Twin Spark engines and oil.

[jimmy156]

So i have a 156 in 2.0 TS guise that, as many do, likes a drop of oil. I'm currently measuring my mileage to see exactly how much its drinking but i suspect it to be around 1l per 800 miles. I have read on the internet that whilst they don't all do that, its certainly not unheard of. Further to this i do have a small oil leak as well.

Bearing this in mind, i have just taken advantage of halfords offer for 4 litres of their own brand 10w40 for £10. In fact i have bought 12litres of the stuff. Does anyone have an opinion, or even better some experience of whether the TS engine will be okay with cheapo oil? I have read online of people swearing to only use valvoline or whatever its called, and i have generally stuck with Mobil or castral until now.

[Oilchange]

i ran a 146 ts for 35k on fuchs / silkolene 10w40 semi and it was fine, I changed every 5-6 k and the engine loved it. any good semi synth is fine
as long as its changed regularly. I wouldnt worry, you are topping it up with fresh now and then anyway, letting it drop is what makes them go pop...

[jimmy156]

Thanks for the advice, apt user name too

tbh honest that's the way i see it, as longs as its the correct spec oil, it should be okay. Its too cheap to pass up lol.

[Alfahorn]

I've had 3 twin spark cars. A 155, 156 and 164. The 155 and the 164 had a thirst for oil, the 156 needed just one top up in 4 years of ownership.

[Dave Brand]

A lex said:

Semi synth 10w40 is the OE recommended grade for the twinnies.

If I remember correctly the recommendation for 2-litre TS engines was changed to 10W60 a few years ago, in the hope that it would reduce oil consumption.

[jimmy156]

Dave Brand said:

If I remember correctly the recommendation for 2-litre TS engines was changed to 10W60 a few years ago, in the hope that it would reduce oil consumption.

Thats interesting, does it work? Anything to help use a bit less oil!

[gazza82]

10W60 can be better for high mileage TS engines, but I don't think Alfa changed the recommended spec on the TS ... but they did use 10W60 in the JTS ...

Alfa allows up to 1l per 1000k ... they judge that as acceptable, but when I had to have some engine work done on my 156 a few years back, and around 83K, there was a slight scratch on one bore. So this was honed out and new rings now means I use very little between oil changes and the engines now done 175K!


personally I'm not a fan of non-branded oils ... who knows where Halfords get their from??? I'd rather pay a bit more and get a name I know. Up to now the TS has been run on Selenia 10W40 semi ... although that's getting harder to get.

[Dave Brand]

gazza82 said:

10W60 can be better for high mileage TS engines, but I don't think Alfa changed the recommended spec on the TS ... but they did use 10W60 in the JTS ...

From memory, the handbook for my 147 specified 10/40 for all TS engines, but recommended 10/60 for 2-litre engines for hard usage, later changed to 10/60 for 2-litres irrespective of usage.

[pikeyboy]

gazza82 said:

personally I'm not a fan of non-branded oils ... who knows where Halfords get their from??? I'd rather pay a bit more and get a name I know. Up to now the TS has been run on Selenia 10W40 semi ... although that's getting harder to get.

Halfords own brand oil is made by comma who are part of Exxon Mobil so it's actually quite good especially considering the price.

[jimmy156]

Dave Brand said:

gazza82 said:

10W60 can be better for high mileage TS engines, but I don't think Alfa changed the recommended spec on the TS ... but they did use 10W60 in the JTS ...

From memory, the handbook for my 147 specified 10/40 for all TS engines, but recommended 10/60 for 2-litre engines for hard usage, later changed to 10/60 for 2-litres irrespective of usage.

Interesting my 2.0ts is on C. 122,000 now, and using a fair amount of 10w40, might try some 10w60 when my 12l of halfords oil has been used

[BEN99W]

My 156 2.0TS also has a thirst for oil (and a slight drip), getting through a litre approx every 1500 miles. I run it on 10/40 semi-synth, changing it about every 6k and as such I opt for a whatever in-spec oil I can find at a good price. To my mind, It isn't in there long enough or used hard enough to justify expensive stuff. So the halfords bargain oil looks good to me.

Regarding the oil spec, respected alfa garage Alfa Workshop sell a 20W-50 spec oil for TS engines (among others) to address heavy oil usage. I've not tried it but would be interesting to know if it makes a difference.

Ben

[alfaman]

Ran a 164 for 7 years - just used 10-40 semi synth. About 1 litter or so every 1,000 miles. engine was still in great shape at 147k when scrapped.

[Mound Dawg]

The 164 TS uses the old 8 valve engine that's related to the old 1950s Giulietta engine. For this reason they don't really like "thin" 10/40 type oils. This would explain why you were putting so much in!

For these older engines use something like Valvoline VR1 20/50 or Miller's CSS 20/60. I'm currently running Miller's CFS 15/60 in my 75. It's done 2000 miles since the last change and hasn't used a drop (at 169000 miles).

For the Fiat 16v engines you'll need to ask someone else sorry.