TOO high oil pressure?

[Piledriver]

Hi I'am new in the fórum and my bug also runs with high presure in summer, and here it gets really hot, easily, over 100's for weeks in a row, and I steal get 60 pounds in the morning, and 40 to 50 in the afternoon, i got a fresh engine with only 4,000 Km.

EDIT: Wow, dusting off an oldie...
Welcome to the STF!

20W50's great if you build sloppy clearance racing engines, or just are an engine assembler.

Castrol GTX is no longer suitable for flat tappet equipped engines.(many years now)
You need to be diligent in choosing your oils, even for a stocker I would like =>1100 PPM zinc/phos

If you are making more that ~45 PSI at cruise, the factory oil cooler setup is getting bypassed.
The factory oil "thermostat" is pressure based, so the oil temps will go up until the pressure drops...

If you are set up full flow and not using the stock cooler (in the stock way), and have a proper oil thermostat, you can do what you wish, but there is absolutely no advantage to running 20W-50 if the engine does not need it.

My oil of choice is Shell Rotella T6 5W-40 in ~everything, I ran Valvoline VR-1 dino 10W30 during break in a couple years ago, dino oil.

Plenty of zinc/phos etc, and the T6 seems to hold up for 12k+ change intervals so far.
(using/refilling a quart every ~2-3K)

Don't know where you are or what oils you have available, YMMV.

[Bruce2]

From his user id, I'd say he's in Mexico since the nickname for the Bug in Mex is "Vocho". And he has a 98. It comes from the factory with a 30mm pump and a spin-on filter to provide clean oil to the hydraulic lifters.
VW de Mex specifies 15W-40 oil, but IMO this is too thick for the cars with their 30mm pumps and it will cause super high oil pressures. Such high oil pressure will bypass the oil cooler, causing really high oil temperatures.
For a new engine, IMO you need an xW-30. Your engine tolerances are tight and you need the thin oil to get into the tight gaps.
Then, for startup, I recommend a 0W-xx or a 5W-xx oil because it doesn't matter where in the world you are, or how hot the weather is, at startup all oil is too cold to properly lubricate. The 0W-xx and 5W-xx will flow better than a 10W-xx or a 15W-xx.
Commonly available is 5W-30, so that is what Vocho1998 should use. Then monitor oil temps to see how much cooler the oil is compared to 15W-40.

[Piledriver]

...Most 5w-30s are not going to have enough zddp for a hipo engine, but he made it through breakin...
I guess a stocker can get away with it.

I was one a 20W50 user ages ago now, tried some 10W30 and my oil temps dropped like a rock and my hot pressure was back to normal.
(this was on a well worn 1.7L T4, still running that shortblock for the most part, crank oddly wore far more than the bearings, still running the same mains with a fresher crank)

[Steve Arndt]

I have been running Mobil1 0W40 with good results. It helps keep the cold pressures within reason.

If you search "mobil 1 zddp pdf" you will find this link which shows the Zinc and Phosphorus levels of the Mobil 1 product line. The lighter weight oils are usually low in ZDDP but the 0W40 hasn't been regulated to lower numbers yet by the EPA.
Here is the link:
http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/Mot ... _Guide.pdf