral oils. On modern water-cooled units this is not a problem, but on the air-cooled unit where a significant part of the overall engine cooling comes through oil cooling, the use of synthetic oils can cause problems. As the amount of heat dissipated by the oil is reduced, the engine runs hotter. Therefore, for every day use, we recommend mineral oils, not synthetics." www.vwheritage.com/lowdown-oil |
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). All had been fine until the dealer installed a different filter, not recommended for my system. Unbeknownst to any of us there was some sort of check valve in that "incorrect" filter. My inlet/outlet were the wrong way for the filter, so what happened next was not good. It did take about 12 miles to become apparent that what was happening(but that is another story that I will post elsewhere). Suffice to say things got a little hot, not just the oil 
I never ran synthetic after that, but I can't say anything bad about when I was running it. I can say that that gear lube was fantastic and for lasted years providing smooth shifting even when driving my 68DC to and from my work in -20C, yes, I was more hardcore back then(and my feet were solid blocks of ice). 