Confusion over engine oil... 15w40 ?

and on a high mileage engine you're more likely to burn through thinner oil.

As others have replied, 15-40 Dino is for you. However on my son's 92 jetta with 135k miles and loose engine we put on a larger oil pump with 36mm gears made for 2L engines, it bolts right up. Then we used Shell Rotella Synthetic (blue bottle) 5-40 all year. We found it works very well for this application. It does not burn any, no noisey lifters and very good starting in the winter. I was very hesitant about using it but was pleasently supprised. It also meets the requirements for vw's tdi.

Jo Bo

What engine?

Bought a six gallon (US) box of Chevron 15w40 @ Costco last week for about $36US.

It has some mention on the label of having been made from SYN stock. Good stuff so far. I use it in Scirocco 1.8 engines.

TBerk

1.8L gasoline. Sorry for not mentioning this in the first place.

Here's a link-

It's the Delo 400 15w40. I haven't looked to verify if it fits stuff like the VW TDI specs but it's overkill for my Scirocco. I like overkill.

TBerk

TDI's require per vw synthetic oil. Delvac-1 by Mobil is the prefered tdi oil over at

but it's too hard to find. That's why I use the Shell Rotella 5-40 in the blue bottle. At some Wal-Marts for $12.88

Joe R

15w40 looks right in terms of viscosity, but every bottle in stores says it's for diesel. I wasn't sure whether it can be used in gasoline engine.

Today, I drained out 5w30 and put in Castrol 15w40. My car definitely runs quieter. :-) Thanks to all who replied.

William Park wrote: : I have 1986 Jetta with 420K km, and I'm a little confused about what : grade of engine oil I should use. Advices so far are: : 1. 15w40 all year (from VW dealer) : 2. 5w30 winter, 20w50 summer : 3. 10w40 all year : 4. 5w50 all year

: 15w40 seems a little suspicious, especially in -20C winter that we have. : Can someone clear this confusion? Thanks.

I went out to my car and got my manual.

5w20 and 5w30 it says for 20 above to 20 below (degrees f) 15w40 and 15w50 goes from about 10 to 80 (degrees f) 20w40 and 20w50 goes from about 20 above to 80 degrees.

Only thing that goes over 80 degrees F is SAE40. (from 70 to 100 F)

We have been running Mobil 1 15w50 since spring here in Chicago in our 86 GTI ran 5w20, then 5w30 in the winter time.

It didn't have a tick until sometime this spring. I'm not sure if it started after a dealer oil change or not as the dealer put 5w20 in it when they did the change and by that time, temps in Chicago were in the 40's.

My son normally drove the car so I don't know if it started then or when a relative did some repair work and decided to change our distributor. Personally, I think it was the relative who did it... it came back idling at 1700rpm, and just totally messed up.

The manual also warns to avoid high speed, long distance driving if your using 5w20 oil.

Most of the 15W40 oils are intended for fleet/Diesel use. This is not all bad - they have higher detergency and more anti-wear additives than "regular" motor oil. As long as they have an API service "SF" or "SG" rating on the bottle they are fine for use in a gasoline engine as well. I actually recommend these oils for older cars that may have more blowby etc. to keep the engines fron sludging up.

nate

Let's see, in Celcius... -20F --> -29C -10F --> -23C 0F --> -17C 10F --> -12C 20F --> -6C 80F --> 26C According to what I dug up, down to 0C (32F) --> 20w down to -18C (0F) --> 10w below -18C --> 5w So, it looks okey.

Manuals usually describe requirements 20 years ago when my car was new. After 420,000km, things are different. I didn't know you can put diesel oil in gas engine. Now, I know. :-) During the summer, 20w50 feels right for my car, though.

What does the owner's manual or service manual for the car say? It can also matter which engine is in the car.

Most 15W-40 oils have both diesel ratings like API CH-4 or CI-4 as well as gasoline ratings like API SJ or SL. So they should be suitable for use in both diesel and gasoline engines whose oil recommendations are fulfilled by these ratings.