The Mobil 1 site recommends 0w-40 for our Vanagons. Mobil 1 has seen my
vehicle through 264,000 miles so far with zero oil consumption that I
have noticed. My engine was rebuilt at 168,000 mi. I bought the vehicle
with 105,000 miles on the odometer and am unsure what kind of oil or
oil change interval the previous owners used. I leave the oil in the
engine for 6,000 miles but replace the factory filter every 3,000
miles. My 2 cents worth.

David Clarkson
90 Westy

-----Original Message-----
From: Todd P Last <Rubatoguy@COMCAST.NET>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Fri, 24 Apr 2009 4:55 pm
Subject: Re: Oil Suggestions

Hmm, if you want more zinc-phosphorous
additives, why not go with a motorcycle oil?

Like a synthetic V-twin motor oil .... after all, the VW engine started
out as an air-cooled engine...

The one question would be if the lack of friction modifiers would be a
limitation.

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Motorcycle_Oil_FAQs.aspx#FAQs1

I've also heard of people using synthetic oil for diesel engines to get
more phosphorus/zinc additives.

Todd

'88 Westy

Dave Arthur wrote:

   Is there an advantage to running synthetic in a WBX 2.1 over
conventional
oil? If so what weights are being used?

Dave