There’s a lot of controversy about deciding on what oil to use for  any given application, no matter if it be; what engine oil to utilize or whether to use synthetic hydraulic oil.

These are the factors you want to consider when deciding on what oil to use

Crude based oil, with no additives
The first and most well-known is mineral based oil with no additives. Some of these oils

Okay, well it didn’t really even say a word (Thank heavens), nevertheless it did certainly alert me that an engine oil change was expected! And I believe it.

In the old days, I would have been very tempted to stretch this a further 5,000 km, knowing that the engine oil change indicator used a formula primarily based on engine revs, time and mileage (Sometimes throttle opening time was also included) to determine the best time for an engine oil change.

Suffice to say, on-board car analysis techniques are getting more complex. But regrettably, the fundamental engine oil change suggestions provided by engine manufacturers have little to do with normal driving

When a gearbox runs hot sometimes the first port of call is to change the crude based oil with synthetic gear oil. But; Will synthetic gear oil decrease operating temperature?

Although additives can improve

Even though this particular query was whether you can use synthetic oil in a (older) VW, the response applies to any older car or truck that’s grown old on a diet of regular engine oil.

Why can I use synthetic oil in my older car?

Generally, the reference to synthetic oil for an engine implies the lubricant is formulated with a polyalphaolefin (PAO) base oil. PAO, which is frequently called synthesized hydrocarbon, is pure and is compatible with

Oil purification is not new, but has never really delivered a product that industry was happy with. Now there’s a chemical process, using nanoporous materials to chemically scrub oxidants and moisture from used oil. Although the process is still under development the results so far have been promising.

I came across a paper in “Machinery Lubrication” compiled by G. Majano, I. Partono, H. H. Jensen and S. Mintova, that discusses the techniques and results of oil purification using nanoporous sorbents in detail: