dan@digi-g.UUCP (Dan Messinger) (09/25/84)
My owners manual recommends single viscosity oil. It states that most people should be changing their oil at least twice a year, so you should use the proper single viscosity oil for the approaching season. But who reads manuals. I switched to a multiviscosity synthetic.
agz@pucc-k (Andrew Banta) (10/05/84)
About the owner's manual that says to use single-viscosity oil: You didn't
say, but do you own a VW, or any other air-cooled car? If so, yes! Use
single viscosity oil. NO multi-viscosity oil has been made to put up with
the heat an air cooled engine can put out. There was a reason for them to
say that.
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Andy Banta {decvax!allegra!inhp4}!pucc-k!agz
Alcohol Design and Application Corp. --- Serving people over 21 years.
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"In my rearview mirror, the sun is going down ... "dan@digi-g.UUCP (Dan Messinger) (10/09/84)
In article <> agz@pucc-k (Andrew Banta) writes: >About the owner's manual that says to use single-viscosity oil: You didn't >say, but do you own a VW, or any other air-cooled car? If so, yes! Use >single viscosity oil. NO multi-viscosity oil has been made to put up with >the heat an air cooled engine can put out. There was a reason for them to >say that. The vehicle in question is a full size Chevy Blazer. Looking at my manual again, I see that I was not entirely correct. It recommends single viscosity oil for summer, but multi-viscosity for winter.
wrp@ariel.UUCP (W.PENNOCK) (10/12/84)
Another factor in deciding whether to use a synthetic oil or not, is how often you change your oil. One reason for changing oil is to remove those metalic particles caused by engine wear. It doesn't matter that your oil has not lost any of its viscosity over the last 25K miles if you are grinding away the rings and bearings with junk left in your oil from normal wear. You would probably be better off using a cheaper multi grade oil, and changing more frequently. I personally use Castrol GTX (10W40 or 20W50 depending on the climate), and I also change the filter with the oil every time. I would be embarrassed to say how often I change my oil, but I have a '78 Datsun with 80K miles on it, and I hope to get 140K+ before I give it up. An aside evnironmental note for those of you who change your own oil: Please make use of oil reclamation centers. A lot of gas stations (at least here in NJ) have receptacles for collecting waste oil. It is illegal and environmentally dangerous to dump waste oil down the storm drain. There are heavy fines if you get caught dumping oil. I collect oil from several oil changes in a 5 gallon can (the kind that comes with driveway resurfacing tar, or roofing tar) and take it to the station when it gets full. Bill Pennock AT&T Information Systems Holmdel, NJ vax135!ariel!wrp