Hey Mike,

I too have cold winters, down to -25F, but I also have to drive passes over
11,000' with usually 3,000'+ in elevation gain in a loaded '86 Syncro Westy
(189,000 miles on original WBX), so I have stuck with Valvoline 20W50 Full
Synthetic (at least that's what it say's on the bottle - Dennis - is it?)
and although it is thick for starting, the 50 weight is the only thing that
will suffice for driving the passes in summer! (Mahle filters)

I have tried 40 weight, but not heavy enough for my uses.

Paul Connelly
'86 Syncro Westy - Hummingbird
Frisco, Colorado.

On 1/29/06, Mike Collum <collum@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> 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
> >
>