2 years on conventional -- pics

[Drivebelt]

1987 Jetta … 4500km (2800miles) on oil. Last change, Aug 8,2006 (so almost 2 years).

Driving conditions: All city driving, mostly short trips of < 5 miles. Car sits outside during winter -- gets idled for warm-up when cold (it can hit -30C in the dead of winter). Oil is mostly (Canadian Tire) Motomaster Formula 1 5W-30 SM conventional with another 6 types or so of various oils blended in (some synthetic 5W-50 and synthetic blends 5W-30's).

Higher res. pictures… jetta3 jetta4 jetta5

1987 Jetta … … 1.8 gas SOHC 8v, ~ 130K km (81K miles). Top speed 170km/hr (106 mph), 90 hp, 6300 rpm redline, pulls "strong" right up to redline.

Oil usage: 1 liter every 2000 - 4000 km (5W-30) depending on the driving conditions. Probably could reduce that quite a bit by using a heavier grades like 15W-40 or 20W50 in the summer but I use 5W-30 year round for the winters and convenience. OCI: 8000km (5000 miles)/ 1 year. I will adjust depending on the situation. Shorter km and I will likely go over a year.

So, if I was dumping the oil every 4 months regardless of mileage, I would have done 5 additional oil changes by now. 3 additional oil changes if dumped every 6 months.

 

[MysticGold04]

Wow.. very nice.

 

[coffee]

Looks fabulous!

 

[kd5byb]

Wow, very clean and I have a hard time seeing any signs of wear on those cams!

I'm gaining a lot of respect for dino oils here lately...

later,
b

 

[ourfamo4]

Nice work, I also ran dino 5w-30 / 10w-40 in my 1998 Golf 8v for around 50k, and the head was almost as clean.

So this looks like another 8V that will long outlast the body!

 

[Bill in Utah]

My 1986 Jetta just passed 330k!

Still runs great and just passed the Dyno smog in Kalifornia.

Good engine and all its seen is Valvoline and Halvoline for the most part.

Looks good. So much for conventional sludging up when @ -30 below.

Bill

 

[rationull]

So just to get this straight:

- City driving
- Short trips
- Almost two years on the same fill of oil
- Cold weather with idle warm-ups
- Conventional oil

Looks great!

No UOA?

 

[Drivebelt]

These Group II+ 5W-30 oils are really good. Getting the itch to change the oil, so I don't know if I'll actually make it to 2 full years (Aug. 8).

I think I got my moneys worth out of the oil anyway.

Quote:
No UOA?


Thinking of getting a UOA -- figure I pretty well have too. Curious myself to see what it would show. I've put in 2 liters of makeup oil so far (4l sump).

A couple of years ago I had the cam cover off and there was a little buildup of what looked like light colored gelled oil. I figure this was from the ~ 12 years of Group I based motor oils (1980/90's). It would just wipe off with a paper towel jetta7. I cleaned quite a bit of it but some still remains.

I actually used synthetic-blends (5W-30) during the 80/90's which would have been Group I/PAO based. In hindsight, I don't think the old Group I based syn-blend's were "that" much better than conventionals. With 85% conventional (15% PAO), a Group I syn-blend still has a pile of aromatics in it that will break down quickly. Full synthetics were really the way to go in the Group I days for high performance oil. Although, at 5k mile OCI's with those syn-blends things still look pretty good in there. These engines aren’t particularly hard on oil (belt camshaft) and it doesn't get very hot here in the summer. I think the modern conventional Group II's are way better than even those old Group I based syn-blends.

 

[Bryanccfshr]

Nice job done for your application. Your UOA will probably be interesting but the cam wear(lack thereof) is all I need to see.

 

[Max_Wander]

Fantastic! Typical VW engine...

 

[Audi Junkie]

Don't you guys know VWs are horrible vehicles?

 

[Johnny]

Mostly Motomaster 5W-30 SM oil. So much for special VW and ACEA ratings.

That's a clean Jetta. Could not detect any rust in the picture.

 

[bobfather99]

Drivebelt,

Just keep doin what youre doin....

 

[Fuzz1]

awesome stuff !!!!

My dad owned a VW Golf 3 GTi 2.0 8 valve (2E) and we did 7500km OCI's on 20w50 Shell Helix Dino. At 350 000km on a dyno it still still produced 100% of its spec BHP. Engine was never opened and it consumed minimal oil.

It took a bus running into it to stop it from driving

 

[Drivebelt]

Originally Posted By: Johnny
Mostly Motomaster 5W-30 SM oil. So much for special VW and ACEA ratings.

Made by Shell too.

Shell has been making the Motomaster oils since about 1998. Interestingly enough, when Shell started blending the oils back then for CT they advertised their Group II usage -- if one knew what "conventional pure base oils" back in 1998 was. An MM SJ bottle circa 1998.

Quote:
My dad owned a VW Golf 3 GTi 2.0 8 valve (2E) and we did 7500km OCI's on 20w50 Shell Helix Dino. At 350 000km on a dyno it still still produced 100% of its spec BHP. Engine was never opened and it consumed minimal oil.

Those 1.8l 8v's don't produce a lot of horsepower, but they get good gas mileage and are long lasting engines.

Just need to keep the oil topped up (they can "drink" the lighter viscosities like 5W-30's) and throw a new belt (camshaft) on every 100k km or so. I get 33-35 mpg city imp. (28-29 us gal) and 43-45 highway (36-37 us) with the Jetta. I can hit 50 mpg (over 40 us) on the highway if I keep the speed ~ 100km/hr (low 60's mph).

 

[ChiTDI]

Impressive! Says a lot about 5k OCI with the right oil.

 

[Drivebelt]

I forgot to list the oil filter. It's a Fram Extra Guard PH2870A.

I have been using the PH2870A for the life of the vehicle (since I bought the Jetta new in 1987). Never had an issue with any of the filters.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: Drivebelt
I forgot to list the oil filter. It's a Fram Extra Guard PH2870A.

I have been using the PH2870A for the life of the vehicle (since I bought the Jetta new in 1987). Never had an issue with any of the filters.


Fram filters are also what has been run in my 86 Jetta for 330k.

I've cut open every one with no problems.

But be careful. You are showing folks here who believe that the only way for a long life clean engine is to run $5-9 a quart oil with $15 filters.

And they know what the truth is...

Bill

 

[Kestas]

I know back in the mid-80s VW made their camshafts with a lobe surface hardening technique called "electron beam remelting". Basically, they scanned the lobe surface with a high-powered electron beam under vacuum. This locally melted the metal surface, which quickly hardened the surface via self-quenching. This made the camshaft robust for high-rpm applications.

 

[ARB1977]

Cool pics...my wifes 97 has been strong so far.