Which oil?

[timski]

Hi Guys,

What would be a suitable engine oil for a 2.1 water-cooled engine? 1991 78000 miles.

Thanks,
Tim.

[Ian Hulley]

[Cruz]

There is a vast array of information if you click WIKI along the top of every page

[Ian Hulley]

MINERAL 15/40 ... Do not listen to the 3 month experts 15/40 MINERAL oil ... Halfords blue tub

Ian

[Cruz]

3 month experts?

[AdrianC]

Do not listen to the 3 month experts

I could start to take this constant sniping personally, Ian. Is it meant to be?

[Ian Hulley]

3 month experts?

People who've had vans for 3 months and now know it all.

I could start to take this constant sniping personally,

This is a classic case of 'If the cap fits wear it'. I could of course merely block your replies but then 9/10s of the technical threads wouldn't make sense.

Ian.

[AdrianC]

I could start to take this constant sniping personally, Ian. Is it meant to be?

This is a classic case of 'If the cap fits wear it'.

I'll take that as a "Yes", then.

I'd love for you to show me one single post where I've held myself as any kind of expert on VW specifics, rather than merely giving an opinion on generalities which apply to all sorts of older vehicles.

Timski - my apologies for the thread-drift.

[Red Westie]

Morrisons (petrol Kiosks) 15W40 mineral £9 something for 4 litres
Wilkinson Hardware stores (Wilko's) £10 something for 5 litres of the same.
Apparently lidl also have a cheap 15W40 mineral at around a tenner but I never seem to see it when I've been in our branches.

All meet or exceed VW's spec for these engines (lets face it, any current oil meets the spec but this heavier viscosity is important if you want a quiet 'tappet noise free' engine)

Change every 5 - 6,000miles with a new filter and bung washer.
Unfortunately Volkswagen no longer sell their Quantum 15W40 mineral (BLUE) went obsolete end of last year.

And to think....Morrisons had that Special Clearance of Texaco Havoline 15W40 mineral (about 18 months ago) selling it at just £4.99 for 5litres.....(I bought 4 containers at the time, really wish I'd bought more)
Martin

[Ian Hulley]

Right then Adrian, let's explain this to you ...

You originally posted 3 or whatever months ago having just bought your van and worrying about a potential coolant leak. I gave you free advice (which is what we do here and always will) and seeing as you were coming up to our neck of the woods offered to have a look at it (in my own time and free) for you. You came to my house, you and your charming wife had tea and coffee and I stopped work on my van and looked at your's instead. I explained what everything was and where the known failings lie in the WBXer engine bay. I went for a test drive in your van and diagnosed 2 faults, one of which I rectified there and then (loose o/s/f wheel bearing) and the other (worn n/s track rod) which I showed you what the part was and demonstrated the fault to you (all this is free remember). You admitted to me then that you knew nothing about these things and I showed you the sort of parts to be collecting for your years journey. 2 hours of a dark and very cold Sunday afternoon ... it's the 80-90 thing remember.

A week later you are all over technical giving the benefit of your knowledge to others, some of us are concerned that you give wrong or at best dubious advice, advice that may be perfectly correct when working on a 2CV or other upright inline cylinder cars but NOT on a wbxer ..... you now have a high post count and new people will see that and take it that you know what you are on about as a result.

I don't profess to be an expert, I am not a trained mechanic BUT I have worked on these vans for years and NEVER give advice on anything that I or another person with me hasn't done. There's very little on these vans that I (and the others) haven't broken and replaced at one time or another and we try our best to help others as best we can.

Ian

[AdrianC]

You originally posted 3 or whatever months ago having just bought your van and worrying about a potential coolant leak. I gave you free advice (which is what we do here and always will) and seeing as you were coming up to our neck of the woods offered to have a look at it (in my own time and free) for you. You came to my house, you and your charming wife had tea and coffee and I stopped work on my van and looked at your's instead. I explained what everything was and where the known failings lie in the WBXer engine bay. I went for a test drive in your van and diagnosed 2 faults, one of which I rectified there and then (loose o/s/f wheel bearing) and the other (worn n/s track rod) which I showed you what the part was and demonstrated the fault to you (all this is free remember). You admitted to me then that you knew nothing about these things and I showed you the sort of parts to be collecting for your years journey. 2 hours of a dark and very cold Sunday afternoon ... it's the 80-90 thing remember.

Well, quite. Apologies if you didn't think me grateful at the time - I was and still am.It's exactly why this sudden apparent hostility has me so baffled.

some of us are concerned that you give wrong or at best dubious advice, advice that may be perfectly correct when working on a 2CV or other upright inline cylinder cars but NOT on a wbxer ...

So tell me why this particular engine is so very different. Explain to me what the reasons are that basic logic which applies to every other engine doesn't apply to this. What's so very different about it? Don't just bang your head against the wall, or roll your eyes. If there's a sound technical reason, then - great. Tell me it. Please...

BUT I ... NEVER give advice on anything that I or another person with me hasn't done.

We're agreed on that. It'd be daft.