Oil Type & Gas

Gonzo · 05-20-1998, 11:09 AM

Hey Guys,
What is the recommended oil brand & weight to run in a 71 1.7? And what type of gas should I use i.e., superunleaded or unleaded? Or octane rating.

Wayne 962 · Wayne 962's Garage

Oil weight always has confused me. I can't make a good recommendation on that one. It depends upon the type of weather and temperature outside. Tom has used Mobil 1 Synthetic in all his cars because he has seen the actual valves in his car turn from light brown back to 'newish' looking after running the synthetic oil for a while.

I personally don't run synthetic very often in my cars, because they have been apart so much lately, that replacing the oil so often would bankrupt me. But normally, I would recommend the synthetic.

As for the gas type, I would run only high octane fuel in the car. These cars were designed for different fuels than are available today. I could go into a long explanation of why, but this is already answered on our site:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/914/914QA/914Q_engine_fuel_octane.htm

I think that this will answer your question.

Any other opinions?

-Wayne

Chuck Wills · 05-20-1998, 02:22 PM

Back in my 2.0 liter days I ran either 20W50 or 10W40, depending on the weather. My car ran really hot, so the 20W50 worked well in warm weather.
I didn't have good luck with synthetic, though. Synth is sliprier (some even say less viscosity) than regular oil, and it made my motor leak a lot. When I switched back to regular oil, the leaks subsided.
If your motor has good seals it probably wouldn't be an issue.
As far as fuel goes, higher octane is better.

--CW

JP Noonan · 05-20-1998, 02:35 PM

Chuck,
Read "The Sermons of Bob Hoover" on Type2.com
site. He explains the reason for your motor leaking is that the synthetic oil, being more homogenus in molecular size, either desolves the wax build up on your seals or slips past them. The seals need about 2-3 oil changes with the synth to rid the engine of the diasour blood and the accociated wax. I don't know if the leaking ever stops, I think it does. Another thing about synthetics is oil pressure will be lower because the oil is going to the bearings not sitting building up pressure.