My Mechanic told me that the key is to change the oil regularly, and before
storage too.  The sulfates produced from running a motor, ends up in the
oil.  So, it is both time and miles that help engine life.  I always change
my oil before winter storage, so there are not any acids in the oil.  Sure,
the synthetic oil is less prone to water retention, and makes for a little
less problems for time related changes... regardless of oil, good
preventative maintenance is hard to beat!

Congrats on the miles, and wishing you all many more!

Jack R.

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Jim Felder
Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2008 8:24 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: 200,000 Mile Club

No, I have always used Castrol 20W50.

Jim

On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 3:54 PM, Allan Streib <streib@cs.indiana.edu> wrote:
> Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM> writes:
>
>> I'm rebuilding a 2.1 that had 227,000 miles--no leaks and didn't
>> burn--that my wife fried for me when it threw all its belts. If it
>> hadn't been for that, it might have made it to 300K. The bearings
>> were in excellent condition when I took the engine apart. Cam showed
>> no wear. The oil pump was near the end of the wear limit but far
>> from gone. Cylinders had original cross-hatching.
>
> Do you use Mobil-1 oil?
>
> Allan
> --
> 1991 Vanagon GL
>