Oil for 88 Scirocco 16V

[The Critic]

This car is only used for 6-8,000 miles a year, so its on a 6 month OCI.

What oil would you folks suggest? I was thinking Havoline or Trop Artic 10w-40 at 6 mo, 3-4K drains.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[JHZR2]

that or perhaps m1 t&SUV 5w-40 at 1 year OCIs - I see no harm in it, so long as the oil gets to temperature once in a while.

JMH

 

[moribundman]

Hey Michael, I had an '89 Scirocco with the 1.8 8v engine. VW 500 and VW 505 were specified for those engines, and also for the 16v, if I'm not mistaken. I'd use M1 15W-50 in your engine. I guess that oil consumption with a 5W-40 will be a tad high if that engine has more than 70k miles on it. The 16v claps out quickly anyway. Many of my friends had the 16v and hardly any of them made it to over 200k km (~125k miles) without some engine work. But we drove our Sciroccos quite hard!

[ October 11, 2005, 04:47 PM: Message edited by: moribundman ]

 

[The Critic]

Now, you guys have me thinking on 20w-50 Havoline.

I'm a bit hesistant on using a syn in a 150K+ engine that hasn't been auto-rx...I'm concerned about leaks.

Keep those suggestions coming,
Mike

 

[moribundman]

Use Delo 400 15W-40 if you think the engine will start leaking on a synthetic diet.

 

[mechtech]

German cars have historically required oil that is on the thicker side.
Maybe they have thinner bearings.
It's odd to look at a manual and see 20-50 recommended for a passenger car, now. But it wasn't long ago that many German cars had that requirement.

 

[moribundman]

mechtech, the Scirocco engine required viscosities from 5W-20 to 20W-50 and also single weight oils from SAE 10 to SAE 40, all depending on ambient temps. In case of synthetic oil, no viscosity restrictions were imposed.

 

[Whimsey]

I had a 1985 Golf with the 1.8 8V engine that lived quite happily for over 100,000 miles on 10W-30 dino oil. I think it was mostly Castrol GTX. I changed the oil every 3,000 miles. I live in Northern NJ and we get fairly cold winters and hot summers. This car was not babied. I "used" all the power on hand most of the time

. I loved that car. It ran great, was a blast to drive, built well and the interior was darn near indestructable, it looked new after 10 years. Alas, rust ending up doing her in

. Plus she didn't have air conditioning and the older I got the less tolerant I became of sweating while dressed up. Especially since I "became" single while I owned her. Dates weren't exactly thrilled that I didn't have AC

.

Whimsey

 

[Willy_G]

- Sacremento
- 80's VW
- No seal leaks

MOBIL 1 15w50

This oil is liquid gold for the good old VWs. I used to run it year-round in Indy in my '83 JH Scirocco...did for 10 years w/o any problem. Keeps the engine clean as a whistle. Also ran it in my old Rabbit diesels, a host of A2 Golfs and mix of 80's Audis.

I am running 15w40 now in the 'rocco, due to a crank seal leak I am waiting to fix during an up-coming clutch job. I guess 23 years isn't bad for a clutch and crank seal!

That 16V is one of the last GOOD Volkswagens...take care of it!!!

 

[The Critic]

I don't own it.

BTW, just because the seals aren't leaking now doesn't mean that they won't leak once I pour syn inside of it.

I'm tempted to go thin.

Maybe 10w-40 since it'll shear down into a thick 30wt anyway. Hmm...Perhaps 4 quarts 10w-40 Havoline and a 15oz bottle of Valvoline Synpower Oil Treatment.

IIRC, Terry stated that problems such as dirt, fuel, or chemical ingestion are what caused increased wear, not viscosity.

Michael

 

[moribundman]

Yes, Michael, tell your buddy to go thin. Let me know as soon as he reports trailing blue smoke. Those valve shaft seals don't like thin oil. And at that age, the viton seals have shrunk and are bound to let oil slip by.

 

[The Critic]

quote:

---

Originally posted by moribundman:
Yes, Michael, tell your buddy to go thin. Let me know as soon as he reports trailing blue smoke. Those valve shaft seals don't like thin oil. And at that age, the viton seals have shrunk and are bound to let oil slip by.

---

What I meant by "thin" is 10w-40, as I wouldn't use any oil less than 12cst in this application for the reasons you previously mentioned. I'm guessing that you were thinking 10w-30 (8-9cst) type thin.

Havoline 10w-40 is easy to obtain in 5 quart jugs at Walmart. I personally think that it is a good compromise between a dino 10w-30 and a dino 20w-50 (which is overkill IMO).

Adding 1 bottle Valvoline Synpower Oil Treatment should keep the oil in the 13-14cst range even with the classic shearing that occurs with 10w-40 oil while boosting the additive pack.

As a side note, this car does have an external oil cooler that increases the sump by about 1 quart.

Michael

 

[moribundman]

quote:

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I'm guessing that you were thinking 10w-30 (8-9cst) type thin.

---

I meant to say the oil should have an HTHS of at least 3.5. Other than that I do not believe that viscosity is critical as long as it fits ambient temperatures. After all, everything from 5W-20 to 20W-50 is listed in the manual. At above freezing temps, even SAE 30 will be fine.

quote:

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As a side note, this car does have an external oil cooler that increases the sump by about 1 quart.

---

The Scirocco has an oil cooler between the filter and the pan, at least both my Sciroccos (1980 and 1989 model years) did. Sump size was ca 4 liters.

Oil change interval is 15k km or once a year per the '89 manual.

[ October 12, 2005, 03:15 AM: Message edited by: moribundman ]

 

[Achilles]

10W30 or 10W40 Royal Purple.
change oil every 12000.

 

[Ross]

My first new car was an 88 Jetta GLI 16V. That car really liked castrol 20W50. I was living in AZ at the time and used that oil year round. When I moved to ND, I had to use something thinner in the winter. The car would burn alot of oil using a X30 oil.

 

[Achilles]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ross:
My first new car was an 88 Jetta GLI 16V. That car really liked castrol 20W50. I was living in AZ at the time and used that oil year round. When I moved to ND, I had to use something thinner in the winter. The car would burn alot of oil using a X30 oil.

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Its never winter in Dbn

thinner oil is always better