Date: Thu, 14 Jul 1994 10:55:20 -0400 (EDT)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Jonathan Dove - VAX Master <JDOVE@gsvms2.cc.gasou.edu>
Subject: 10w40 evils?
>From: Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
>On Thu, 14 Jul 94 09:21:43 CDT John Kaufman said:
>>I just read a post from someone who mentioned the 'evils' of 10w40 oil
>>used in their bus. Are these perceived 'evils' only a problem in air
>>cooled engines or is there something basically wrong with 10w40 altogether?
>
>i haven't heard of any 'evils' of 10W40. the only 'evil' that i've heard
>about multi-grade oils is that you want to keep the two numbers as close
>as possible. that is, 10w30 is 'better' than 10w40. and 20w40 is 'better'
>than 20w50. why? i do not know. if this is true, then would not a single
>oil be much better?
I have heard the same thing (keeping the numbers close) but since 10w40 is
sold I guess it's still ok. I remember a few years ago where GM had ring
sealing problems with some of their engines using 10w40. I can't remember
what they did to fix it but they went as far as voiding the warrentee if
you used 10w40 but you could use 10w30 or 20w50 without any problems.
>>I use 10w40 in both the Vanagon and my '78 Scirocco, which I've owned
>>since it was new. Is there an advantage to using 20-50?
In extreme heat it is advised to use it. We use 20w50 in all our vehicles
without any problems. I use Mobil 1 15w50 in my cars.
>oh, so why don't *I* use 20w40 instead of 20w50? cause i can't find it
>around here! it's really funny to me how motor oil is handled differently
>from town to town ... like shoes or blue jeans or something. whatever sells,
>i guess.
You may be able to find 20w40 at truck or heavy equipment dealers.
Years ago when my father was doing consulting for the army loading equipment
onto ships they left behind several 5 gallon containers of 20w40 oil.
He took three containers home and we used it in our cars with no problem.
"What's good for the army is good enough for us", he said.
Jonathan
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Jonathan Dove jdove@gsvms2.cc.gasou.edu
82 Rabbit PU, 83 GTI, 85 Vanagon, 87 Golf
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