Thanks, Dennis.

The Castrol Syntec 20-50 is too thick for winter use here and I found
that their 5-50 works just fine for allowing the engine to turn freely
when cold.  I don't get an oil light flicker after freeway driving,
either.  I haven't tried the Mobil 0-40.

Mike

Dennis Haynes wrote:
> The Castrol Syntec is not a true synthetic oil It is in fact
> Hydro-Cracked or something like that from petroleum base stocks. The
> Mobil 0w-40 is ideal for application. I run my Fox and my wife's Audi on
> it all year.
>
> Dennis
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> Of Mike Collum
> Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2006 10:17 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Synthetic Oil Conversion, What is the best Easy Access
> Brand, and Viscosity?
>
> Living in northern Maine I see very cold winter temperatures which make
> cold starting a problem.  Then, after the engine warms up, it no longer
> knows it's winter and needs something that's not too thin.  This is
> especially true of freeway driving.
>
> I now use Castrol Syntec 5-50 which satisfies both requirements.  When
> the oil is cold it "thinks" it is 5 weight and when it's hot it "thinks"
> it is 50 weight.
>
> In my general area anyway, I haven't found it at Wal*Mart stores but
> K-Mart stores have it.
>
> So far this winter, I've only experienced low temperatures around -20
> degrees F (about -29 C) and the engine started without difficulty.
>
> Mike
> Houlton, Maine
>