Oil advice and recommendations here!

[opieoilman]

You will have already seen me around and hopefully the advice and posts that I have made will have been of interest to you.

As you know I work for an Oil Distributor who has access to a lot of technical information on a broad range of oils.

I am prepared to offer advice and recommendations on this thread for any make of car.

To assist me, you will need to give me specific information as the data that I get is from a proprietory database and an accurate recommendation is only as good as the information you give me.

I will not be posting brand names or prices, merely the correct viscosity and spec oils for your car.
I will email brands and prices to you on request.

I am also happy to give general advice if needed. Hopefully given time this thread will be of use to all Members of "Pistonheads".

To request a recommendation, I need the following:

Make
Model
Year
Engine size and type
Any significant modifications
Brand and viscosity currently used (if known)

I hope this service will be of interest.

Cheers
Guy

[opieoilman]

nonegreen said:

I currently use mobil 1 in my 965 (Porsche 991 turbo 2 3.3) Is there anything better from a longevity point of view as I will probably keep the car for a few years yet? Thanks, and this is a generous use of your time BTW

The Mobil 1 you are using what grade is it? Porsche recomend for all year round use a 5w-40 full synthetic. If you are using the Mobil 1 0w-40 then fine, however it may be a little thin at its cold viscosity.

Mobil 1 Make good quality PAO synthetics, but from a longevity point of view there is better. Consider an ester based fully synthetic. Esters assist the additive pack in a motor oil formulation because they are surface-active (electrostatically attracted to metal surfaces), so they help to reduce wear and friction.

They are fluid at very low temperatures and at high temperatures they are very chemically stable and have low volatility (don’t evaporate away).

They also help to prevent hardening and cracking of oil seals at high temperatures.

Feel free to e-mail me if you want some more information on brand name porsche approved oils.

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

Fatboy said:

I've been recommended to use Torco fully synthetic 20W50 in my mini, and was wondering what other oils you would recommend, I'm currently using generic halfords 20W50 mineral as it leaks like a sieve: It's an austin mini, with an 90,000 mile 1986 MG Metro 1275 cc engine (naturally aspirated) - engine is totally standard, and I intend to re-build it to standard or very close to standard spec in the near future and was wondering what you would recommend? Cheers, Fatboy >> Edited by Fatboy on Friday 10th September 19:03

Fatboy,

The Stock recomendation for the 1.3 metro is a 10w-40 semi synthetic.

Why it is leaking at the moment I am unsure, could be your seals or the halfords mineral oil has begun to shear down (thin) so could be leaking that way.

I would not suggest a full synthetic till the rebuild is complete. When you have rebuilt the engine run back in on a thick mineral oil, a good quality oil, then after 1000 miles or so drain and move to a full synthetic.

Not only would a full synthetic benefit the engine but the gear box is fed by the same oil so a good shear stable oil would help with the loads on the gear teeth.

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

pwig said:

Make : Rover Model : 220 Turbo coupe Year : 1994 Engine size and type : 2 litre turbo Any significant modifications : none Brand and viscosity currently used (if known) : Mobil1

The Stock recomendation for the 220 turbo all year round is a 10w-40 semi synthetic. Remember semisynthetic is usually a cost option from the manufacturer and a full synthetic will provide much better protection, either go for a 5w-40 or 10w-50.

I dont know what grade you are using of the Mobil 1 0w-40 or 15w-50? they are both fine depending on the use of the car. Track kind of use the 15w-50 or 0w-40 for the general road use if your concerned about mpg that sort of thing.

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

condor said:

This is more a general oil question. Can you tell me what's the difference between everyday Castrol GTX....and the newish marketed one for cars that have done 70,000 miles? Since they're both 15-40 - I couldn't see what the difference could be....apart from a marketing ploy.

I do not know if it is true of the Castrol but some high mileage oils contain addatives that encourage the seals in the engine to swell, prevents leaking etc. However the main reason is marketing. With painting 70,000 miles on the tin they can tell who is buying their oil. They also do a GTX Diesel, again same oil, just to tell how many deisels they are selling to.

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

danhay said:

What's your opinion on friction reducing Additives such as Slick50...any good? Also, how do additives like Wynns StopSmoke work? If indeed they do?

I have never approved of addatives, most are just a con. Upper cylinder lubrication addatives can be handy for Vee engines, but the likes of no smoke addatives are usually similar to the addative that goes in two stroke oil that prevents them from smoking, it is a chemical reaction, doesnt fix anything.

As for slick 50, maybe this will answere your question.

This is the transcript of an AA article published in Motor May 10th 1986.

The widely-advertised oil additive Slick 50 has been soundly slammed by the AA’s Technical Services.
The AA claim that their tests show Slick 50 provides no fuel savings when it is added to a cars engine oil – and there is no evidence of any other benefits under normal operating conditions.
The AA have made no press or public announcement of their report, but have produced a leaflet for the benefit of any paid-up members who apply for one. An AA member on Motor’s staff applied for a report in the normal way.
The report states that whilst there is no evidence the product will do harm to the engine, one good point is that most of it will be very rapidly removed by the oil filter. “At about £12 per treatment”, say the AA, “it is a very expensive way of coating your oil filter element”.
The AA performed tests by taking three identical cars and carefully running them in, splitting the driving equally among their test drivers. Oils were changed at 1500 miles, the cars were run a further 500 miles to stabilise the oils’ viscosity, the cars’ tuning was carefully checked and steady speed fuel consumptions and power outputs were measured.
The report says: “The procedure is so sensitive that, for instance, leaving the headlamps of the car switched on will make a nonsense of the results due to the extra drag of the charging system”.
Engineers added Slick 50 to two of the cars in the recommended way at 3000 miles.
After a further 2000 miles, further dynamometer tests were carried out. “One car should show the sort of gradual change expected of a car in good condition” says the report, “whereas two should show a noticeable improvement . Here came the big disappointment. After our several months of careful testwork, we could not distinguish any difference between the three cars.”
The AA claimed that all cars were performing well, but performance was remarkably consistent , within a few percent.
The AA say that a detailed examination of the claims made for the product will explain what happens when Slick 50 is added to an engine. Of one gallon of petrol burnt in an engine, says the report, some 60 percent of the energy will be lost as heat from the exhaust and cooling system. That leaves 40 percent and some 25 percent is used to drive the car and its accessories. The remaining 15 percent goes to losses such as pumping air into the engine (6 percent) and some 9 percent is lost as engine friction. Of that 9 percent, 6 percent is lost in churning the oil and only 3 percent of the total input goes into the sort of “boundary” friction that a solid lubricant could affect. “If tests of Slick 50 did show a 16 percent decrease in this friction, as claimed in current advertisements”, says the report, “it would only affect the car’s overall consumption by a half of one percent”.
The AA also claim that their tests show there is no evidence that Slick 50 produces a surface layer on the engine wearing surfaces, let alone one that could last for 100,000 miles.

On questioning John Rowland, Silkolene/Fuchs Chief R&D Chemist for 40 years about additives, I received the following reply.

Quote:

The AA report encapsulates my opinion of Slick 50, it is an expensive way of blocking your oil filter, Believe me, it does precisely nothing beneficial. It has been proven time and time again that it just blocks oil filters and oilways.

For all other “magic” additives, most are based on 1930’s technology corrosive chlorinated paraffins. (synthetic anti-seize compounds originally made 70 years ago. They are cheap, toxic and corrosive. We use them in certain types of cutting oil!) Do not touch them with somebody else’s bargepole!

UCL’s on the other hand can be useful. After all, 2-strokes in effect run entirely on UCL. So……the best UCL’s are 2-stroke oils! I always tell people to use a decent 2-stroke at 0.5% or 1%, because they are superior to the UCL’s sold as UCL’s if you get my drift. A litre of Super 2 Injector or Comp-2 will be better than a cupful of cheap mineral oil dyed red (no prizes for guessing the name) any day.

Vee engines (twins, to V8’s) benefit from UCL’s because the upper walls of the RH cylinder bank, looking from the front, always run dry. Think about it!

Unquote:

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

djpt said:

MAKE: Renault MODEL: Clio RL Paris ENGINE: 1.2 Petrol YEAR: 1997 (R) No modifications. I currently use Castrol GTX Magnatec, viscosity 10W-40. I would like to know if there is anything better for the engine (it has quite high mileage, 70.000) and also which gearbox oil should I use and what viscosity (manual five speed). [e-mail]

Ok you have some options here. For all year round use Renault recomend a 10w-40 semi synthetic or a 5w-40 full synthetic, To the spec of ACEA A3.

The Castrol GTX you are currently using is just a multigrade mineral oil and is fine if you wish to continue using it, however for very little more money moving to a semi synthetic is well worth thinking about.

For the gearbox you are looking for a 75w-90 again you can use a semi or full synthetic.

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

tuttle said:

1995 Nissan Skyline GTST type M single turbo (@1.0 bar) 2498 cc (44k miles) Full s/s exhaust,Trust-Greddy TD05SH 18G Turbo,550ccApexi injectors,Apexi air induction,Apexi Power FC ECU,Uprated intercooler+oilcooler.etc(full spec @/Profile/MyCar) Using Millers 10/60 oil Mostly fast road daily driver & some track sessions. Many thanks >> Edited by tuttle on Sunday 12th September 16:36

For the Skyline you are using around the right quality of oil. As it is modified the stock recomendation is no good for this especially if track use is going on.

The 10w-60 you will find is a little thick. Some 10w-60 oils when hot are as thick as some gear oils, this results in slugs of air being fed through the engine as the oil pump cavitates on the thick oil the other side effects are higher engine temps and less power in terms of delivery.

I would suggest a top quality 10w-50 full synthetic, preferably ester based. Esters assist the additive pack in a motor oil formulation because they are surface-active (electrostatically attracted to metal surfaces), so they help to reduce wear and friction.

They are fluid at very low temperatures and at high temperatures they are very chemically stable and have low volatility (don’t evaporate away).

They also help to prevent hardening and cracking of oil seals at high temperatures making them ideal for tunes turbo engines.

I hope this helps.

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

moleamol said:

Make: Ford Model: Mk1 Capri 3000GT XLR Year: 1971 Engine size and type: 3 litre V6 Mileage: 74,000 Same as last time I asked *cough*

Dont worry mate, havent forgoten you. I spoke to a technical collegue of mine for this one as my records dont go back that far. It depends on what you want to use. Originally it would have been a mineral multigrade, if you want to continue using one go for around a 10w-40 grade making sure it is a good quality one. The other option is full synthetic, older engines tend not to like the modern thin synthetics however if you go for a thick one like a 15w-50 you will have no problems. He has recomended a particlular synthetic oil for your car, feel free to e-mail me and I will forward onto what the oil is and what costs.

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

annodomini2 said:

name said: It's an austin mini, with an 90,000 mile 1986 MG Metro 1275 cc engine (naturally aspirated) - engine is totally standard, and I intend to re-build it to standard or very close to standard spec in the near future and was wondering what you would recommend? I thought mini/metro a series engines didn't like fully synthetic, well not the engine but the gearbox as they use the same oil, I'd check with cooperman on the mini forum he's the real expert

I dealt with the british mini club before on this one. Maybe I should have been more precise, if you are going to use a full synthetic, due to the gearbox it does need to be a thick one around the 15w-50 grade, in addition a normal PAO/Hydrocracked synthetic would not benefit that much and it would ideally need to ba an ester based oil as this has the load properties required and esters make great geabox oils.

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

darreni said:

I have a 97 TVR Cerbera 4.2 V8 I had a full factory engine rebuild last november, the car has run on: 0-1500 miles: mineral oil (factory filled) 1500- 5500 miles: Shell Helix 10-40 semi synthetic I'm now about to change to a full synthetic & was looking at using Shell helix ultra (think its 5-40) Any help & suggestions welcomed. Darren.

Darren,

That sounds about right. When you switch to a full synthetic go for 5w-40 grade or 10w-50 if the car gets driven hard and track days etc.

As for the Shell helix, personally in my opinion you can do much better in terms of quality buy choosing a much more reputable brand.

E-mail me and I will forward on to you some options of top quality full synthetics.

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

MGBV8 said:

Is there a problem changing from long term use of Mineral to a synth. The US are using this product and may be of value on a change www.auto-rx.com/ Magnatec has esters included in package although % of esters not known

We are unsure of Magnetec, can you be sure there are esters contained? we have approached Castrol only to find that the Magnatec is a closely guarded secret, we found that suspicious. It is on our list of oils to chemically test to see if it is genuinely polar or if it is just and addative.

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

MGBV8 said:

Guy, Its been released in US and contains a synthetic ester www.castrol.com.au/products/pdf/Castrol%20Magnatec.pdf There is not other way to add UMA? so would be against trade description act, but would like to know % ester. I asume Silkolene as base stock is more than 50% By the way Auto rx is a Lanolin Ester

I went and had a look at the Castrol site and it does not fill me with confidence.

Quote.

Castrol Magantec contains a synthetic ester that is unique to Castrol.

Unquote.

How can this be, with regard to oil esters are pretty much esters, unless they have a modified one and I can not understand why they would do this unless it is a cheap ester of inferior quality. For Castrol to use a genuine ester as used in many oils, the technology is very expensive so in turn that would reflect on the high street price.

Quote.

Utalizes unique molecular attraction UMA to form a lubricating suface.

Unquote.

If they are using ester to achieve the polaraty then surely they are not unique as other oils do this.

We approached Castrol on this not long ago only to discover the UMA and possible ester used was a closely guarded secret. Read into that what you will.

The Auto rx I am sure has its uses however it mainly cleans deposits left buy oils burning at high temps, go for a good shear stable oil with a high flash point and the detergents within the oil will do the rest. It is not some thing I would use.

The ester content of Silkolene I am not allowed to publish however good ester based oils are around 10% ester, the Silkolene ester oils are over double that.

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

pistol pete said:

VW Golf 1994 1.8L 8 Valve 135,000 miles on the clock no Mod's Currently on Magnatec (has been for last 45000 miles) Do about 20,000 miles a year, approx 70% is at constant 3500-4000rpm on 400 mile trips up and down the M6 stopping only for fuel. Cheers, Pete

The Castrol you are using at the moment is fine, however it is only a mineral multigrade, you should be using around a 10w-40 grade for a mineral oil.

You could move to a semisynthetic again a 10w-40. Or If you wish you can move to a fully synthetic 10w-40 or 5w-40.

There may be no real good reason to move to a full sytnetic due to the mileage and use of the car, however for the small extra cost of moving to a semi synhetic is well worth thinking about.

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

phil hill said:

Guy I'm currently using Silkolene Pro4 15w40 in my 1380 mini, as recommended by the engine builder. I'm pretty sure it's fully synth, but used to be a semi ?? Not sure. Yes it's a bike oil, but I guess the reasoning is bikes share oil with gears too, I do about 5000 miles a year and change it at least annually. Do you think using a bike oil in this application is ok ?? Are there significant differences in formulation specific to motorcycle vs car applications ?? What do you think about thermal stability ?? I notice my oil pressure drops quite considerably when worked hard i.e. trackdays. The car is fitted with an oil cooler but I can't tell you how hot it gets as I don't have a sensor or gauge !! Could you recommend any suitable alternatives ?? One of the Mini "gurus" recommends Torco and has recently started to use to Millers. I tried Millers CTV (supposed to have a 'transmission' additive pack), which was fine, but I couldn't get hold of any to top up with when I needed it !! So I reverted to the Silkolene. It's good to hear additive's debunked again. My person reasoning was always if the major oil co's spend millions of $$$ in research every year, what makes you think a £3.99 can of "stuff" is going to do something better ??

Using the Pro 4 in the Mini actually makes good sense, the Pro 4 has ester in it, this helps with the loads carried on the gear teeth, also motor bike oils contain an addative to help grip against the clutch in a motorbike, so in turn this may help with the gear change, it is ok to use a 4 stroke bike oil in a car but not the other way round as the clutch will slip.

In terms of thermal stabiltiy I am unsure of how the Pro 4 will stand upto that, it should be fine. However consider the Silkolene Pro R 15w-50, this is an ester based car engine oil, basically the 4 wheel equivilent of the Pro 4, this may be better alround than the Pro 4.

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

MGBV8 said:

Auto rx is not a replacement for a good oil but may help in gently cleaning an older engine before using a synth A few pics www.rms13.com/imgal/thumbnails.php?album=1 10% is low is this a PAO mix rather than race oil, or is this all you need without going for ultimate performance oil Castrol and disclosue! Whats the recommendation for standard MG engines ABC V8 K & KV6

The Rover KV6 series engine, for all year round use a 5w-40 full synthetic or a 10w-40 semi synthetic.

The V8, 10w-50/15w-50 full synthetic, or a 15w-40/15w-50 multigrade mineral oil.

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

bilton_d said:

I use Valvoline VR1 fully synthetic 5w-50 in my 1998 TVR Cerbera .... seems to work well and almost nil consuption ... Any other suggestions?

Thats fine, only problem is with the grade. A lot of manufacturers are dropping the 5w-50 grade because of the amount of VI improvers needed to hold it together.

As there is such a large gap between viscosities they have to put in tremendous amounts of VI improver to keep it in grade, problem now is it is unstable and more lekely to suffer from thermal break down, the less VI improver needed for the oil the better and this is measured by the Vistosity Index.

It will be fine just check it quite often, and if a move of grade is coming up then if its the V8 go for a 10w-50 or a speed 6 5w-40/10w-50 pending on use.

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

MGBV8 said:

Guy, What UCL do you recommend? With the older engines 20W/50 was recommended but with newer more stable oils I assume 15/40 now gives same protection and better on start up.

The best UCL is two stroke motor oil, After all, 2-strokes in effect run entirely on UCL. So……the best UCL’s are 2-stroke oils! I always tell people to use a decent 2-stroke at 0.5% or 1%, because they are superior to the UCL’s sold as UCL’s if you get my drift. A litre of Super 2 Injector or Comp-2 will be better than a cupful of cheap mineral oil dyed red (no prizes for guessing the name) any day.

Vee engines (twins, to V8’s) benefit from UCL’s because the upper walls of the RH cylinder bank, looking from the front, always run dry. Think about it!

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

GordonM

There is not much I can add to that, you have done your homwork and the Silkolene in my opinion is the best.

I personally would use the 5w-40 for all year round in both cars and it is also a great compatition oil, the oil is thermally stable enough for anyhting the 106 can throw at it.

This will be of interst to you though.

It is a letter from a well know rally competitor, though Ihave removed the name, to the Guru at silkolene.

Thicker is not always better, it’s the “shear stability” of the oil that’s even more important than the viscosity when the engine is stressed over long periods


From: xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: 07 May 2004 16:16
To: Rowland, John
Subject: Peugeot Cosworth - result!

John

Just a note to let you know I've heard from xxxxxxx - the rally driver with
the 300+bhp Peugeot-ice-racer-bodied hybrid with the normally asthmatic
Cosworth in the back.

Prior to you taking over, he used to have to strip the engine after every event
(normally 45 miles, he couldn't get it to last for a National event of 70-80
miles) and change the big end bearings every time. He'd been everywhere and
tried everything (including Halfords!), and couldn't solve his problem.

First off, he was really surprised when you asked to look at the bearings, as
no-one had ever asked! He was equally surprised by your recommendation to go
thinner, and also, I have to say, worried. He equated 'thickness' with 'better
protection'. I eventually persuaded him to try Pro S 5w/40, as you suggested,
but I couldn't get him down to the 0w/20.

He called me to say he'd stripped the engine this week, after it's FOURTH event
(approx 200 competitive miles!), and there isn't a mark on it. He is utterly
delighted, and asked me to pass on his thanks for all your help and expertise.
I'd also like to add my thanks to you. He is extremely influential in
competition circles, and is now going to tell the world and his wife what, and
who, sorted this problem.

Once again, many thanks
Regards
xxxxxxxx

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

bilton_d said:

my mate has a 16v Xr3i escort which has a leak from between the block and gearbox (O ring or Crankseal i guess) and he was thinking of just adding some Wynn's stop leak. Any reason for or against?

The Wynn's will contain an agent that encourages seal to expand, however in my experience an oil leak is an oil leek and will not be fixed by an addative just hidden, best thing todo is replace the seals and save some money on the wynns, because if it is the seal it will only have to be replaced anyway.

Cheers

Guy.