Oil Advice and Recommendations Here
Discussion
fat chap said:
Hello there,
I have a 1997 5L Chim that has just had Mobil 5W / 40 put in after the service (38k miles).
Can I top up with (i.e. mix) a Mobil 10W / 50?
Thanks in advance
Fat Chap
You can top it up, however I never recomend mixing oils due to their different addative packs. If you must top up try to use the same grade.
Cheers
Guy.
My 92 Griff with a 4.3 RV8 was recently serviced by an independant and up until that point always used Mobil 1, 0/40 fully synthetic oil which was recommended by the main dealer who previously regularly serviced it.
I was recommended to change to Valvoline Max-Life semi synthetic 10/40 which I did.
The result so far is obviously higher oil pressure and lower consumption.
Valvoline Max-Life is allegedly good for older, higher mileage engines and claims to prolong the life of the valve seals etc.
What is your view on this claim ?
I was recommended to change to Valvoline Max-Life semi synthetic 10/40 which I did.
The result so far is obviously higher oil pressure and lower consumption.
Valvoline Max-Life is allegedly good for older, higher mileage engines and claims to prolong the life of the valve seals etc.
What is your view on this claim ?
griffski said:
My 92 Griff with a 4.3 RV8 was recently serviced by an independant and up until that point always used Mobil 1, 0/40 fully synthetic oil which was recommended by the main dealer who previously regularly serviced it.
I was recommended to change to Valvoline Max-Life semi synthetic 10/40 which I did.
The result so far is obviously higher oil pressure and lower consumption.
Valvoline Max-Life is allegedly good for older, higher mileage engines and claims to prolong the life of the valve seals etc.
What is your view on this claim ?
Some oils designed for older/high mileage engines contain an addative to encourage the seals to swell preventing leaks and to stop the seal drying and cracking. The rise in oil pressure is obviously due to the thicker grade however this oil will shear down much quicker than the Mobil 1 so keep your eye on it. I can think of no sane reason to put the 0w-40 into these RV8's it can only have been some kind of marketing issue.
I would still go for a full synthetic but keep it thick, like the Mobil 1 15w-50. Ideal.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Guy.
opieoilman said:
My 92 Griff with a 4.3 RV8 was recently serviced by an independant and up until that point always used Mobil 1, 0/40 fully synthetic oil which was recommended by the main dealer who previously regularly serviced it.
I was recommended to change to Valvoline Max-Life semi synthetic 10/40 which I did.
The result so far is obviously higher oil pressure and lower consumption.
Valvoline Max-Life is allegedly good for older, higher mileage engines and claims to prolong the life of the valve seals etc.
What is your view on this claim ?
Some oils designed for older/high mileage engines contain an addative to encourage the seals to swell preventing leaks and to stop the seal drying and cracking. The rise in oil pressure is obviously due to the thicker grade however this oil will shear down much quicker than the Mobil 1 so keep your eye on it. I can think of no sane reason to put the 0w-40 into these RV8's it can only have been some kind of marketing issue.
I would still go for a full synthetic but keep it thick, like the Mobil 1 15w-50. Ideal.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Guy.
What are the visible signs of shearing?
Worst case for shearing down is your engine blowing up or siezing, however.
You will notice the drop in oil pressure when hot, your temps will also sit a little higher, these are noticable in the car.
The practical way is to drain a little and rub it between your fingers, if it smell a bit burnt and feels gritty its beggining to shear down.
Cheers
Guy.
You will notice the drop in oil pressure when hot, your temps will also sit a little higher, these are noticable in the car.
The practical way is to drain a little and rub it between your fingers, if it smell a bit burnt and feels gritty its beggining to shear down.
Cheers
Guy.
opieoilman said:
Worst case for shearing down is your engine blowing up or siezing, however.
You will notice the drop in oil pressure when hot, your temps will also sit a little higher, these are noticable in the car.
The practical way is to drain a little and rub it between your fingers, if it smell a bit burnt and feels gritty its beggining to shear down.
Cheers
Guy.
Engine blowing up or siezing
I have worked on the mechanical testing side for an oil additived company and have some of my own thoughts on this thread.
Flushing oils are designed to pick up extraneous particles and hold them in suspension as well as using detergents to strip additives and deposits so the flush actually 'cleans' the inside of the engine.
Mixing oils is not advised between mineral, semi-synth and fully synth as the additive packs are trying to do work in differering ways, but mixing different synth oils is actually common practice in the additive labs.
Automotive manufacturers often give very specific advice on the grade and specification of oil to use - be very wary of deviating to much from this as there are usually good reasons for their advice - My Ford Puma takes 5w30 and it is strongly advised not to go to a thicker oil due to the contruction of the variable cam timing devices. Some Audi TT engines specify VW certified oil and void the warrenty if it is not used - again down to very specific application of a very common engine.
Switching oils to thicker viscosity can help reduce wear, oil burn and partially burn't exhaust gases (the major reason for the birth of sythetic oils), but if you don't suffer these problems a heavier grade can lead to slower oil circulation when cold, performance and economy degredation (2.5%).
The additive packs in oils give the ability to better resist ring stick, cam scuff, high temperature deposits, high temperature foaming and viscosity degredation they are not solely added to reduce friction.
Oh and by the way - the very best synthic oil I have seen at roughly £130 per litre, doesn't degrade at least not in the lifetime of the engine - the only reason to every change that oil was because of the oil filter performance degradation.
And if you can avoid it, try not to touch used engine oil - it's carconogenic.
p.s. I don't have anything to sell.
>> Edited by widjit on Tuesday 14th September 18:04
Flushing oils are designed to pick up extraneous particles and hold them in suspension as well as using detergents to strip additives and deposits so the flush actually 'cleans' the inside of the engine.
Mixing oils is not advised between mineral, semi-synth and fully synth as the additive packs are trying to do work in differering ways, but mixing different synth oils is actually common practice in the additive labs.
Automotive manufacturers often give very specific advice on the grade and specification of oil to use - be very wary of deviating to much from this as there are usually good reasons for their advice - My Ford Puma takes 5w30 and it is strongly advised not to go to a thicker oil due to the contruction of the variable cam timing devices. Some Audi TT engines specify VW certified oil and void the warrenty if it is not used - again down to very specific application of a very common engine.
Switching oils to thicker viscosity can help reduce wear, oil burn and partially burn't exhaust gases (the major reason for the birth of sythetic oils), but if you don't suffer these problems a heavier grade can lead to slower oil circulation when cold, performance and economy degredation (2.5%).
The additive packs in oils give the ability to better resist ring stick, cam scuff, high temperature deposits, high temperature foaming and viscosity degredation they are not solely added to reduce friction.
Oh and by the way - the very best synthic oil I have seen at roughly £130 per litre, doesn't degrade at least not in the lifetime of the engine - the only reason to every change that oil was because of the oil filter performance degradation.
And if you can avoid it, try not to touch used engine oil - it's carconogenic.
p.s. I don't have anything to sell.
>> Edited by widjit on Tuesday 14th September 18:04
One thing that has not been emphasised here is the importance of the smaller number eg 5w 50, with respect to the speed six.
As we all suspect a top end lubrication issue when first starting the engine the smaller the number the better. This is particularly important in winter. Are there any 5w 50's or better still 0w 50 oils out there any more? I would have thought they would be far beter than a 10w 50.
As we all suspect a top end lubrication issue when first starting the engine the smaller the number the better. This is particularly important in winter. Are there any 5w 50's or better still 0w 50 oils out there any more? I would have thought they would be far beter than a 10w 50.
s2art said:
One thing that has not been emphasised here is the importance of the smaller number eg 5w 50, with respect to the speed six.
As we all suspect a top end lubrication issue when first starting the engine the smaller the number the better. This is particularly important in winter. Are there any 5w 50's or better still 0w 50 oils out there any more? I would have thought they would be far beter than a 10w 50.
Yes this is important to a point, 5w is better than 10w etc for cold start.
However the numbers are extreme for UK Climate.
To meet the 0w test an oil has to pour at -35 degC and for 5w -30 degC!
These temps are brass monkey stuff, 10w is fine for UK and most European climates.
Cheers
Guy
opieoilman said:
One thing that has not been emphasised here is the importance of the smaller number eg 5w 50, with respect to the speed six.
As we all suspect a top end lubrication issue when first starting the engine the smaller the number the better. This is particularly important in winter. Are there any 5w 50's or better still 0w 50 oils out there any more? I would have thought they would be far beter than a 10w 50.
Yes this is important to a point, 5w is better than 10w etc for cold start.
However the numbers are extreme for UK Climate.
To meet the 0w test an oil has to pour at -35 degC and for 5w -30 degC!
These temps are brass monkey stuff, 10w is fine for UK and most European climates.
Cheers
Guy
This is misleading at best! All oils will pour at any temperature, it is the speed of pour which is important
s2art said:
Perhaps, but if there was a 5w 50 available then I would be interested. a 5W will get to the head faster than a 10w.
Yes there are some 5w-50 grades around, however most of the ones I know of are phased out or being phased out. The reason for this is because of the amount of vi improvers needed (Viscosity Index) to keep the oil in grade, so much is needed the oil is not really all that stable. Mobil 1 have or are phasing out their 5w-50 which was available in France and Fuchs are phasing out theirs.
Cheers
Guy.
groucho said:
Hi, Oilman
Car: TVR Griffith 500
Year: 1998 - 17000 miles
Engine: 5.0 litre Rover V8
Current Oil: Mobil 1 0/40
Mods: None
Uses about a pint to a litre every 1000 miles.
The Mobil 1 you are using is a good PAO synthetic, however the grade may be a little thin for the old Rover V8 when cold. Due to the age of the engine they tend to like thicker oils.
Try a 10w-50 grade, this should burn less oil and you may find it will quiten down on start up throuth till up to temp.
Cheers
Guy.
I had my car serviced at the factory a couple of months ago They are now using Carlube oils. This is probably because their race team has struck a sponsorship deal with them. The stuff they put in my 98 4L Chimaera was Carlube Triple R 0W-40 fully synthetic. Their technician advised me to change to either Mobil1 10W-40 or Carlube 15W - 50 in future both of which he said are much more suited to the RV8 and make it much less tappety. What can you tell us about the Carlube brand oils?
sparkythecat said:
I had my car serviced at the factory a couple of months ago They are now using Carlube oils. This is probably because their race team has struck a sponsorship deal with them. The stuff they put in my 98 4L Chimaera was Carlube Triple R 0W-40 fully synthetic. Their technician advised me to change to either Mobil1 10W-40 or Carlube 15W - 50 in future both of which he said are much more suited to the RV8 and make it much less tappety. What can you tell us about the Carlube brand oils?
THe best way I can describe carlube is cheap and chearful. The mechanic is right, move to a thicker oil, 10w-40/10w-50/15w-50 as the old rovers prefer the thickness, In addition if you go for a good quality oil such a PAO/Ester synthetic your engine will not only sound quieter but it will be better protected also.
Remember a all dealers have the right to use whatever oil they want, so they tend to go with who gives them the best deal and this can be down to the grade, often dealers use an oil that is not even recomended by the manufacturer.
Best place to start is the handbook, this will give you the grade the manufacturer recomends, then its just a case of sorting out the what quality of oil you wish to use.
Cheers
Guy.
BERGS2 said:
Hi, Oil fella - interesting thread...
any knowledge on the older Ford lumps preferences?
Car: TVR S2
Year: 1989 - 50000 miles
Engine: 2.9 litre Ford V6
Current Oil: Mobil 1
Uses hardly any oil between changes (6k) -
Here goes,
Engine = API SG/CD = 10w-50/15w-50
Manual Transmission = API GL5 75W/90
Auto’ Transmission = ATF FRD 166H
Differential(s) = LS 90
Power Steering (where fitted) = ATF-DII/FRD 33G
The API SG spec is an old petrol spec for oils and has now been upgraded to SJ/SL however the API specs are backward comnpatable, so an oil with the latest SJ/SL spec would also be fine.
Cheers
Guy.
opieoilman said:
Dear Mr. Know-it-oil, 
Car 2001 Speed 6 Cerbera, running quite sweetly (fingers crossed no chocolate finger followers), 8,000 miles. I used to get my servicing done by the Luti's who own Dreadnought at Callander in Scotland and who are fantastic. They used to recommend Castrol Magnatech 10w-40 for the Speed 6's and most Scottish Tuscans used this - any comments?
>> Edited by CiderwithCerbie on Tuesday 14th September 14:36
I personally do not rate magnatec. It is a multigrade mineral oil and something I would put in my knackered fiat uno, for these sports cars you can do so much better.
Some reasons to move to a full synthetic for you.
Assuming that you don't relish the idea of changing your oil every 2,000 miles or and are looking to keep your “pride and joy” in tip-top condition then these are the main areas where synthetic oils surpass their petroleum counterparts.
Oil drains can be extended
Vehicle life can be extended
Costly repairs can be reduced
Fuel mileage can be improved
Performance can be improved
For all year round use a 5w-40 PAO/Ester based synthetic. 10W-50 if the car gets used in anger.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Guy.
I'll e-mail you for some proper stuff soon, and get it put in when I get back from holiday. A think a short letter to Dreadnought is in order!
CiderwithCerbie said:
A think a short letter to Dreadnought is in order!
Dont give them a too harder time, Magnatec is ok for the car, there is just much better available. A dealer is unlikely to supply you with top oil as it costs them so much to buy in the first place, you will find most will have a deal with a supplier and that is what you will get, they then put in cheap oil to keep their costs down.
Cheers
Guy.
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