What oil ?
What oil ?
Author
Discussion

windsorrob

Original Poster:

787 posts

281 months

Friday 30th April 2004
quotequote all
I currently use the 'recommended' Mobil 1 0w/40 grade in a yr 2000 4.0 Chim.

The engine tends to get a little more noisy / tappety when warm - hence, after speaking to a few people, I'm wondering if a slightly thicker oil would be better - The 0w/40 does seem really thin ?

What does anyone else use - I guess the thicker Mobil (is it 15w/50 ?) might be suitable - however, can't seem to find it in local outlets.

Any other suggestions - different oils ? Where to get the thicker mobil from ?

Any advice appreciated.

Corin Denton

8,762 posts

297 months

Friday 30th April 2004
quotequote all
Mobil 1 15-50 motorsport grade is what is used in my 95 Chimaera, this is what TVR (Peninsula) put in at my last service although I needed a top-up last weekend and nobody in Plymouth stocks it!!
I had to go to Peninsula to get some!!

shpub

8,507 posts

301 months

Friday 30th April 2004
quotequote all
Halfords sell it. Well they do in the ones I have been in...

Corin Denton

8,762 posts

297 months

Friday 30th April 2004
quotequote all
shpub said:
Halfords sell it. Well they do in the ones I have been in...


Not in the mega store in Plymouth or the smaller high street one only 10-40W!

dannyboyo

2,392 posts

308 months

Friday 30th April 2004
quotequote all
Last service I had done I specifically asked for the thick Mobil 1 oil (done at a non-TVR exotic car garage BTW) and they ended up putting in Magnatec instead.

I wasn't too happy about it, but after doing a search on PH it turns out that amung other places Dave Batty recommends it and uses it in the cars he services.

Also, I've got to say that it uses less oil now than with Mobil 1 to.

snorky

2,322 posts

280 months

Friday 30th April 2004
quotequote all
mine's currently running Castrol GTX ! no probs so far - in fact stopped leaking on the garage floor at last. Plus a lot cheaper and more widely available. As has been stated before this engine was designed before Mobil 1 was thought of...as long as you change it regularly should be fine...

N17 TVR

2,937 posts

300 months

Friday 30th April 2004
quotequote all
Shell in mine at the moment, prior to that Magnatec, prior to that Mobil.

Havent noticed any real difference during this time except for grinding and grating noises from the engine & shards of metal appearing from the engine bay.

That was a joke (however poor) by the way....

shpub

8,507 posts

301 months

Friday 30th April 2004
quotequote all
Use a mineral oil and it degrades/sludges very quickly due to the heat that TVRs experience. The oil needs very regular changes indeed.

A good synthetic is more resilient to this which is why it is ideal for a TVR.

As for the engine design... the oil pump and oil ways were redesigned in the Rover V8 in the late 1980's early 1990s. It is not the same as the 1950 Buick which required very frequent oil changes indeed.

sparkythecat

8,097 posts

284 months

Friday 30th April 2004
quotequote all
Had my car serviced at the factory this week. They are now using Carlube oils. Probably because their race team has struck a sponsorship deal with them. The stuff they put in my 98 Chimaera is 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 are much more suited to the RV8 and make it much less tappety.

daftlad

3,324 posts

270 months

Friday 30th April 2004
quotequote all
Use a good 20/50 and dump it regularly. The engine does not need synthetic oil. Minerals do NOT degrade excessively with normally aspirated TVRs.

MAC5

254 posts

285 months

Saturday 1st May 2004
quotequote all
Sorry to high-jack the thread but can i run my 5L Chim on magnatec 10w 40.

Ta

Mac

paul garabette

140 posts

283 months

Saturday 1st May 2004
quotequote all
Yes. I use it in my 4.0l. As mentioned above David Batty uses it and he is very highly regarded and recommended.

The debate will go on for ever but in my opinion any quality synthetic or semi-synthetic (like magnatec) will be OK.

An inexpert opinion ofcourse.......like most other posts on the subject!

Paul.

jigs

1,840 posts

279 months

Saturday 1st May 2004
quotequote all
Here's a puzzle - if a V8 TVR uses approximately 3/4 of a litre of Mobil 1 Motorsport every 1000 miles and is regularl;y topped up why do you have to change all the oil at 6000 miles since all the oil will have been changed anyway?

Hammy Hamster

40 posts

280 months

Sunday 2nd May 2004
quotequote all
Thank God for that,

Just had my Chim 4.O 97 36,000 serviced yesterday at an independent (Oselli Sports cars Witney) and when I asked them what oil they had put in, just incase I need to do a top up, they said GTX Magnatec 10w-40. I quickly came home and did a search here. Sounds like I am not the only one.

Grahame