Volkswagen Air Cooled Engine Oil

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Hi Guys,

I have been driving the Volkswagen type 1 for decades using various oils, however would like to listen to your opinions on which oil you would choose for the engine. Preferably 5W40 or 10W40 viscosity. I do the oil changes every 2 - 3k km, which I know is important. However, the newer oils have different additives and may lack important ingredients in the blend...

Thank you.
 
Of course you have experience, but I had two Super Beetles back in the days and always ran 40w Valvoline Racing oil in the summer and 20w in the winter.

Tons of miles put on them. Zero problems.

I wouldn't think air cooled engines would like multigrade, but who knows.
 
Originally Posted By: David2431
Of course you have experience, but I had two Super Beetles back in the days and always ran 40w Valvoline Racing oil in the summer and 20w in the winter.

Tons of miles put on them. Zero problems.

I wouldn't think air cooled engines would like multigrade, but who knows.

There are no single grade oils available here except for lawnmower engine oils. I have always used multigrade oils and also never noticed any issues...
 
If Eire is Ireland, I'm guessing it never gets below -10C or so there? Back in the day, I used SAE 30 in my 1200 cc '64 Beetle, and 10W40 on my '73 Type III 1.6 FI Squareback-unless you have an aftermarket oil filter, IMHO keeping the oil changed & clean might be more important than what you actually use. Motor oil has come a LONG way from when those engines were made, before 1978.
 
Originally Posted By: Jimzz
I would run a 15w40. Easy to find and should hold up well.

thumbsup2.gif
 
My dad had a 70 and a 74 he bought both brand new. Put nearly 300K Miles between them. Never had any engine trouble running Pennzoil 10w40. I remember trips from Calif to TX in August in those bugs too.
 
I had a 74 Beetle and a 68 Beetle beater. Always used 10W40. Put close to a combined 300K on those things before the frames rotted out.
 
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
If Eire is Ireland, I'm guessing it never gets below -10C or so there? Back in the day, I used SAE 30 in my 1200 cc '64 Beetle, and 10W40 on my '73 Type III 1.6 FI Squareback-unless you have an aftermarket oil filter, IMHO keeping the oil changed & clean might be more important than what you actually use. Motor oil has come a LONG way from when those engines were made, before 1978.

Yes, it rarely gets below 0C here. I know the frequent oil changes are top priority as is keeping the oil level at the top mark (2.5 l) rather than near the bottom (only 1.25 l). These are by far the key maintenance factors for this engine. There are no modifications to the engine.
 
Originally Posted By: Seweryn
Originally Posted By: David2431
Of course you have experience, but I had two Super Beetles back in the days and always ran 40w Valvoline Racing oil in the summer and 20w in the winter.

Tons of miles put on them. Zero problems.

I wouldn't think air cooled engines would like multigrade, but who knows.

There are no single grade oils available here except for lawnmower engine oils. I have always used multigrade oils and also never noticed any issues...


You should be able to pick up some monograde HD engine oils in a farm or agricultural supplier, maybe even through an industrial supplier or truck supplier. I'm not saying these are right for you, but they should be out there.
 
Given the low spring pressures in the old V'Dub, low state of tune and no-doubt slightly worn nature. Any 40-60W mineral oil will most likley give you no issues. Especially if you go the HDEO: CI-4 route.

However if you want the best for your air cooled historic friend, you can't go past Porsche's own air-cooled specific engine oil:

porsche-preview.jpg


probably expensive, but a walk in purchase from your local Porsche dealer
wink.gif


regards
Jordan
 
Originally Posted By: JFAllen
Given the low spring pressures in the old V'Dub, low state of tune and no-doubt slightly worn nature. Any 40-60W mineral oil will most likley give you no issues. Especially if you go the HDEO: CI-4 route.

However if you want the best for your air cooled historic friend, you can't go past Porsche's own air-cooled specific engine oil:

porsche-preview.jpg


probably expensive, but a walk in purchase from your local Porsche dealer
wink.gif


regards
Jordan


And here is the VOA for you....
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4098090/

Regards,
SR5
 
Originally Posted By: nap
Originally Posted By: SR5

And here is the VOA for you....
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4098090/


Looks Dexos-ish to me
laugh.gif



It's a lot lighter on the zinc than I was expecting.

With 65 ppm Boron, 770 ppm Zinc, TBN of 5.9 with 1800 ppm Calcium, it doesn't seem anything special. But there may be non-metallic stuff not showing up in the VOA.

But compared to the Oz Castrol GTX 20W50 (KV100 = 18.3 cSt), the Porsche stuff is thicker (KV100 = 18.85 cSt)
 
Air cooled engines place different demands on engine oil vs liquid cooled designs. Most obvious is that the heads operate at much higher temperatures. It is for these reasons that Aviation piston engine oils have 0%-SAPS. It allows the oil to flash off in the hot-heads and not leave deposits. Unless you're racing you probably wont see such high head and oil temps, bu the point stands. They are often will above 100C.

Also aviation engine oils are almost always mineral or at most semi-synth as they have better ability to disolve lead products that end up in the oil as a result of the high lead contend in avgas.

Not having an air cooled VAG engine I can't officially comment on personal experience. However given the different demands, Porsche have obviously produced a product that is tested for use in air cooled performance applications with their specific metallurgy and valve-trains. Not many others are doing that.

If I did have an air cooled VA engine, this is the oil I'd be using.

Regards
Jordan
 
Originally Posted By: JFAllen
Air cooled engines place different demands on engine oil vs liquid cooled designs. Most obvious is that the heads operate at much higher temperatures. It is for these reasons that Aviation piston engine oils have 0%-SAPS. It allows the oil to flash off in the hot-heads and not leave deposits.


Really ?

I honestly doubt that
 
Pretty much - ashless dispersant (AD) oils are used in certain air-cooled aviation engines to avoid ash build-up which can cause pre-ignition. These engines tend to use a little oil by design, hence wanting to avoid ash deposits.

They won't be "0%-SAPS" though, as the mineral base oil will contain sulphur.
 
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