I use the type that crushes, It comes in copper or aluminum. I get mine from
the dealer. I can look for a part number if anyone is interested. I also use
a torque wrench on the oil drain plug.

Bill  V.                 "I'd Rather Be Hiking The
'82 CA Westy [FreeBird]       Greater Yellowstone"
"Famous Potatoes"

>
>
> > During my recent oil change, I didn't have any fiber
> > or nylon washers for the plug, so I used one of the copper ones
> left over
> > from my old Jetta (yeah, I know...I know).  Needless to say it wouldn't
> seal
> > properly and dripped oil.
>
> Should the washer for drain plug be copper or aluminum instead of nylon?
> I know VW used to supply copper washer (but different from Golf/Jetta's
> which is wider) and later switched to aluminum one for Vanagon.   I bought
> a bunch from dealer and use a new one for each oil change (just
> like the VW
> owner manual said).
>
>
> Regards,
> Yi-Ruey Wei
> 87 Vanagon GL Syncro w/leaking head & MXT tires
> 85 Jetta GLI w/168,000 miles
> Dallas, Texas