Sitting for a year :-)

[Wildthings]

My 83 1/2 with a 2.1L of unknown miles (it was pulled by Small Car as part of a Subaru swap) has been sitting for a year and my wife wanted it moved so I threw a battery in it and fired it up. It only hit on one cylinder at first but within 10 seconds was hitting on all four and purring. Zero lifter noise, you would have though I had run the engine just a few minutes before instead of having last run it a year ago.

I know that this is a controversial subject, but this engine has 5w40 oil in it and the lifters just love it. Experience has shown that Vanagon lifters leak down less on thinner oil and if they do leak down they pump up faster.

Let the flaming begin.

[Merian]

thin is in
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[AndyBees]

The lifters in my 83 Air-cool 2.0 got pretty bad to bleed off as age and miles began to pile up. I bought it in 85 with 48k miles on the clock.

So, what I thought to be logical was to use heavier oil as the miles increased. Seems I was using 20w-50 in the summer months and 10w-40 the balance of the year...

Seems none of that changed the rattling at start-up!

So, should I have been using a thinner oil all along?

It's been moth-balled since 2005 with over 220k miles on the odie!

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I had no issues with rattle in the 1.9 in the 84 (now a TDI).

I do get a slight rattle with the 89 at start-up (10w-30). It has 148k miles on the clock... (10w-40, I think)
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'84 Vanagon Tin-top, ALH TDI. 1989 Tin-top
1983 Air-cool, 225k miles, 180k miles mine. Seven trips to Alaska from 1986 thru 2003.

[bluebus86]

i have found that the brand of oil filter used can have a big influence on lifter noise for the first several minutes after start up. you want a filter with same rating as stock one. some Fram filters have cause lifter noise, a switch to Mann filter solved that problem, even with the recommended thicker oil

on my van, it has sat at times for extended periods using the recommended 20w50 oil and has not had start up problems, no lifter noise. also my van has not have difficutly on start up by firing on only one cylinder. i am saddened to learn that some folks have firing issues.
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Help Prevent VW Engine Fires, see this link.....Engine safety wire information

Stop introducing dirt into your oil when adjusting valves ... https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=683022

[Wildthings]

[AndyBees]

Remember this stuff?

I actually used it in the 2.0 Air-cool engine for probably close to a year (two or three changes, maybe more).
Seems that was the oil in the engine when we drove it to Alaska in 1986.

Wow!

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'84 Vanagon Tin-top, ALH TDI. 1989 Tin-top
1983 Air-cool, 225k miles, 180k miles mine. Seven trips to Alaska from 1986 thru 2003.

[bluebus86]