VW Vanagon Westfalia Oil Change (Easy Way)

[@blyhigh4199]

Pro tip: Oil filler cap wedged between license plate and coolant expansion tank will keep license plate wide open. I use Mobil 1 15w-50.

[@GarageKing]

That is a pro-tip, and you know I never thought of that !!! Thanks for sharing that with me, as normally I wedge whatever I can find to make it work. That's a simple great idea. 15W50 is good stuff. I think most guys are probably using a 40 or 50W oil. Thanks for the comment and have a great weekend :)

[@TheMoodyArtistChannel]

Always fun to see the Vanagon! Willie Nelson was giving a van away in a lottery of some type and I missed out. I thought it was a Vanagon. Keep her in good condition and finally the orange gloves are back!

[@GarageKing]

Love this camping van, and haha !!! Orange gloves are back :) Wonder what van Willie gave out? Interesting for sure. I try to keep this van in the best condition I can :) Thanks so much for the comment, much appreciated :)

[@kalimethod]

Just rewatched. You've helped us get back on the road with your knowledge many times. Thankful for your channel.

[@GarageKing]

Thanks so soo much for the comment. Always glad to help out any time I can and great to hear from you :) We are planning on taking Steve Green out for a long road trip across Canada (heading to the east coast) in August. Hope you are doing well :) GK

[@PeacefulMomentswithRELAX]

Always the best car maintenance tips here. 😀

[@GarageKing]

I do my best !!! Thanks so much for the comment , much appreciated :)

[@karlinladeramusic]

Love the Westies!

[@GarageKing]

You are not the only one!!!! I love this thing, and there is a pretty big Westie following !!! You probably see quite a few down in California :)

[@PurpleTube]

That is awesome. I love VW vans. Have a great day.

[@GarageKing]

Thanks soo much for the compliment :) VW vans are soo cool. I love mine and its a lot of fun (pretty good on gas too) Happy Friday to you :)

[@milesjulihn2772]

Castrol Classic 20/50 is my go to oil.

[@GarageKing]

Thanks for the comment, nothing wrong with 20/50 !!!

[@nolandonahue1030]

I run a shop and we have a few rental Vans. Mobil 1 15w50 is our go to. I've started running 1/2 qt Marvel mystery oil in the winter in our rigs and it seems to help with the lifters that sometimes clatter. If the vans were driven more in the winter I'd probably go to a 5w50. Go Westy recommends 10w60 in their rebuilds so we carry that in Liqui-Moly for the warranty, but it seems a bit much to me.

[@GarageKing]

Excellent info, I have heard of the 10W60 that Go Westy recommends. Never though of adding the Marvel Mystery oil. I rebuilt my engine about 20000 kms ago and used new lifters so I don't have any lifter clatter, not yet anyway :) But if they do start up I'll try the same thing and add a little Marvel Mystery oil. Thanks for the great comment !!!

[@7thwilliams]

Straight to the point , thanks for sharing. I like the leather tool set container displayed on the left of the rear of your van my I have a link where I could purchase one for my vanagon too

[@GarageKing]

Hey there and thanks for he comment, please see this vid, its a quick review I did on it kzbin.info/www/bejne/baPEc5uKadGAh5o the quality is good and I bought it from Go West, here is the link to it. www.gowesty.com/search-results.php?search_phrase=westy+bravo

[@davejsargent]

Red Line 10W60 Motor Oil , we have hot summers, so the 60 helps. It is a full-synthetic ester formula. I have air cool engine, so I need the high-temperature stability.

[@GarageKing]

Hey Thanks for the comment, I was wondering about the 60 oil. Very good to know and with your air cooled engine I can definitely see it being a plus !!! Enjoy your weekend :)

[@davejsargent]

@@GarageKing Thank you. Castrol, Liqui Moly, Motul and a few others make 10W60 Motor Oil also. I have found Red Line to be just a little better.

[@GarageKing]

@@davejsargent I do appreciate the info, that the one great thing about this platform. Thanks again :)

[@jimkeany2543]

I find it interesting that the oil used does not have a zinc additive, which many shops and my colleagues recommend for vanagon engines- for instance - Peace Vans, a very good shop here in Seattle. I use this: Castrol 20-50 w/zinc

[@GarageKing]

Castrol 20-50 is good stuff. Great for air cooled porsche engines as well. Appreciate the comment

[@akseakayaker]

Regardless of what weight or synthetic /mineral oil you use it should have a zinc additive. Both the 1.9 and 2.1 boxer engines need this for their lifters

[@GarageKing]

Yes, you are correct, as you know these engines spin at a good clip on the highway.

[@DiscoveringTheArtofLiving]

Great tutorial! I never knew the engine was in the back! I’m glad you had a great camping trip with your cool van! Dipstick lol! I love magnetic things as you know! If I did mine, would I use a WOMANN filter...??

[@GarageKing]

WOMANN filter!!! Love it :) Thanks for the comment and camping went great !!!! Happy weekend to you :)

[@DCuzick]

Where did you get the oil temp and pressure set-up. My buzzer, 1987 Westy, is not working properly and I want to install an analog set up. Thank you for any informatrion.

[@GarageKing]

Hey There, I bough them from www.glowshiftdirect.com Here is a quick video on the set up you might want to see kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4TCYX2qhr2rf6s Thanks !!!

[@kylemcm8980]

good work king.

[@GarageKing]

Appreciated, and thank you :)

[@hanksmith4065]

VALVOLINE 20/50 now comes as racing oil

[@GarageKing]

I did not know that, thanks for sharing that information with us !!!

[@karlinladeramusic]

The green crocks!!

[@GarageKing]

They rock !!!!!

[@T_ndhlovunator]

Beautiful car you got there, how many litres of oil did u pour in.

[@GarageKing]

Thanks for the compliment :) sorry for the late reply, I thought I already replied to you, anywhoo......... I put in 4L then start and check it to top up as needed. When doing oil changes I always under fill a bit, and then start and run (this way the oil filter fills up fully) then I just top it off. I forget the total amount but it was around 5L I think. Hope you had a great day :)

[@shiyeliainkorea]

Easy tutorial thank you for sharing

[@GarageKing]

I do my best to make my tutorials easy and pretty quick, so thanks !!! Happy weekend to you :)

[@jakefischer8281]

When you rethreaded your plug insert did you just run a tap thru it? I need to do the same and was concerned about metal shavings

[@GarageKing]

I actually did mine when I rebuilt the engine. I had to use a drill, and then I put this (its not like a heli-coil) its like a hollow tube with threads on the inside and the outside. So you drill out the hole 2 sizes bigger, then you use a tap and then you thread this tube in, and the threads on the inside are the factory threads. If you do the same way I did I would drill slowly and use grease on the drill bit so the steel bits would stick to the grease, and then afterwards I would dump 2L or so of 0W20, a very light oil that will flow and can wash out any left over bits. That's what I would do. If you threads are not too bad you can try a tap with the same size to restore, but most of the time you have to go bigger.

[@jakefischer8281]

@@GarageKing thanks you legend

[@GarageKing]

@@jakefischer8281 Thank you

[@robfarr9ll]

Mine has the same motor and I've found 10/40 synthetic not to be thick enough (Noisy tappets). I've also tried 15/40 part synthetic and it's better but I've been advised to use a mineral oil instead. So I've got 15/40 mineral for it now. I hope I don't kill it 🤣

[@GarageKing]

Hey Thanks for the comment. I just got back two days ago from a long trip out east and "Steve Green" ran great. I put on about 3000miles in 9 days so a pretty good trip. I find with the 5W50 the pressure is not super high on start up, and it still maintains about 10psi at idle when hot. When I was on the way back I was running the engine at about 4K rpm steady and no issues, With the bigger tires I have on that puts me at about 120km/h or 75MPH so pretty decent. Before I went on my trip I did a front end inspection, and it looks like I'm going to be doing some front end work. I already ordered the parts from Go Westy :) It would be interesting to see how long the mineral oil lasts in your rig. I used Castrol GTX 15/40 and found that around 3000 miles the oil pressure was less, and I attributed that to the oil shearing down. When I was on the highway the pressure was much less. The only way I would have known that is because of those gauges I installed, this way I can really monitor the pressure and temperature of the oil. I found with a good quality synthetic the oil does not loose its viscosity. I think these engines need to be treated like racing engines due to the high speed they rev at all the time. 🏎 Thanks for the comment and hope you have a great day !!

[@GarageKing]

Oh, and I forgot to mention the 5W50 has extra zinc to protect the flat tappets. It has not damaged my catalytic convertor. Some say a higher zinc oil can damage a convertor, but so far so good :)

[@karlinladeramusic]

I always forget that the engine is in the back! I trip out everytime!

[@GarageKing]

Its soo cool to have the engine in the back. It makes for a lot of space in the interior. Its too bad they don't make these anymore!!

[@karlinladeramusic]

Great vid bro

[@GarageKing]

Thanks brother, I do appreciate the comment :)

[@kalimethod]

Best tutorials!!!

[@GarageKing]

Thank you for the great comment, I do my best !!!!

[@GarageKing]

I was going to say, not sure if you saw this video, but its a good one for the 4 best gauges that you need. You can see how they look in my van, and they really do help. It lets me know how hard I can push my van. I usually don't let the oil go above 205-210F and just slow down a bit once I hit 210, then speed up again. Lets me get the most out of my engine !!!! kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4TCYX2qhr2rf6s