In a message dated 06/02/2007 10:00:25 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM writes:

I'm  confused, Frank. In a previous post this morning you said 20W50 is  the
required oil and then here you say you use 5W50. I challenge only  because
I'm about to change the oil that I just put in 15 miles ago because  I'm lead
to believe that it is a bit too heavy for these cold  temps.

Mordo, you missed one very  important part of that post.  20w50 is standard
oil and 5w50 is full  synthetic.  There is no 5w50 standard oil so one of the
solutions to cold  weather starting is to use synthetic oils that come in 0w50
and 5w50  configurations.  It's the 50 part of the oil that the waterboxer
needs to  have a long healthy life.  The low part of the oil number is to aid in
starting at cold temperatures.  Now, all that said it is not always
advisable to switch an old engine over to full synthetic as it "may" cause  softening
of the seals and therefore induce oil leaking problems.  Some  gamblers do it
and win some loose.  The lower the miles on the engine the  better chance you
have.

Cheers,

Frank  Condelli
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
'87 Westy, '90 Carat, '87 Wolfsburg  (Forsale) & Lionel Trains (_Collection
for  sale_ (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/trainsal.htm) )
Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa Valley
_Frank Condelli &  Associates_ (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/busindex.html)
_Vanagon  Stainless Steel Exhaust Systems_
(http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/stebro.htm)
_BusFusion_ (http://members.aol.com/BusFusion/bfhome.htm)  a VW Camper
camping event, Almonte, ON, June 07 ~ 10, 2007

Cheers,

Frank  Condelli
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
'87 Westy, '90 Carat, '87 Wolfsburg  (Forsale) & Lionel Trains (_Collection
for  sale_ (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/trainsal.htm) )
Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa Valley
_Frank Condelli &  Associates_ (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/busindex.html)
_Vanagon  Stainless Steel Exhaust Systems_
(http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/stebro.htm)
_BusFusion_ (http://members.aol.com/BusFusion/bfhome.htm)  a VW Camper
camping event, Almonte, ON, June 07 ~ 10,  2007