1984 VW Rabbit Diesel Oil?

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What about Esso XD-3 0w40 for Michigan winters? It's diesel rated and super cheap over the border in Canada, so I hear.
 
Mat_31 all I have used so far is a 15W-40. I have seen several mornings that were close to zero degrees F and even a few below the zero mark. It has fired every morning and started right up. So I know that it can and will start and run just fine with a 15W-40. But it feels better having something thinner in it. You know it just gives ya that warm feeling that your doing all you can to protect your precious little baby.
Brons2 thank you for that suggestion. I never give a thought to going over the border for a good syn. Thank you.
 
great find on the VW diesel. i was bidding on a vw diesel caddy (pickup) with 140k miles. i had 1300 to spend on it at the time and thought it was mine. i was quite wrong. it went for over 2200. i should have called the bank and got that sucker. maybe next time. my family had a 1980 rabbit diesel. my dad did about 140 miles a day to work and back. we sold it in 86 with 230k miles on it. great car.
 
I had 2 81 Rabbit diesels, and thought I'd drive them forever but my daughter totaled both of them! Surprisingly I found the seats very comfortable for my bad back and could tolerate long trips in them.
As far as oil filters go, I don't remember the brands, but these engines develop pretty high oil pressure. I used to get oil pressure light when I drove thru puddles, so put a 0-100 psi gauge on it, and when the engine was cold it would go well past 100! Oil light coming on was case of water splashing up on the op sender. Knew some guys that blew gaskets out of their oil filters.
Hated the 4 speed tranny, wished I had the 5. Big gap between 3-4.
 
Well, that was a long time ago....I think I bought whatever was on sale, usually Pennzoil or Castrol, and might even have used Fram filters back then! Don't remember what kind of filters that some had trouble with blowing the gasket out, but used to make sure the filter was on really tight!
One of the cars I bought new, the other when it had 115,000 miles on it. The used one had the filter on so tight I went back and asked the guy I bought it from how he put it on, seems he machined an aluminum socket wrench at work to make sure he had it tight enough!
When I put the mechanical pressure gauge on it I had visions of black oil spraying all over me and the interior when it went past 100. Warm I think the pressure would drop to 60 or so? Usually changed oil around 3000 miles.
I used to keep some kerosene on hand for winter weather and would add a gallon or two when the temperature got below 15 or so. I think winterized diesel fuel already has it mixed in, but I was warned about some places didn't sell winterized fuel, the K would lower the mileage and doesn't have the lubrication qualities of #2 but it never failed to start, even below zero.
 
Don't remember what weight oil I used, whatever the manual called for, I assume back then it was 10W-30? Could have been 10W-40 too. I checked my records, I usually save everything, but I think I finally threw that stuff away....
 
i dont remember what filter we used, knowing my dad he bought a few cases of the VW filters. we had the local co-op change the oil avery 3-4k or so. we used 10-40 chevron delo diesel oil in it. it got to where it burned about a quart a week the way we drove it. the only way to get anywhere in that thing was to full throttle it ande shift about as fast as you could through the first 3-4 gears. garbage trucks and kids on bicycles would pass you. lousy car to pick up chicks in. but cheap to run.
 
I owned one of these, a 1980 model. It liked a 40 weight best, especially in the summer, but did just fine on a 30 as well. One machinist who worked on them preferred them over MB diesels and recommended a straight 40, but you'd have cold cranking issues if it were really cold. In the winter, I'd run regular 10w-30 Pennzoil without any problems. The battery took up quite a bit of the tiny engine compartment if I recall.

I think it did 0-60 mph eventually (with the AC on it was a real struggle at times). But with a few tweaks it was actually a fun little car in the twisties. And 60 mpg was quite a benefit.

The bigger question is whether it was a Westmoreland Rabbit or one from the Fatherland. The former needed a lot more work to run well.

The problem I've always had with post-beetle VWs is that they are just wonderful cars until they break the first time. That seems to set off a chain reaction and you're always fixing something thereafter.
 
Another thing about these cars is they had very weak bumpers! It didn't take much of a hit to do a lot of damage, as my daughter managed to prove!!! I think the 0-60 time was like 18 seconds or so? It was a strong runner though. When teaching my daughter to drive a stick I told her that she didn't have to worry about stalling it when starting out, it was almost impossible to do, but she proved me wrong. I think it could climb hills at idle, but didn't try it out. I drove from Cincinnati to Atlanta (500 miles) without having to stop to fill it up, and it only had a 10 gallon tank.
 
I own several Volvo D24/D24T diesels. They have a VW/Audi 6 cylinder, same internals as the rabbit. I have been using Mobil 1 5w30 for years. I have seen no wear, meaning no valve train wear, no valve adjustments and no cylinder wall wear when a head was pulled on several Volvo diesels. I am curious to know if Rotella 5w40 does that too. I'd stick with the Mobil 1 5w30, it seems to work great! Plus it cleans the rings and helps compression!
 
wow thats thin oil for a diesel! And not an optimized add pack either.

Glad youve had such success... its a testament to M1.

I wouldnt run it in my MB diesels though.

JMH
 
Though it doesn't have the additives, it works! They run better and cleaner and no wear. I have used it in many Volvo diesels for hundreds of thousands of miles as have a lot of people I know with great success.
 
I just bought a totally rebuilt 1981 Rabbit pickup (AKA: Caddy)with a 1.6 turbodiesel and a 5-speed. Can anyone say "Massive fuel mileage"?. I changed the transmission to Redline MTL and will run Rotella synthetic once the engine is broken in on it's present Rotella T.
 
I have had a lot of experience working on the Rabbit diesels. We used to run Redline 10-40W with great results. Redline now makes a diesel specific 15-40W that will probably be even better. I did not know about bypass filters at the time, but every diesel should have one. All the real engineering research shows that they will double the life of your motor. Why not pay $200 for that? See the bypass filter section for more info. I do not sell bypass filters,but they are great.
 
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