aircooled VW oil and Saturn oil drinker.

[aircooled73]

I drive a high mileage 73 VW, I started out using 15w-50 Mobil1 in it when I got it then changed to 10w-30 Mobil1 for the winter. I want to use just one oil year-round. would the 10w-30 be safe enough for summer use, or would the 15w-50 be a better choice?(summers here in SC are hot and winters rarely go below 20 degrees.) Second, I recently bought my daughter a Saturn SC2 with only 52,000 miles on it. Where in my area can I get a good engine cleaner? I'm currently useing Mobil drive clean oil in an effort to help with the cleaning process. I plan to use Mobil1 10w30 when I get the problem somewhat under control.Thanks for your help. ps this is a great web-site. I've been a mechanic for 30 years, and have learned more about oils in the pasttwo weeks than I ever knew before, Thanks to this site.

.

 

[Eiron]

What are the winters like there? I ran Castrol dino 20W-50 year-round in my bug in SoCal (many years ago), & this past winter I ran M1 15W-50 for the first time in my Saab. I had no starting problems all the way down to about 12*F (& the car was in the garage when it was colder than that). If it were me, I'd run the M1 15W-50 all the time in that Volks engine. Does it have the same 2&1/2 qt capacity my bug did?

 

[Patman]

I would recommend 0w40 M1 over 15w50 M1 for year round use for sure. Or even 10w40 Amsoil for that matter.

To clean that Saturn engine, look no further than here: www.auto-rx.com

 

[Al]

The 0W-40 Mobil would be good. An alternative if its not available is mix say a 50/50 mixture of the 10W-30 and 15W/50 MI (I wish Mobil made a 10W-40). Delvac 1 5W-40 would be good.

 

[Patman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Al:
The 0W-40 Mobil would be good. An alternative if its not available is mix say a 50/50 mixture of the 10W-30 and 15W/50 MI (I wish Mobil made a 10W-40).

---

For all intents and purposes they do. Their 0w40 has very similar properties to a 10w40, the viscosity at 40c is the same or even higher than most other 10wXX oils (at 80.3cst at 40c) And yes, Mobil 1 0w40 does tend to thin out a bit in some applications, but then again so do most 10w40s.

 

[Bror Jace]

aircooled73, I would use the 15W50 year 'round where you live. If I had a machine which required a really thick (50wt) oil, I'd even use that stuff this far north.

Can't help you with a cleaner, I've never had a really sludged up car ... but you should do a search on "Saturn" on this forum and read all the info. Lots of people trying lots of different products to deal with oil burning, stuck rings, etc ...

--- Bror Jace

 

[aircooled73]

Thanks for all the advice. I'll give the Auto-rx a try in the saturn. I'll let you know the outcome.

 

[Whimsey]

When I had my 72 Beetle, which I bought new for $1,995,

, the owner's manual asked for straight weight 20W in the winter and 30W for the rest of the year. At least for where I lived in NJ. At the time, 1972, multigrade oils were not considered too reliable with the aircooled motor. Times have changed for the better. Starting in winter was a bit "difficult" to say the least when the temps got down to the teens and lower.

Whimsey