On Fri, 24 Jan 2003, Stan Wilder wrote:

> to pour 30 wt oil. It was like STP, very thick. I literally had to
> squeeze the plastic bottles to get it out. The previous night temp was 22
> degrees and the oil had been sitting on the floor near the garage door. I
> must assume that it was about 22 degrees.

This is why no one recommends 30 weight oil in 22 degree weather. ;)

> I didn't inspect the 15/50wt Mobil 1 because I expected the same.

It'd pour a lot easier, being a 15W oil instead of 30.  15W-50 is a
recommended weight for these temperatures; 30 weight definately isn't.

> I'm not disagreeing with you ................ I haven't read the Vanagon
> owner manual to see what they say.

I don't remember what the Vanagon manual says.  My Honda's manual says
specifically not to warm it up for long periods -- they say one minute in
very cold weather, no warmup at all otherwise.  The theory is what's bad
for the engine is running while below operating temps, and gentle driving
will get it up to operating temp much quicker.

             _ _
  __ _ _   _| | |  | David M. Brodbeck (N8SRE)              Ypsilanti, MI
 / _` | | | | | |  +-----------------------------------------------------
| (_| | |_| | | | @ cyberspace.org
 \__, |\__,_|_|_| "To the optimist, the glass is half full.  To the
 |___/             pessimist, the glass is half empty.  To the engineer,
                   the glass is twice as big as it needs to be."