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What oil for a 1.9 Watercooled carbed engine?
Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 18:28
by ToolkiT73
The Wiki has me a bit confused..
https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Pe ... oil_change" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
First it states you should use a mineral oil and then at the end it goes on about the benefits of synthetic..
What should I use?
Re: What oil for a 1.9 Watercooled carbed engine?
Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 18:55
by itchyfeet
15W40 mineral oil is original VW spec and what alot of us use ( including me)
You can try synthetic, it's better as an oil but you may find your tappets rattle if they are old.
Re: What oil for a 1.9 Watercooled carbed engine?
Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 19:28
by Dad
Not had a problem with10/40 synthetic.
Re: What oil for a 1.9 Watercooled carbed engine?
Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 19:48
by ToolkiT73
Dad wrote:Not had a problem with10/40 synthetic.
Good to hear because it looks like that is what the prvious owner put in..
Re: What oil for a 1.9 Watercooled carbed engine?
Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 19:49
by ToolkiT73
itchyfeet wrote:15W40 mineral oil is original VW spec and what alot of us use ( including me)
You can try synthetic, it's better as an oil but you may find your tappets rattle if they are old.
It had an engine replacement not that long ago so tappets should be ok ..
Re: What oil for a 1.9 Watercooled carbed engine?
Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 20:56
by itchyfeet
Go for synthetic then, you won't do any harm.
Worst case scnerio you get noisy tappets and have to bin the oil.
Re: What oil for a 1.9 Watercooled carbed engine?
Posted: 24 Mar 2017, 08:49
by CovKid
https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Al ... ecommended" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Martin and I did a concise explanation as this question comes up over and over again. In the end, its your vehicle but the merits/drawbacks are all covered.

Re: What oil for a 1.9 Watercooled carbed engine?
Posted: 24 Mar 2017, 09:52
by ToolkiT73
The problem is that the search feature is not very good.. as I said in my opening post I did search first and found this wiki:
https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Pe ... oil_change" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Perhaps a link in that wiki page to the one you mentioned would avoid confusion..
Re: What oil for a 1.9 Watercooled carbed engine?
Posted: 24 Mar 2017, 11:07
by CovKid
If you look its in the first paragraph. Agree on search problem. It can't even handle the word 'oil'. Personally I don't think that first page you read is helpful at all

Re: What oil for a 1.9 Watercooled carbed engine?
Posted: 24 Mar 2017, 11:08
by ToolkiT73
CovKid wrote:If you look its in the first paragraph. Agree on search problem. It can't even handle the word 'oil'. Personally I don't think that first page you read is helpful at all

mea culpa.. totally missed that link

Re: What oil for a 1.9 Watercooled carbed engine?
Posted: 24 Mar 2017, 15:44
by ToolkiT73
CovKid wrote: Agree on search problem. It can't even handle the word 'oil'.
Just remembered a trick from when I was a mod on a forum... the search feature in the older forum software has a 5 character minimum.. so 'oil' wont work.. but '*oil*' does

Re: What oil for a 1.9 Watercooled carbed engine?
Posted: 15 May 2017, 12:10
by Harry Wolfsburg
A pint of Zinc dithiophosphate please
I’ve picked this bit of lore up along the way, but I don't know if there is any factual basis in it. Could you pick it part for me – Thanks
Zinc dithiophosphate (ZDDP)
1/ ZDDP is the most effective anti-wear additive
2/ ZDDP additive provides anti-wear protection, but its phosphorus content can damage catalytic converters hence it is reduced in “modern” oils. Also, “modern” engines have improved hardening on the wear surfaces and design changes ( no “flat tappet” style engine ) that mitigate the need for this additive somewhat.
The implication is that looking for an oil with “sufficient” ZDDP added would be a good idea