[Vwdiesel] Oil recommendations?

[Tyler "Casioqv" Backman]

I recommend Amsoil Series 3000 Heavy Duty Diesel 5w30. It is one of the
most expensive synthetic oils on the market (over $8/qt, about $6.xx/qt
for me because I am a dealer), but is well worth it. It has a better
additive package than other diesel synthetics that allows it to
lubricate well for a longer drain interval, which makes it ultimately
cheaper, assuming your engine doesn't burn much oil. I plan to put oil
analysis data online every 10k miles for the series 3000 in my Volvo
760TD. I have never heard of Series 3000 being shown to have broken down
in a analysis, even after 400k miles! When using synthetic there is no
point in using a high viscosity like 20w-50 or 15w-40 as you would with
non-synthetic, because you don't have the danger of excessive viscosity
loss at high temps (I haven't looked at the graphs recently, but I think
it is as thick as 20w50 at 200 degrees F). The 5w30 will build oil
pressure much faster on startup, where most wear occurs, and will not
wear any more than a heavier synthetic at operating temp (engine wear is
almost entirely eliminated with any full synthetic anyway). It also
improves fuel economy, and makes cold cranking much faster (because of
reduced viscosity, and the fact that it continues to coat the bearings
better than dino oil when the engine is off, which helps prevent metal
on metal during startup). Amsoil only sells the series 3000 in 5w30, and
this is the only weight of synthetic needed for most any passenger
car/truck diesel engine. If your motor is worn and burns a lot of oil,
while it would likely burn less with synthetic, it still isn't cost
effective. You might as well use cheap oil, or get the motor rebuilt. In
my 760TD I use series 3000 because it burns about 1qt/4000 miles, but I
use Chevron Delo 400 in my 245D because it burns about 1qt/250 miles due
to bad rings. As for transmission fluid, I have had better luck with
Redline than amsoil, because redline MT90 is engineered for a manual
transmission (instead of just being a synthetic gear oil) and seems to
make the syncros work better than a regular synthetic. I have noticed
that even cars with worn syncros will slide into gear like a hot knife
though butter with Redline MTL (but it won't fix bad linkage bushings
for you!)

-Tyler

TexasTDI wrote:
> VW originally recommended 20w-50 or 15w-40 back in 1981.
>
> I recommend and use Amsoil 15w-40 full synthetic oil in both of my diesels.
>
> http://www.amsoil.com/products/ame.html
>
> Amsoil also offers a 15w-40 synthetic blend oil.
>
> http://www.amsoil.com/products/pco.html
>
> For the transmission I recommend Amsoil full synthetic AGT 80w-90 gear lube.
>
> http://www.amsoil.com/products/agr.html
>
> Chris Thornton
> 1991 VW Jetta 2 Door 1.6 Diesel - 236k miles
> 2000 VW Golf 1.9TDI (turbo diesel) - 81k miles
> Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants Dealer #1098500
> http://www.amsoil.com
> http://texastdi.com/6/ubb.x