high milege which oil

[vwcool]

my 115000 mile 1985 1.3 is do for an oil change,which is the best grade to use and semi or normal mineral, theres so much choice its hard to understand and is it always best to to change the filter and with this kind of of mileage how often is best to change it.At the momont it does not smoke or use any oil theres one more thing to add when ive had the engine runing on tick over with the air filter top off you can just make out a bit of smoke coming from the big breather pipe in the air filter box is this good or bad... the pipe is clear as a bell any thoughts cheers..

[youngalbert]

hi mate, my thoughts (although I am an idiot with no real technical knowledge) are:

1. I change the oil on my 125,000 mile 1991 1.3 golf approx every 9000 miles. Have done since I bought it at 62,000 miles 4 years ago.

2. I use a middle-ish priced semi synthetic 15W-40, just normal average off the shelf stuff, can't see the point spending oodles on super high quality oil for a very straightforward non-performance designed engine, although I did use a mineral oil for the 1st 2 changes after I had the bottom end rebuilt and new piston rings etc at 90,000. Also, although everyone in mk2 GTI land seems to swear by the 10W-40 Synta Silver oil that the VW dealers use, and I always use this to grace the hallowed innards of my GTI's engine, it just doesn't feel right to me for the 1.3. Too runny, obviously made for Fast Cars. As I said I am an idiot, this is just the way I think, don't know why.

3. Far more important is : ALWAYS USE A GENUINE VAG OIL FILTER, and change it at every oil change. They are only a few quid from GSF / ECP, there is just no point saving a few pennies on a budget brand filter from Halfords or wherever. The proper VAG filters have a non-return valve in or something which is apparently a good thing and cheap ones don't. And change the washer on the sump plug each time, and don't over-tighten the sump plug like I did because it shears off and you need a new sump and you feel silly.

4. I wouldn't worry about the light smoke coming out of the breather pipe, it is just crankcase compression gases and is no issue unless it also has liquid oil in it.

Hope this helps....

[macmillions]

Those don't sound like words from "an idiot with no technical knowledge!"

I used 15/60w in my golf. as she is a bit rough. now though I used 10/40w, but will go heavier due to blue smoke which I have at the moment...

[davey670]

15/60 might be a bit over the top macmillions,

your best bet when it comes to worn old engine is the older stuff.
a good 20/50 such as duckhams hyper grade will last sometime.
sorry showing my age a bit here duckhams was a good oil for older engines but works well with the mk2 golf when you reach high mileage or in your case smoke.

i run one of my mk2 on that for years on end with no problem what so ever.

of corse it also comes down to the amount of mileage you do was well.
lots of short trips will lead to water building up in your oil over the months of the engine not reaching a temp to burn it off, white cream and no water lose is a sign of that.

if that happens to you then i would change the oil every 5000 mile or twice a year what ever comes first,

no matter what mileage my cars do over the year they both get two oil changes, once around the nov mark to see the car over winter and again around may for the summer months

[vwcool]

well ive change the oil and ive put 10 40 semi synthetic the same as my 1992 2.0 190 merc thats seems alright but only done 65000 miles. anyway the golf was passed to me about 3 years ago and when i checked the last time the oil was changed it was 31000 miles ago as you can imagine the old oil was like water and very black.now ive changed it with a vag filter the new oil is going rather dark soon do you think its best to change the oil soon just mayby to help it a bit more as i think 31000 miles without a oil change before is like crule to the little beast.....

[davey670]

yes i would change that oil again soon, and replace the filter once more.
what has happend is your oil change has picked up all the old bits left by the old oil, thats why its starting to look dirty again so quick, 30,000 odd miles without a oil or filter change is not good for any car of any age.

may take a few oil changes for things to settle down.

i would tell you to flush that engine but as its gone so long you may end up with more trouble so best to keep to oil and filter changes till things improve, if you flush at this stage you may well end up with a blocked oil pick up.

[Dee-GTI]

3. Far more important is : ALWAYS USE A GENUINE VAG OIL FILTER, and change it at every oil change. They are only a few quid from GSF / ECP, there is just no point saving a few pennies on a budget brand filter from Halfords or wherever. ....

Although halfords filters are cheap, many of them are made by coopers which are a manufactures approved company!