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On 22 Aug 2005 at 10:27, Russ Wolfe wrote: > The synthetic are more temperature stable. They don't thin out in the > heat, and don't break down into varnish with the high heat of our engine > oils. Oil temperatures in our air cooled engines can go as high as > 260-280F. Dino oils completely break down at those temperatures. > When I first started working for VW back in the '60's VW wanted the oil > changed every 1500 miles, not 3000, just for that reason. But modern water cooled cars now run with MUCH hotter oil temps than they used to, so modern oils have changed immensely to keep up. What are we up to now in the API ratings, SG/SH? Or has it gone higher? ISTR that the API ratings only started in about 1970 or so, and of course they started out as SA/SB. Our VWs were fine with dino straight weight oils in the 60s. The only problem came with the multi-vis additives which are the parts which break down. Up thru the 70s VW continued to recommend straight weight oils, but even then the API rating was just SC/SD. Things are so much better now that my impression is that we can now get away with the multi-vis oils. If you don't trust the modern multi-vis oils, why not just stick to straight weight? Or are those impossible to find today? I'll bet one can still buy them at places like Farm & Fleet or Sears. One might wonder about the quality, but I'd believe the API rating, if it's there. Bonus questions: Who knows what the S in SG/SH stands for? What's the other option (instead of S) and what does IT stand for? -- Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711-3054 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~