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Mon Aug 11, 2003 6:40 am

Firstly, thanks to all the kind folks and fellow VW drivers that offered their help. Now I need some advice on Motor Oil. What is the best kind, brand, weight, etc to use in my '67 Beetle?
The facts are:
1) it has a rebuilt 1600cc motor, I don't know is single or dual port heads
2) it will be used for daily, local driving
3) I live about 50 miles North of NYC, so we get all kinds of 'great' weather - hot, cold, dry & wet.
That's it friends, what should I use?

Mon Aug 11, 2003 6:53 am

Straight 30 Weight.
Castrol or Quaker State.
Been using if for 23 years and counting...

Mon Aug 11, 2003 8:07 am

40 weight Pennzoil.

Mon Aug 11, 2003 8:14 am

I use Quaker State 10w30 oil all year round. Just my $0.02

Mon Aug 11, 2003 8:25 am

For the sake of a goog argument :wink:

I use 20w50 which would be good for you in the warm months and swithc to 10w 30 in the winter...

straight weight is okay if that's what you like, but IMO the multigrades perform better.

Mon Aug 11, 2003 8:43 am

Castrol Heavy Duty 30 weight

Mon Aug 11, 2003 10:19 am

I use Quaker State 10w30 same as Jessica. I dont drive year round due to salty roads in the winter. I probably should switch to a 20/50 in the hot summer time.

Mon Aug 11, 2003 10:31 am

I guess I should have mentioned that I don't actually drive my Bug in the winter after it snows. I do start her up though. But 30 degree weather in March (when I had her out this year) is different from 90 degree weather in June. I guess I threw the year round statement in just to show that I don't switch oils...

Mon Aug 11, 2003 11:33 am

I guess alot of purists are going to be upset at this, but I always use a multi-grade oil in my VW's. 20w50 in the summer, and 10w30 in the winter. VW recomended the straight weight oils over 50 years ago, and they really aren't sensible for use in today's conditions. At the same time, I know of lots of folks who use straight 30 and 40 and have no problems, I just don't happen to be one of them. :D

Mon Aug 11, 2003 11:54 am

20W50 for me also, year-round.

Blu-Bug, if your intake manifold splits into 2 large (but connected) tubes before it connects to the head, you have a dual port. Post a picture of your bucket in the 'Readers Rides' section. 67's are cool.

Mon Aug 11, 2003 12:19 pm

well the truth about motor oil is that a mono grade oil has better lubricating qualities than a multi grade thats why VW recomended it back in the day BUT the design has not changed of the air cooled engine obviously the most impotant thing to an air cooled is its oil mono grade is still prefered but alot of peopl use mutli I have never run anything but SAE 30 in my bugs and never had a prob I live in Cali now but lived in Wa state as for brand it all comes down to personal pref all the major ones are good EVEN penz. thats what I use because its usually cheaper alot of people freak about it being perifin based btu in actuality all oil eccept synthetic is either perifin or asphault based and one of the major brands doesnt even process its own crued they buy it from another Penz was just the first to go the "wax" route thats why they got the bad name

Jimmy

Mon Aug 11, 2003 9:19 pm

Castrol GTX 20-50
granted VW recomends you use a stright weight, but they also recomend tires that wouldn't cut it in todays performance.
it's a personal prefference but with the heat in the southeast and lack of snow/ice 99.9% of the year,i will stay with what keeps my stuff running healthy.
any oil is good AS LONG AS YOU CHANGE IT OFTEN!
but for my money, the 20/50 gets my vote.
oils have changed in the past 40 years,change with them!

Tue Aug 12, 2003 12:15 am

Foxx4086 JHC wrote:
oils have changed in the past 40 years,change with them!

Good point, Frank. Multi-grades offer many more advantages than single viscosity oils, but if you're really worried about the alleged "lack of proper lubricating properties" of modern multi-grades, use Shell "Rotella". Where most modern oils lack Zinc content (good for bearings), Rotella has an abundance of it.

Tue Aug 12, 2003 1:47 pm

spoke to my guy today and he uses straight 30w on all air-cooled VW's. I have an 1980 Vanagon Camper that barely leaks oil at 107,100 miles. My valve tap was unusually loud lately, added some CD2 and now want to change the oil.
I was thinking of changing to synthetic but am lost in discussion.
Moving to San Diego too, so was thinking of straight 40w, sticking with 10w40 valvoline max life or switching to 15w50 mobile 1 synthetic..or a synthetic blend maybe? so indecisive. can anyone with an AIR-COOLED please weigh in? help!
thanks

Tue Aug 12, 2003 3:17 pm

Synthetic runs coolest so I use 20w-50.

Tue Aug 12, 2003 5:58 pm

I use 20-50 in the summer, it gets 110 degrees here and at the same time, 2 weeks later at 3 in the morning it might be 65 degrees, or cooler. a lot of fluctuation. In the winter I use 10-30

Fri Aug 15, 2003 11:43 am

I've been using 20/50 in my bug....stock 1500 in this L.A. Heat, doing real good. Drive it hard all day long. Is Synthetic any better for a bug?

Fri Aug 15, 2003 3:18 pm

I believe it was vwtrends that did an article on synthetic oil vs. traditional oil, and the synthetic test results yielded lower temps throughout the engine compared to traditional oil.

hope this helps
it might have been a hotvws mag, but im not sure.

Fri Aug 15, 2003 6:42 pm

hmmm... something to think about on the next oil change!

Fri Aug 15, 2003 9:00 pm

Check out the article in page 2 of the following for synthetic info in an A/C VW:

http://www.cvwcl.com/newsletters/june2003.pdf