Air Cooled Oil....I read an article in HotVW's mag recently and the guy did quite a review of the design and history of the type 1 engine with regards to the oil that was available at the time and what is in the oils nowadays. Anyway to make a long story short, the most similar monograde oil avaliable on the market today, which includes the additives that are not in normal car oils these days is .....Briggs & Stratton SAE 30 Air Cooled Engine Oil.... serious.!
On the container it says its designed for all air cooled angines for use from +5 degC to +38degC. It comes in 4 litre containers, no dearer than most oils.

We are currently running it in our 1800 L Bug. I havent noticed any difference in oil pressure but I havent been through a full summer yet, and I am just about to hook up the oil temp gauge.
Haynes and Gregory's manuals will give information that varies, but generally monograde, SAE 30, SAE 40 max, one Haynes manual states multigrade oil for later super bugs but again its no more than SAE 40.

Its only the later Kombi engines (type 2) that they start to refer to multigrade oils.

I think I would be most happy if the Briggs & Stratton oil was SAE 40 for our climate, but then again if the oil temp and pressure readings are fine them so am I. This summer will tell.

there is also ace air cooled oils, which is specifically designed for air cooled car engines. Im sure lawn mower oil works, but the engines arent the same really.
Let us know how it goes.... I wouldn't do it, but thats just me.

ACE product is preferable, and probably best, in an ideal world. But its hard to come by.
But if it turns out that Briggs & Stratton Heavy Duty air cooled engine oil is more suitable for the older air cooled engines, than modern multigrades, and you can easily get Briggs & Stratton in most towns in Australia, then perhaps its worth exploring. We dont all live in Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane.

What needs to be discussed here is the difference between having high oil pressures and reduced oil cooling ability, and compared to having the proper viscosity, better cooling and oil flow, and the additives which were originally included to reduce wear in the alloys which the engine is designed around.

The ideal oil for air/oil cooled engines is quite different to water cooled engines.

Ive run penrite 30 for many yrs n never had a problemo

you should always use a specified oil for lawn mowers. 1, you void all warranty if you dont use what they specify. 2, it was designed for a certain oil, use it. it is generally red. but, its your ower do what you want. hahahah. Lee.

Hi Jason

Our last 5HP Briggs and Stratton engined mower is still going strong after 10 years

and Castrol GTX2...and mostly Magnatech oils..

LEE

Hi,

mum and dad got a victor mower when they got married, had its first oil change after ten years, and its still going strong.

We had a pajero not to long ago we drove it evrywhere and it went for like nearly two weeks with a dot of oil on the dip stick.

Just thought i would share.

Share what?

Those stories

thanks MatBerry for bringing the topic back to reality.......sorry that I mentioned lawn mowers....

Yes, thanks Matt. About 30 years ago I used Mobil Aero Red-Band oil in my Beetle Sports Sedan race car. It was designed for air-cooled aero engines, and worked very well in the 2 litre race engine - although being straight 50 grade meant that it was very 'thick' when cold (not good for road use).
Just thought I would share!

Cheers, Greg

The main issue with modern oils is the reduction in ZDDP in many of them. I'm sure this has been covered before...