I read an article from Popular Mechanics recently.  They said by using the
synthetic oil, they "suspect" the engine will develop early leaks on rubber
seals.  They said they have seen so many cases that the engine has
crankshaft seal leaks, which uses the synthetic oil.  Especially if you
alternate the regular and synthetic between oil changes which makes the
rubber seal "dry-out" even faster...

Yi-Ruey Wei
87 Vanagon GL Syncro  w/leaking cylinder head
85 Jetta GLI  w/160,000 miles
Dallas, TX  (The 2nd day w/temperature under 100 within a month)

"John H. Rodgers" <inua@QUICKLINK.NET> on 08/04/98 07:03:51 PM

Please respond to "John H. Rodgers" <inua@QUICKLINK.NET>
To:   Vanagon@VANAGON.COM
cc:
Subject:  Synthetic vs. Regular lubricants

-- [ From: John H. Rodgers * EMC.Ver #2.5.02 ] --

August issue of Motor Trends magazine carried an article titled "Synthetic
Motor Oil - Is it worth the price?"

In summary:   Synthetic Oil -  good for extreme conditions.
                     Regular Oil - Good for normal use.
                     Blends - they are O.K.

You can make your own synthetic/regular oil blends that work just fine.

In wear tests there was no difference in performance between synthetics and
regular oils

Very good article!!

More info might be found at www.motortrend.com

John Rodgers
'85GL Driver

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