I was wondering which type of oil would be best for my 2.0. right now, i use 20w-30 on the advice of a friend for older engines to help with the higher tolerences, does anyone agree? should it be less weight? synthetic?what does everyone here run?

i live in the mountains ouside fresno
use the car to commute
start up often at sub freezing temps in the winter
drive the car all over the valley winter and summer
climb from sea level to 5000' elevation to get home
I use castrol gtx 20-50 all year round
I could switch to 10-40 in the winter but choose an oil heater on cold nites instead
hope this helps

JT
ps
stock 2.0 1976
mileage unknown
does NOT smoke

We use Chevron 20-50 at the shop.

I like a 20/50 oil, the best you can afford.

Geoff

For older high mileage motors that smoke or burn oil....straight 40w, or even 50w in the summer. Ask Queenie how it works.

use this best bang for the buck oil you can buy..... they have a synth that isnt crazy priced too...

I use Rotella in my F250 My 911 and my 914.... comes in gallon jugs.. 5 gal drums.... and the ubiquitous 55 gal drum..

I have only bought the 5 galllon and 1 gallon variety...

Tim

I use Mobil 1 15-50. Leaks a small ammount at the taco plate, but it is a newly rebuilt engine. If you use dino oil, Kendall 20-50 has been recommended. I tried Mobil 1 0-40, but it was too thin and leaked more...

Valvoline full synthetic ... Dyno proven by Jake in the TIV engine! Nothing touched it.

Wonder how many here have looked a Jakes reply and went hmmmm,,(leaks),, first time I've seen someone say the synthetic is the way to go.....

It is, if your engine does not leak and if you can cope with the $$$. I will change my oil every 3,000 miles and can't really justify throwing away the $$ synthetics.

I feel that any quality oil, changed frequently, will be good enough for pretty much any street use.

--DD

I don't have an aircooled 914 anymore but when I did my mechanic insisted on no Synthetic eng oil.
Castrol 20-50

Redline Synthetic 20-50
Redline ATF
75-90 in the diff
Ford F-150 with 345000 miles all original.

I have heard that Synthetic is great for high miles motors because it vaporizes at a much higher temp, therefore it fouls plugs less and consumes less oil.

sounds like your mechanic is old school....

When I got my son's 1979 Bus engine overhauled I ran regular 20-50 in it for the first 3,000 miles, then switched to Mobil 1. I was hoping that since it was just built it would not have the problem of leaking so much oil. The bus parks in the dirt so it is difficult to determine just how much it is leaking, but I know for sure that it was going through entirely too much oil. (The bottom was always coated in oil so I presume that it was leaking.)

I was hoping to go 5,000 miles between oil changes, but I was adding a quart at 2,500 miles or so and again at about 4,000 miles. I've switched back to regular oil and figure I'll just go back to changing it every 3,000 miles and see if my oil consumption is reduced.

That is what my mechanic recommended also.
Now with this confirmation from Jake, I am sold 100%.

So - when I asked Rich Bontempi about oil he put me on Amsoil 20W50 Synthetic Race oil. Seems to be good stuff. Jake - did you try this stuff? Anyone else have opinions on it?

I tried 7 different oils... Amsoil was at the bottom of the list with all 3 weights that I tried.

I was judging from engine oil temps mainly. The Valvoline and royal purple were very close in many ways... None of them really made more HP..

The royal purple worked great in my drag car (TI) I ran the same main and rod bearings for two entire seasons.. I'd just tear it down for inspection and make a cam swap and see how the ceramic lifters were doing during testing... Virtually no wear and that engine revved to 9,000 no sweat.

I Love synthetics- this isn't 1972 anymore.. I will be doing synthetic oil testing in the cam fixture with different oils to see what happens in that environment.

How can any one disagree with Jake, "He is The Man" . I haved used Mobil 1 ,20/50 . But next oil change ,in about three weeks in goes Valvoline. JAKE WHAT WEIGHT? DAVE

I always heard Kendall 20-50 was THE BEST aircooled oil.... is that no longer true?

I also heard synthetics could cause leaks on engines with older seals... is that not true either?!?!

Most of the year I use Kendal straight 50, it's amazing, it runs cool, doesnt hardly leak at all (and this engine formerly leaked like mad-prev owner used synthetic), and doesnt burn through it at all.

In late fall I usually drop in straight 30 kendal so that it'll turn over and start when its really cold out....but I probably only end up running it maybe 3-500 miles over the winter.

-Adam

I've always believed that it is POSSIBLE to build a Type IV that does not leak, with either synthetic or natural oils. The question I've had is "how?"

This gets to "where do Type IVs leak from"? Now there are obvious places like oil pressure senders that can be problems from time to time, but I don't think that's the issue. It's more an issue of what kind of sealant (if any) should be used in places like
Case halves
Push rod tubes
Cylinder-to-case
Cylinder-to-head
etc.

Since I'm in the middle of a rebuild, I'd really like to do this right. When I got my training on overhauling Type 1s the sealant of choice was "GaskaSinch" (sorry the spelling is wrong), but it's not 1980 anymore and there have been lots of advancements. What is available now, and where should it be used, to achieve a Type IV that does not seep oil?

The 20/50 Valavoline Full Synthetic is what I use in my Bus and I run Royal Purple in the 912E and 914(also 20/50)

I have hardly any leakage issues, even after 40K on one 45K on another and 10K (really hard miles) on the 914. Vent the crankcase really well and use good sealants. Crankcase vents keep the pressure down and from trying to squeeze the oil out by the seals..

All I can say is try it in your car- I was convinced to try it 4 years ago by a friend of mine (Shad laws) because I had always been a Kendall lover and hated synthetic...

Never went back! I dropped my oil temps by 40 degrees on my bus and was able to get rid of my external oil cooler! Now its just a stock system and my oil won't go over 210 when I'm towing my bug behind me @80!

I've also heard the unsubstantiated folklore about synthetics leaking more, or not dissipating heat as well.

For a Type 1, with no full-flow filter, I use cheaper dinosaur oil, (20-50), because I change so frequently the increased thermal breakdown won't become an issue, and it's a tad cheaper.

If I had a 914, I'd probably take Jake's advice.
Is there a preferred grade or SAE rating for that Valvoline oil?

Most of that Bullshit came from a certain Blue Book written when Amsoil was the only synthetic around....

Today I'm changing the oil in my 912E for the first time in 12,000 miles... In that amount of time it only consumed 2 quarts!

Got a track weekend this weekend (DE) so I thought I'd be a little easy on her this time and change the oil.

So Jake... what sealants qualify as quality and where do you use them on the engine? (See previous post in this topic) I've been viewing your Type IV rebuild video, but I wonder exactly what you are using now.