Your oil will always be blackish, You cant get in and wipe out every bit of dirty oil. Dont let it bother you. Just change it regularly.

Theres so many posts here regrading fuel. You need to change your serviceman cos he knows bugger all about engines. If he did then he wouldnt make the suggestion. Go to a specialist VW mechanic only.

VW = alloy heads, hard valve seats, bronze valve guides = NO lead/lead substitutes/additives necessary.

If the oil blackens up fast then it is doing a good job - holding the crud in suspension so it can be flushed out with the next oil change!

If it stayed clean you'd have to worry about how much crud was sticking to the insides of the engine!

That's what they put detergents in engine oil for - to "wash" the insides of the case clean of the crud so it can't build up - can you say "blocked oil cooler"?

the VW engine doesn't have an oil filter to remove any of the crud between changes, so it looks blacker for that reason too (and that's why we change the oil more often than other cars do).

Re the LPR thing - do NOT use LRP in a VW engine - they run hotter than a water cooled engine and the MMT (Magnesium compound they use in LRP in Aus) then sticks to the spark plugs more and causes rough running and hard starting.

The VW engine is perfectly happy (and is not harmed in any way by) unleaded fuels.

Read this if you want more info
http://www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970/octane1.html 

Sorry - brain fart - the "magnesium compound" should read "Manganese compound"...

I must have had engine cases in my head when I wrote "magnesium".

i read this in open road what LRP petrol is:
it says:
LPR is essentially premium unleaded(PULP) with an additive of to protect valve seats and valve faces which oin older cars can erode without some protection. it goes on with how it will be phased out and people still with older cars have to use ULP or PULP with an over the counter additive!
cheers
rhys

Rhys, Rhys, Rhys, pay attention boy.

What makes you think the NRMA knows anything about cars?? Mark Waugh has just joined the board, for chrissakes!

We've said it many times, and here it is again.

VWs DO NOT need petrol additives - they are for old cast iron Holdens and Fords. VWs run fine on unleaded. Stock VWs don't even need premium unleaded.

Rhys, listen to Phil!

Old engines with cast iron heads (which is a "soft" metal) can suffer from valve seat recession (VSR) unless they have lead or LRP type additives in the fuel to protect the valve seats.

VWs have HARD STEEL valve seats inserted into the soft aluminium heads, so the DO NOT need protection from VSR - they never have needed lead or other additives in the fuel!

The fact that they ran just fine on leaded fuel doesn't matter - they run just as well on normal unleaded.

That's all there is to it - fill up any aircooled VW with unleaded and drive it!!!

Back on the subject of Oil - Does NE1 know if you can get amsoil in melbourne ?

An old german VW mechanic told me 20 yrs ago to use Valvoline.
Have been since.
If you know what i mean.

Mark Waugh on the board of the NRMA! Does this mean I can bribe him to reccomend my brand of vegetabel oil?

Seriously - there has been some good advice here: heed it and use a name-brand multigrade oil, changing it at least every 5,000km.

Steve, that would have to be a 'no' on the amsoil thing. Let me know if you find out though. :thumb

It probably wouldn't work in an air-cooled engine, but what's wrong with vegie oil? I've had hippy mates using it for years without ill effect. They change it quite regularly though, much like we change ours.

Actually, I'm not sure I should say 'we'... I've just done my first oil change on my kombi in, shall we say 'a long time', like maybe 40,000 kms. Not a good idea I know, but it was on the 'to do' list!:o At least it has an oil filter...

im gonna try the castrol 20W50 it recommends it for older style cars/engines so ill give it a try and i also got told to use magnatech but $30 a pop cant afford that at this time!
cheers
rhys

I've nothing against Magnatech but can't see how it benefits a horizontal beetle engine.

The Magnatech claim to fame is that it clings to the upper parts of the engine so there is some lubrication until the oil pumps up at start-up.


But there are three reasons why it's probably wasted in a bug.

1. Magnetic means it is attracted to steel/iron. Well, the cylinders and crankshaft in a bug engine are steel, but there is a LOT of magnesium alloy and aluminium it won't be attracted to.

2. There is only about 4-5 inches from the top fo the oil in a beetle sump to the top of the case, so there is very little height for the oil to drain down, and it takes only a second or two for the oil light to go out when you start up, so there is not much change of running "dry" anyway.

3. The cylinders (subject the most wear on a cold start-up), are horizontal, so SOME oil will always be lying in the bottom side of the cylinder walls, so there is already SOME oil to get splashed around on start-up.

I personally don't think the price of Magnatec is worth any perceived advantage for the beetle engine.

Mountainbug - Valvoline is just fine - as the Owner's Manuals say - use any decent brand oil, and Valvoline is one of those.

The beetle engine is not critical of the type of oil, but it DOES have to be changed regularly, especially if like most beetle engines you have no oil filter, since changing it is the only way to give the engine clean oil.

A good oil changed regularly is the cheapest form of insurance for a long life you can give your engine.

And Kruzinkombi - shame on you, but a bravery award for admitting it - just change it well before you do ANOTHER 40,000 km ok?

Re your "Amsoil probably wouldn't work" comment... I repeat what I said earlier - synthetic oils (like Amsoil and Mobil 1) will work just fine in the beetle engine for both cooling and lubrication, but you can't take advantage of their long-life capacity (you still have to change it just as often), so the high cost is not really justified.

thanks for wrapping that up rob!!
cheers
rhys