Air cooled Volkswagen oil weight question

[sourkraut]

I'm about to put my 1969 beetle back on the road. Anyone have a suggestion for oil type and weight? Here in Georgia, all the old timers say if it's oil, it'll work. Mobil1 recommended 15w40. Seems kind of heavy to me. Anyone have a guideline or suggestions?

 

[drtyler]

I always use regular 30 weight oil in my '69 Bug, usually the Rotella 30 single grade.

Nothing wrong with the Rotella 10W30 either.

How long have you had your car?

 

[Costas00]

15w40 is very good choice for aircooled engines because of its shear stability. Not a lot heavier than the sae30 but it will give better oil flow on cold start.

 

[Trav]

15w40 is great in these engines and is not to heavy.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mobil-Delvac-...feAmeTBN77i0NEk

 

[eljefino]

The 15w40 will also soak up soot better which is good for carb'd engines with little or no filtration.

 

[SF0059]

I've had two aircooled VW's and ran Rotella 15w40 in both with great results. And that was in California triple digit summers. Delvac would also be a good choice.

The key with these cars is to change frequently. A short OCI is your friend in an old VW.

 

[zoli]

Castrol GTX 15W40 was my choice into my '71 Beetle 1.3

 

[HerrStig]

When bugs were popular 20W 50 Castrol was the oil of choice in New England, year round. Most of us used it summer and winter

 

[SteveSRT8]

My middle daughter is married to a VW enthusiast who owns 3 and is well known to the Bug community.

His advice? 15-40 minimum, 20w-50 preferred...

 

[Nick1994]

I maintain my aunt's 1970 VW Beetle, I'm actually the only one who drives it.

I've used Rotella 15w40, Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck 5w40, and currently Mobil 1 HM 10w40. Runs good on all of them.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

I would be using an oil that has high temperature properties that exceed water-cooled motor requirements. Simply put, air cooled motors have less consistency and will have to deal with higher temperatures over the operating envelope. A modern multigrade oil with upper viscosity rating of ~40 or even ~50 would be my choice.

Mobil1 0W-40, a 15W-40, or 20W-50 would all seem to be appropriate, the choice based on both the cold weather requirements and expected warm weather upper limits.

I'm sure people have used inexpensive 10W-30's in these motors, but in my mind that is short of ideal.

 

[GaryMX5]

I had a 73 VW thing that we used extensively for off-roading and touring back roads here in Colorado. It received a diet of 30W Castrol GTX in the summer and 20W in the winter. I did add an Empi aftermarket remote oil filter. This allowed me to remove the oil filter screen. I also removed the oil screen cover and replaced it with one that had a traditional drain plug in it. This allowed quick and easy oil changes (not having to remove those small easily stripped machine screws all the time). The aftermarket oil filter and lines increased oil capacity by almost a quart which really helped cool the motor in the summer. Wish I still had the car!

 

[FCD]

They were originally designed for SAE 30 monograde oils, you can run a 15W-40 Mixed fleet engine oil such as Shell Rotella or Chevron Delo 400 without any worries.

 

[bubbatime]

SAE40 or 20W50

And add an oil cooler.

 

[mrdctaylor]

I had a '68 for years. I always ran Rotella 15w40 at the recommendation of my VW mechanic. Always ran great. I never bothered to change the screen either. I just drained and refilled. There's too much chance of stripping out a stud IMHO and there was never anything in the screen.

 

[edwardh1]

When bugs were popular 20W 50 Castrol was the oil of choice in New England, year round. Most of us used it summer and winter

disagree, many used lighter oil in the winter

 

[Olas]

Redline takes the heat without even noticing and has plenty saps to keep parts happy.
Hands down the best choice you can make.

 

[drtyler]

The oil cooler gets bypassed around 45 psi. At the time, VW did specify 30 weight for summer use. That's why I use and recommended either 30 or 10W30 Rotella. In the 70s, they specified 40 grade for hot season in tropical climate.

The later Mexican Bugs specified 15W40, but they had a different oil pump and filter system.

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted By: mrdctaylor
I never bothered to change the screen either. There's too much chance of stripping out a stud IMHO and there was never anything in the screen.


Not sure why they used such COARSE screen!
If the screen plugged, guaranteed your engine is 100% shot.

It's been 27 years since I had a Type-1, but I always used SAE 30 oil.
20W-50 would have been better.

 

[RooflessVW]

15W-40 or 20W-50.