[Vwdiesel] '84 Diesel Rabbit Motor Oil 15W-40, 10W-40, 5W-40 . . .

[David Cook]

Hi Bryan-

Since getting into the diesel VW world, I have
actually switched *all* my vehicles to Shell Rotella T
synthetic 5w40.  My reasoning is multifold:

1)  Rotella T came highly recommended on this list and
other diesel lists.
2)  It is easy to find in both 1 qt and gallon sizes
at every Wal-Mart I've been to, in addition to other
sources.  (Which is nice in case I need more on the
road.)

For switching the other cars over:
3)  Not having to "stock" all kinds of different oils.
4)  If the oil is good enough to be heavy duty in my
diesel engine, it is good enough for my gasoline
engines too.  (And it carries the ratings to show
this.)
5)  Extended change intervals on all the vehicles. 
The Diesel Convertible gets it done every 10K, the gas
Corrado 5K, and the bus (gas aircooled engine) 3K. 
This works out to be about a year for all of them.

Just my thoughts, but seems to work for me.

David

--- "Bryan K. Walton" <bryankwalton at machlink.com>
wrote:

> Hi guys,
> 	So I've got an '84 Rabbit with about 122K miles on
> it. I've
> been running Cenex Superlube TMS motor oil in it
> (15W-40 weight).  But
> I thinking of switching over to a full synthetic
> oil.  My reasons for
> considering this are:
> 
> 1. Extending my oil change interval (I've been doing
> it every 3000
> 	miles).
> 2. To see if I can lower my oil consumption (I've
> already installed a valve
> 	cover baffle.  Right now my consumption is about a
> quart every 1000
> 	miles.)
> 3. To see, first hand, whether I can boost my mpg
> with synthetic oil.
> 	I know many synthetic oil users claim to have seen
> a mpg
> 	increase.  I'm a mpg geek, so if I can squeeze out
> even another
> 	1 mpg, it would be cool in my book. 
> 4. I only put about 6000-7500 miles on my rabbit a
> year. So, I think I
> could get away with an annual oil change with a
> synthetic. I live in 
> southeastern Iowa.  When I first started considering
> this switch to a
> synthetic, I thought that a fully synthetic 15W-40
> might work better
> in the winter than a dyno-based 15W-40.
> 
> However, when I started looking for fully synthetic
> 15W-40s, I didn't
> find very many:
> 
> a)Amsoil
> b)Redline
> c)Royal Purple
> d)Neo
> 
> So, I posted a question on the bobistheoilguy.com
> forum to see what
> people thought of these various options (they are
> all much more
> expensive than the dyno options -- but cost is
> probably one of the
> least important concerns of mine).  But I was
> unprepared for the
> response I got:
> 
> "Any of the listed oils will do you fine in your
> Rabbit. However, even
> though your manual states the use of 15w-40, it was
> published before
> widescale availability of synthetic 5w-40 heavy duty
> engine oils,
> which would be more than great for your little
> Rabbit.
> You see, a 5w-40 synthetic oil will provide better
> cold weather flow
> properties, and will also protect better than
> conventional 15w-40s at
> high temperatures. It's the best of both worlds!"
> 
> I hadn't even thought about using a 5W-40 before
> reading this reply. 
> So, my question to you guys: is anybody running
> 5W-40 in their diesel
> A1?  Is there any reason why I should stick to
> 15W-40?  Or is this
> poster correct, that 5W-40 is beats the 15W-40 in
> every fashion?
> 
> Thanks!
> Bryan Walton
> _______________________________________________
> Vwdiesel mailing list
> Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
> 


David Cook
Red '86 Cabriolet Diesel Powered
Red '90 g60 Corrado 
Brown and White '78 Westy Campmobile "Bear"
and others in various states of disrepair
Pictures here: community.webshots.com/user/superdave5599

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