Vanagon Engine Oil & Filters 2022

[djkeev]

There is always a desire to discuss what oil to put in the Vanagon Engines.

2.0 Air Cooled
Diesel
1.9 & 2.1 WBX

Along with a slew of rebuilt modified "improved" versions of the VW power plants.

Some old threads get outdated and long in the tooth.
Many who posted in them are long gone, links don't function to vanished web sites, etc.

Plus we have many new owners.
People like to talk about old well worn topics from a new perspective and with modern information.

I am open to a new 21st century oil discussion as it pertains to Vanagon engines, their unique needs for tappet lubrication, Zinc levels, viscosities, properties of multi weights, why to or not to follow owners manual recommendations, unique Air Cooled needs, how do todays off the shelf offerings meet our aging needs, etc

Let's be kind and keep it to ENGINE Oils.

Also we are VW focused here. While many are running other manufacturers engines, it would probably be best to check out their unique lubrication needs with the appropriate engine brands sites.

Let's see how this goes...........

Dave
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Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[jlrftype7]

I still have the 1.9 stock WBX engine, with maybe the same miles as the odometer[ who knows.... ]
After playing around with various oils and types for 2 years, I have settled on 10w-30 for Winter and 10w-40 for the rest of the year. I have the basic oil Cooler Kit from Vanistan/Chris C as well.
I use Castrol High Mileage Syn Blend Oil. Easy to find and it is working for us very well.
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'68 Westy- my first VW and vehicle/Bus- long gone.- sold it to a traveling Swiss couple....
'67 Type 3 Fastback, my 2nd car- gone
'69 Semi-Auto Stick Shift Beetle-gone
2017 MINI Coopers, our current DDs
‘84 Tin Top - Hilga....Auto

[shagginwagon83]

Another engine oil thread?! Time to get a moderator....oh wait
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"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin
Instagram: @joannthevan

[bobhill8]

So I am no expert - I have been using Rotella 15-40 for 4 years now in my 2.1 without issue, but would love to hear what others think of that. I have a sandwich adapter OP gauge that consistently reads in the 40 psi range on the highway in the 65 mph range. I do need to add MMO at times when the van has been sitting for a month or so, but otherwise no issues.
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1986 Westy
1971 Squareback

[floodwood]

Data Point:

1991 Tintop - Manual 2.1L Waterboxer
Daily Driver in the Northeast
Mobil1 or Valvoline Synthetic 10w40 all year round, sometimes Synthetic 10w30 in the winter

[Silverghost500]

2.1 WBX with 111K miles. Running Valvoline VR1 20w-50, Mann OEM filter. I used to run Shell Rotella and would have lifter noise more times than I felt comfortable with. Since switching to the VR1 product I've only had one time I've had lifter noise, and that was after letting the van sit for weeks without starting.
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1986 Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia "Von Westy"
Honda K24A conversion
3-Speed Automatic

Von Westy YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbhyZYxJEQrUuLnMbLleeIA

[mikemtnbike]

Mobil1 15w50 before the carnage.

I am interested by the "can run thin modern oils" arguments but am risk-averse enough to instead want to run the modern equivalents of the recommended grades.

The best thing about the Mobil1, and probably other synthetics, is it thinned out less under high temp high load pulls. Pre-engine rebuild, using 20w50 dino oil, I would see oil pressure drop below the 10psi per 1000 rpm guidelines on long interstate climbing grades or say driving uphill on the Blue Ridge Parkway for 15-20 miles. Mobil1, it would stay above. No other changes.
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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[photogdave]

[cvrbob]

83 aircool
last 3 years have been using PennGrade partial synthetic 20W-50 ,love it

[Igeo]

[mikemtnbike]

Check out my signature...definitely not motor oil related.
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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[Igeo]

Right. Sorry!
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1987 Westfalia 2.1 WBX Manual

[Californio]

Castrol Edge 10-60 in my Tiico I4.

[kamzcab86]

1990 2.1L WBX with about 210,000 on the clock

Oil: 10W40 Castrol High Mileage

Additive: Hy-per Lube Replacement Zinc (imitation zinc, which has been tested on a VW engine; claims to have better protection than ZDDP and doesn't foul up the cat converter), 4-6 oz. of MMO if a lifter sticks

Filter: Mobil 1

I've cut open several filters over the years, most recently being November 2021... not a single sparkle of metal.


P.S. The original nine-page master oil & filter topic is now locked and this topic has been added to the FAQ as the new master oil & filter topic.
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~Kamz
1986 Cabriolet: www.Cabby-Info.com
1990 Vanagon Westfalia: Old Blue's Blog
2016 Golf GTI S
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." - 孔子

[slo356]

1987 Syncro 7-passenger
2.1 WBX bone-stock.
91,500 miles.
Driven only in the very mild weather of Central California Coast except for occasional trip to Yosemite in Winter.

Last five years running Castrol 20w-50
Mann OEM filter
1/2 quart of Marvel Oil
Oil changes every 4,000 miles
No lifter noise.
Techron injector cleaner every third fill-up.

I would like to change over to Mobil 1 15w-50 except can't find it in our local stores. I like the qualities of synthetic oil.

Btw. Support the updating of this thread topic...stuff changes.
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'65 T1 Sedan
'87 T3 Syncro

[bobbyblack]

First thing I did when I bought my present daily driver was to change oil and filter, mistake! put in Penzoil 10W40 and a Framm filter. Got the oil buzzer first time I hot idled. Took me a few posts in the old oil post to get things sorted.

Wait! I lied!! First thing I did was to pull the heads and do a re-seal! There was a Fire Ring compromise, and it blew compression into the coolant, blowing all the coolant out pretty fast, like under 2 miles! I remember Terry K ridiculing me about how I went about that reseal... Trial by fire, that!

The next 3.5 years of owning my '87 Full Westy, putting on ~30K miles, I used Castrol 20W50 year round, stock Mann filter. Seemed fine.

Since then, Mobil 1 Synth, 0w40 Winter and 15w50 Summer, changing filters just twice a year regardless of miles. So thats another 35K+ miles. Still doing well with Mann filters.

Prior to the Castrol to Mobil change, I had no oil pressure gauge, so I don't know. Now I see something like 6psi at hot idle. In nearly every 'book' that is the absolute lowest you'd ever want prior to a rebuild. Most would say 10! I don't know if this engine has ever been rebuilt, the PO (owned between '88 and '14) passed on at age 94 in 2014, and his daughters don't remember it having a rebuild. He put about 240K miles on it. Got to hand it to the old PO, no fear! Or, perhaps exactly the right amount of fear! It seems as if the Westy was more of a summer touring vehicle for the family. The Duaghters have remarked that they toured all of North America and much of Central and South America. Still, 240K miles in ~25 years makes ~10K miles a year, lessening towards the end. So, it was likely put away in Winters, and the Daughters most likely would not have even heard of it being rebuilt over a winter if so. The old PO lived very close to Boston, and would have likely known of Boston Bob rebuilds. Many mods he added point to his following many trends from that era.

I push my engine as hard as I have heard any other stocker getting pushed.. I've got the gold injectors, the RMW/Vanistan exhaust, 1.25/1 rockers and the DigiMatrix Emulator. I don't have oil light flash at hot idle, when pulling off ~80 MPH freeway after roughly 3 hours onto an off ramp, and finding more fuel. I can't decide if that is a good thing or not. I can make it buzz and flash by pulling connectors to the sensors.

But then again, I have 3 long blocks to 'spare' and a complete 2.1 to drop in if/when I blow this engine. Not too many have that kind of leeway. Oh... and some 'spare' Vanagons I can just jump into and drive instead, in a pinch, if I blow my DD. Not the usual sort of "regular Vanagon nut" but instead a full blown case of InVanSanity.

In my air cooled stuff, I've always stuck to Castrol 20W50.
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'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch

[fishgo]

1983 full Westy with a 2.0 AC engine. Van has 282,873 miles total and 161,285 on the rebuilt Boston Bob engine.

Driven Racing DT50 synthetic with zinc additive. Mann filters.

I change the oil and filter every 5,000 miles and need to add about .25 - .75 of a quart between oil changes, depending upon highway high-speed driving (main seal likes to throw a little oil sometimes).

[djkeev]

So.........
Questions to which I've no answers.......

Zinc. ***********
We read all the time that flat tappet cams need zinc and that modern oils have removed the zinc because of emission standards and catalytic convertors.

What level of zinc is the proper evel for our engines?
Please document your answer if possible.

Viscosity **********
Wildthings and I tangled over this in some deleted off topic posts.

To me, I see nothing that indicates the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) has changed anything.
They apparently have a 0 - 60 weight grading system.
Control points are at 0°C and 100°C.
Can I assume that a 30 weight today has the same flow characteristics as a 30 weight from the 1960's?
I think Yes to be the correct answer.

Dave

.
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Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[djkeev]

Multi-weight oils.......

If you look in the owners manual it lists both single weight and multi-weight options.
But on the multi-weights, the upper weight safe usage limit stops short of the comparable single weight safe use limit.

In particular look at the 30 weights.

Why?

Dave
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Stop Dead Photo Links how to post photos

Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[djkeev]

Currently I cling to Mobil 1 15W50 oil if the temperature allows.
The 15W50 has a 1300 ppm zinc rating.

During the cold I'm running a 40/60 mix of 5W30 and 10W30 Mobil 1.
In essence an 8W40...... but this is only 900ppm zinc.

Most of the other Mobil 1 oils vary between 750 and 900 ppm.

https://www.mobil.com/lubricants/-/media/project/w...rev-31.pdf

Dave
_________________
Stop Dead Photo Links how to post photos

Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert