What oil do you use/recommend for a stock '74 2.0?

10w30, I like Castrol.

Optima-type sealed battery. There are several flavors out there.

10w-30? In Michigain from December through February maybe.

Better go with 20w-50 if the temps are above 50 degrees F.

-Ben M. (20w-50 Castrol)

I like the Castrol 20w50 syntec blend...

why use the Optima sealed batteries? I have never used them... should I?

The owner's manual for my '73 2.0 says to use SAE 30 for temps above 32F (0 C) so 10W-30 is more better.
---
Oops! I take that back. I just looked at a chart and for the summer, 20W-50 would be good up to about 30 C but 10W-30 is only good up to about 15 C.

Alfred

One of the most serious (and damaging) causes of rust is leakage from traditional batteries.

The rain washes down over the battery, and over time, the acid eats away at the battery tray and the longitudinal and suspension console below.

This has been the death of MANY 914s. Is it repairable? Yes, bring money. Is it preventable? Yes, go get a sealed battery.

-Rusty

that makes sense... I wasn't thinking.. I haven't had to buy a new battery yet.

Kendal D-3 30wt HD diesel engine oil and an Optima.

I break in engines with 20wt HD non-detergent. I may try synthetics on my new mill.

I would only ever use 20-50 if the engine was beat.

I had synthetic in my trans but I switched back to the ol' dino juice.

Diesel? It seems that the owners manual says 30wt. Isn't that what I put in my lawn mower? I guess I'll try dino 10w30. Filters just came in and I am about to do my first oil change on this car.

Battery won't hold a charge either. Any good suggestions on where to buy an Optima?

first- arent optimas too big for the battery tray?
second- i tried 20w 50 and i think it contributed to some oil pressure problems- (gets too thin and oil pump ha pressure issues)

white car has an optima in it.

Optima and Harley-Davidson 20w50 Air cooled motorcycle oil.

Now I blame my small oil leak on the Harley oil "All Harleys Leak! The oil must be the reason, Right?"

At any given temperature a 20w-50 has higher viscosity (thickness) than 10w-30. So, you will have lower oil pressure with a 10w-30 than with a 20w-50.

Regarding some of the other comments about oil weights:
The owners manual is 30 years old and the recommendations on straight-weight oil are obsolete. Choosing an oil viscosity is a compromise. It has to be thin enough at startup, and it has to be thick enough at operating temps. A modern multi-grade oil thins less as it is heated and thickens less as it is cooled. (this is good) A straight-weight oil on the other hand, thins a lot more when heated and thickens more when cooled. A 20w-50 oil has the viscosity of 20w at 40 degrees C, and the viscosity of a 50w at 100 degrees C. In other words it's thinner than 30w when it's cold, and it's as thick as 50w when hot. Again, this is a very good thing. Before good multi-weights were available you had to pick a straight weight that was a compromise - If you used 50w it would be to thick on cold starts. If you used a 20w it would be too thin when warmed up. So you used a 30w because it was the best you could do. Now you can use a 20w-50 (or a 10w-30 in most waterpumpers) and it's much kinder to the engine.
-Ben M.

Great comments airsix!

I want to try synthetic in my engine -sod it, it leaks anyway- after all what did Porsche put in their air-cooled 993 . Plenty of guys on the STF use it and claim improvements in temps and pressure.

Here are some scans from my '73 914 owner's manual and from a Robert Bentley service manual for an '88 VW Fox. I've used 20W-50 before and I really didn't like it. It was too "thick" and I think my gas mileage even suffered. If SAE 30 is still available, then that's what I'll be putting in my motor.

Alfred

Straight 30w is available. I use it in my 914/6.

Broke engine in with Kendall 20-50. Now i run Mobil 1 15w-50.

Mobil 1 0W-30 in 4cyl and 6cyl cars.... and Mahle filters.

and Optima.. in everything I own.

B

Brad, what is the advantage of the 0-30 Mobil versus the 15-50?

Ready for this:

I have no Friggin idea. Its fairly new from Mobil and I noticed a lot of racers using it. Then I noticed that the factory Porsche race cars (GT3/R/RS/GT3 CUP) all have a Mobil one sticker on them saying 0W-30.

I havent looked into "why".. I tried it and it dropped temps from the Mobil1 I was using previously..so I stuck with it.

Honestly.. I think it is all the same and they are f-ing with us when it comes to labels.

We never went to the moon either.


B

I wonder if any one has used the Castrol RS that is OEM ( i believe) for the BMW M3. It is 10w-60. Any point in Using this for Porsche? I understand M cars achieve oil temps of about 275 degree's when driven hard

Alfred,

Are you in Canada? If so, do you drive in cold weather? it looks like they don't recomend the 30W under 32 degrees F.

plus the acid vapor gets held by the sound panel in the engine bay and does a real number on the fire wall too. do a post at stf and ask if any have had problems running syn in older engines, i.e. new leaks. 10/40 dyno and an optima for me. there was a very interesting article in vw trends with regards to oils about 2 months ago. it gave % of additives and how each does its job.

kevin

I wouldnt take a 150k mile engine and start running syn in it. It WILL leak. The syn does a great job of cleaning everything up inside the engine.. like years of buildup on sealing surfaces... syn will wash all this away and you end up with a seal that is stretched from the buildup...voila.. leak.


B

I agree, I use synth on the Range Rover and dino oil on all the older & high mileage cars.

If I got a car that came factory fresh with synthetic, then I will continue to use it, but not put it in an old/worn injun.
My rebuild -6 (if it ever gets finished) will run Mobil 1.

I had a 1949 chevy truck 235 ci that had always ran moblie 30wt. It ran well and never smoked or leaked. someone talked me into using Quaker State 10W40 at an oil change. This person is not my friend anymore! The high detergent penn crude cleaned all the carbon from the rings and the engine died within 3000 miles. It smoked like hell within a week after the oil change. Use a low or non detergent oil for high mileage motors and change oil often.

I live in Vancouver and it rarely gets below zero (32 F) even in the winter. I would use straight 30 weight only in the spring and summer.

Alfred

I use the diesel engine oil because it is full of zinc which is very good for our cams, i use the Kendal D-3 30wt HD diesel oil because the local FLAPS has it, but I've been told most diesel oils (Kendall D-3, Valvoline HD, Shell Rottella, and others) are high on zinc.

On my new engine I plan on using the Mobil1 0-30.
I hear that Jake Raby likes the syn Valvoline 0-40.

Seanery, it's colder in indy in the winter than in Toronto (except for last winter, LOL) and if it's the Alfred that lives in Vancouver it rarely goes below freezing there.

I don't drive my summer cars in the winter so 30wt is ok, my winter VW bugs get 10W30.

All the wife and I drive are aircooled VW's and the 914, 24/7 and 365 days per year.

OK, this is gross. I just got finished cleaning up from the first oil change on this car since I have had it. I really had not driven it other than around the block a few times. Anyway, the oil came out like sludge, no kidding, sludge. Took about 15 min just to get the shit out of the motor. Then I removed the strainer and it was almost completely clogged with sludge and pieces of metal (that cannot be good). I soaked the strainer in gasoline and then blew it out with compressed air. Cleaned up ok. I changed the oil filter. The one on it was a MANN brand. Never heard of it. I put on a Mahle and filled it with 10w30 (already had some under the work bench). Anyway, when I got finished I jumped it off (battery is dead) and it ran MUCH MUCH better than when I last drove it. I'm not sure the motor is long for this world, however.

More bad news, I pulled out the dead battery and found a hole about the size of a quarter below the remains of the battery box. I guess that is to be expected. I started cleaning that up and will work on the repair tommorrow. I have seen worse but I hated to see a hole.

Redline 10/40 Synthetic in the 914. Optima Orange top.

Pat

Mike, I'm no expert by anyones standards, but when I do an oil change and see something like that, I will usually run some marvel mystery oil for a bit to clean things up a bit more. that may just be me though... and it may not be a good idea on these engines, but I've done it on other engines plenty...

Hey I'm with you on the Marvel Mystery oil.......I use that in the mix when I brake in an engine,
along with 30wt castrol has worked excellent so far!

Synthetic in all my cars. The 914 gets Mobil 1 15W-50. When the battery dies an Optima goes in.

[quote=tat2dphreak,Jul 16 2003, 05:29 AM] ok [/QUOTE]
Mike, I'm no expert by anyones standards, but when I do an oil change and see something like that, I will usually run some marvel mystery oil for a bit to clean things up a bit more. that may just be me though... and it may not be a good idea on these engines, but I've done it on other engines plenty... [/quote]
Yeah, I though I would run it around the block a few times with this oil in it then change it again. I bought a case of Mahle filters off ebay for $16 so I figure I can do a few changes on the cheap and that should help clean it up.

1 bottle of Marvel Mystery oil wil save about 3 filters from what I've seen... the shit rocks!

I've switched to the Mobil1 15-50 for summers on my '94 Jetta after the oil pressure buzzer went on last summer (after sitting 40 minutes in traffic going up a grade). The car wasn't hurt because I pulled over immediately but I figure the 10-30 was too thin for extreme heat.

On the 914 I've been using whatever cheap 20-50 brand name dino oil is on sale (valvoline, havoline, castrol). I figure it's not worth using synthetic since a half a quart of oil dissapears with every tank of gas. And the car doesn't smoke nor drip on the driveway.

In my 914 I use an Exide Select Orbital sealed battery (drops right in), Havoline SAE 10W-40 oil, STP 4-banger Oil Treatment, and Mahle Oil Filters.

No leaks, squeaks, sludge, and oil doesn't discolor after just a few miles. Temps are good, and pressure ramps right up after starting.

Mobil one Synth 10-30
Mobil one filter
Optima redtop

hey what the hell it already leaked

"Mobil 1 with SuperSyn™ 0W-40 is factory fill in all Porsche, Mercedes-Benz AMG and Aston Martin vehicles. In addition, Mercedes-Benz approves Mobil 1 with SuperSyn™ 0W-40 for all its 1998 and newer cars."

of course there water pumpers now...

I broke her in on Castrol 10/40 but also recently switched to the Mobil One 0w40w and Optima equiped.

The guy I bought it from said he had used 10w-30 Valvoline, and that is what I use in my Jetta. So I will continue to use that. Being in Texas I might try 20w-50, but havent put but a 150 miles on the car and the oil is still clear as a bell and full. No smoke.

if it's working that well... don't change a freakin' thing!!!

Since you're on this BBS, I have to ask.

Is that 150 driving miles, or 150 towing miles?

-Rusty

10W-30 is not suitable for temps above 15 C. This oil is not suitable for your Jetta (or your teener) in summer. Check your owner's manual.

Alfred

Ok, I'm going to need somebody to explain the benefits of using the STP® 4-Cylinder Oil Treatment. When I read their less-than-informative website, it tells me that:


The one that really sticks out for me is "Counteract oil thinning by boosting viscosity". Wouldn't this be the same as using a heavier weight?

Castrol-GTX 15w50 if I can find it.
I heard about Optima batteries a couple years ago, and that's my next battery after the Exide I have dies.

Used to use Castrol GP 50 a 20/50 mineral which I had no problems with, but presently using Penrite HPR 40 which is a mineral 20/70 and really good when things get hot. Battery is Odyssey 800 (like an Optima).

I use Torco syn. in my harley, never put syn. oil in the teener.