in my 71 type 3...should i be running unleaded? or better yet...premium? what does everyone else use/recommend?

also...i put new oil in the engine on the weekend...i used the pennzoil older engine....its sae 60....but now i hve been told thats too thick..so i havent started the motor...can somebody clarify this? and possibly tell me what to buy so as not to screw my motor...

jonno

That 60 weight oil is too heavy.
Used on old worn out engines or old Harleys with slack tolerances.
As for fuel, they run better on premium.

so what kinda oil should i be using?

jonno

i run the penzoil multi vis and it works well mate and for fuels i run premium with flashlube, but have run unleaded when premium is too expensive. ive had no problems

Jonno, I reckon you've picked two of the most controversial topics on the forum to ask about. Just about everybody has their own opinion about the best fuel/oil to use.

Assuming it's not a new engine a 60 weight oil is not going to ihurt your engine it if you go for a drive. In fact with summer coming a thicker oil probably wouldn't be a bad idea. One of my old mechanics used a Penrite 20W-60 as his standard refill oil, he was an aircooled VW specialist. His arguement was that as aircooled engines run hotter than watercooled engines, they need a heavier oil. At the operating temp of an AC engine a 60 grade oil is probably as viscous as a 50 weight in a WC engine, ie hotter so oil is thinner. Don't know if it's true, but I ran the 20W-60 for quite a while wit no probs.

The general consensus seems to be that Castrol GTX-2 is a good one to use.

As far as fuel goes, some people reckon that plain old unleaded is good enough, others use premium, other use premium with upper cylinder lubricant. Personally, I use premium with flashlube, may be over the top but I figure the worst that happen is I'm wasting my money.

Do a search on this topic and you'll find a stack of threads.

beautiful dude!...thanks a million...
the reason y i got the penzoil sae60 was cus the guy at work said the engine was designed to run at hotter temps...so everything has been machined undersize to account for expansion...and he saidd that if u were to put a 60 in...once at operating temp...it would come down and be equivalent to say...a 30 or whatever...

jonno

yeah makes sense what hes saying but if its a new motor you would be better off with some thing lighter to help the bed in process i thought. but each to their own im running multivis in a just rebuilt engine and its fine

The sae 60 oil is actually made from SAE 50 grade oil with thickners added....
My Son is currently using 60 grade Pen** oil in His Beetle...

I have Castrol GTX 2 in My Engine.... no klms on it...

Some VW specialists recommend sae 30 .. not multigrade...
that may have been OK in the old days in Europe in colder temps but with temps of 40C+ in Australia, a higher grade oil is required IMHO {in My humble opinion]...

Castrol GTX 2 is recommended by Castrol...

in a worn VW engine 60 grade won't harm the engine...
probably wouldn't hurt a new engine either......


Just don't use LRP --- if You can find it??

I haven't decided about flashlube yet although it May be the way to go.... as nothing is too good for an Air Cooled Volkswagen engine.....
Best of Luck...

Lee --

http://community.webshots.com/user/vw68autobug 

i run BP ultimate with flashlube in the square.. and premium with flashlube if i can't get BP.. goes well.

yeah ether bp or shell then the rest if i cant get the first two

i run BP Ultimate with flash lube in my 1600 single port baja engine and Castrol GTX 2. if you want peak performance i would use premium or ultimate/optimax etc. for the higher octane rating that Lead replacement petrol doesnt give you. super used to be a higher octane and contained lead for lubrication. now u cant get leaded fuel so i have seen on a few cars where people make up a long in line plastic container containing lead shot whcih the fuel flows through. i am thinking on doing something like this myself but for now i run Ultimate and lube my car runs like a dream compared to LRP

I bin running standard unleaded with flashlube sometimes (trips) & Penrite HPR5 5W-40 oil
16500kms so far under quite adverse conditions at times
sofar sogood

I have been told by several vw motor gurus that penrite hpr5 is the right stuff to use(regardless of age), has far as fuel goes premium with flashlube is the go but don't think putting extra in will protect the valves better (stick to the directions)..

i got a fuel converter from leaded to unleaded and run bp ultimate get heaps more km on bp to and use penrite