Oil advice and recommendations here

[oilman 0]

I get asked many questions about oil so I thought a thread here for all oil related questions would be a good idea and build into a FAQ or reference point for others.

 

So, put your oil questions here but please give the following information if you would like a recommendation:

 

Make

Model

Year

Engine size/type

 

Any mods

 

Type of use (road/track)

 

Additional info (max oil temps, current oil used)

 

What do you want a recommendation for? Engine, Gearbox etc?

 

I hope this will help and become a useful thread

 

Regards

Guy

[Critical_Mass 10]

Hi Oilman,

 

A quick question. What grades does fully synthetic oil come in. I've recently changed my oil in my VR to synta gold, which is 5w - 40. I cant seem to find any other grade that fully synthetic oil comes in? Is it a case it doesnt need to come in any other grades because although its thinner then some semi - synthetics or mineral oils it can handle higher temps even though its only thin oil?

 

Cheers

 

Gaz

[mic_VR 3]

Wicked, I was just thinking about my up coming oil change.

 

Details as requested

 

Make - VW

Model - Corrado

Year - 1994

Engine size/type - 2.9 V6 (Currently 135,000 miles on the clock)

 

Any mods - 263 Cams (coming soon)

 

Type of use - Fast road (small amount of Track use)

 

Additional info (max oil temps, current oil used) - Currently the oil temp never gets over about 106 degC, although sometimes it seems to run a little cold on the oil side (about 84 degC even on the motorway). Current oil is 5w-40 fully synth Halfrauds (silver bottle)

 

A recommendation for engine oil please? :notworthy:

[oilman 0]

Hi Oilman,

 

A quick question. What grades does fully synthetic oil come in. I've recently changed my oil in my VR to synta gold, which is 5w - 40. I cant seem to find any other grade that fully synthetic oil comes in? Is it a case it doesnt need to come in any other grades because although its thinner then some semi - synthetics or mineral oils it can handle higher temps even though its only thin oil?

 

Cheers

 

Gaz

 

Gaz,

 

Synthetics come in all viscosities, if you are after 5w-40 I have plenty to choose from here http://www.opieoils.co.uk

 

Cheers

 

Guy.

[oilman 0]

Wicked, I was just thinking about my up coming oil change.

 

Details as requested

 

Make - VW

Model - Corrado

Year - 1994

Engine size/type - 2.9 V6 (Currently 135,000 miles on the clock)

 

Any mods - 263 Cams (coming soon)

 

Type of use - Fast road (small amount of Track use)

 

Additional info (max oil temps, current oil used) - Currently the oil temp never gets over about 106 degC, although sometimes it seems to run a little cold on the oil side (about 84 degC even on the motorway). Current oil is 5w-40 fully synth Halfrauds (silver bottle)

 

A recommendation for engine oil please? :notworthy:

 

5w-40 is fine, however Halfrauds own is pretty basic stuff and not really up to the job of fast road and track work.

 

Look at a genuine synthetic such as the Silkolene Pro S and Motul, ideal for both road and track.

 

Cheers

 

Guy.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Wicked, I was just thinking about my up coming oil change.

 

Details as requested

 

Make - VW

Model - Corrado

Year - 1994

Engine size/type - 2.9 V6 (Currently 135,000 miles on the clock)

 

Any mods - 263 Cams (coming soon)

 

Type of use - Fast road (small amount of Track use)

 

Additional info (max oil temps, current oil used) - Currently the oil temp never gets over about 106 degC, although sometimes it seems to run a little cold on the oil side (about 84 degC even on the motorway). Current oil is 5w-40 fully synth Halfrauds (silver bottle)

 

A recommendation for engine oil please? :notworthy:

 

5w-40 is fine, however Halfrauds own is pretty basic stuff and not really up to the job of fast road and track work.

 

Look at a genuine synthetic such as the Silkolene Pro S and Motul, ideal for both road and track.

 

Cheers

 

Guy.

 

Yes i also have the 5w-40 in my car at mo. Is this thick enough for summer?

[oilman 0]

Wicked, I was just thinking about my up coming oil change.

 

Details as requested

 

Make - VW

Model - Corrado

Year - 1994

Engine size/type - 2.9 V6 (Currently 135,000 miles on the clock)

 

Any mods - 263 Cams (coming soon)

 

Type of use - Fast road (small amount of Track use)

 

Additional info (max oil temps, current oil used) - Currently the oil temp never gets over about 106 degC, although sometimes it seems to run a little cold on the oil side (about 84 degC even on the motorway). Current oil is 5w-40 fully synth Halfrauds (silver bottle)

 

A recommendation for engine oil please? :notworthy:

 

5w-40 is fine, however Halfrauds own is pretty basic stuff and not really up to the job of fast road and track work.

 

Look at a genuine synthetic such as the Silkolene Pro S and Motul, ideal for both road and track.

 

Cheers

 

Guy.

 

Yes i also have the 5w-40 in my car at mo. Is this thick enough for summer?[/quote:1qhurd3v]

 

Yep, unless heavily modded, used on track or has a thirst for oil then no need to go thicker.

 

Cheers

 

Guy,

[Critical_Mass 10]

New engine so better not start drinking the oil :lol:

 

Cheers guy! 8)

[mic_VR 3]

5w-40 is fine, however Halfrauds own is pretty basic stuff and not really up to the job of fast road and track work.

 

Look at a genuine synthetic such as the Silkolene Pro S and Motul, ideal for both road and track.

 

Cheers

 

Guy.

 

Cheers Guy, any particular Motul one you recommend off your site?

 

Mic

[oilman 0]

If you want the best is the Motul 300v 5w-40, next down is the Motul 8100 Excess 5w-40.

 

Cheers

 

Guy.

[mic_VR 3]

Nice one mate, I'll be ordering from your site soon for everything needed for an oil change. :D

[Jim Bowen 1]

i use the silkolene pro s stuff now, 10w 50 fully sythentic.

 

noticed bugger all difference to car, maybe uses a tiny bit less of oil but that could well be in my head, doesn't sound or drive any differently.

 

quite expensive stuff too at about £80 for 10 litres

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Why would you think oil would make your engine feel any different? :scratch:

[Critical_Mass 10]

Why would you think oil would make your engine feel any different? :scratch:

 

Other then it sounding any quieter (less rattles)???

[oilman 0]

i use the silkolene pro s stuff now, 10w 50 fully sythentic.

 

noticed bugger all difference to car, maybe uses a tiny bit less of oil but that could well be in my head, doesn't sound or drive any differently.

 

quite expensive stuff too at about £80 for 10 litres

 

It is expensive, but then it is among the best money can buy.

 

You may or may not notice anything but your engine will, you have to rely on the chemistry of it.

 

Cheers

 

Guy.

[coolrado 0]

I need to get oil and a filter to do the first oil change since I rebuilt my engine, it's had new pistons, rings, re-honed bores, new bearings (big end, little end, main) all new seals ect, so its basically a new engine again.

According to the mountain of receipts i had with the car it had always been fed shell helix 10w 40 oil since it was new on every service, and never used a drop of oil even after 140k miles, so i kept using the same oil.

 

As its basically starting from scratch again what would your recomendation be ?

 

Make - VW

Model - Corrado

Year - 1991

Engine size/type - 1.8 G60 supercharged

Any mods - 68mm charger pulley, SNS chip, boost return removed, mocal oil cooler, windage tray fitted in sump, K&N panel filter (although considering going back to standard filters)

Type of use - Fast road

 

Additional info (max oil temps, current oil used) max oil temp since fitting the oil cooler 110c, allways used shell helix 10w40.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Why would you think oil would make your engine feel any different? :scratch:

 

Other then it sounding any quieter (less rattles)???

 

Oil can't mask a mechanical defect :wink:

 

Mechanical smoothness and noise is purely down to the characteristics of the engine itself, the oil's job is purely to stop the parts welding themselves together, transfer heat and hold carbon and other by products in suspension until it's renewed.

 

Oil itself isn't solely responsible for smoothness. In fact, with a lot of modern engines, you wouldn't even know you'd just dropped the contents of your sump until it welded itself solid and stopped. Happened to my Mum's Toyota engine :lol:

[boost monkey 0]

Oil might mask some noise a little, if you think how a speedboat engine sounds quiet(er) when the blades are submerged but run them outside of water and they sound a lot louder? :shrug:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

That's because the engine is under load when the blades are submerged, which changes the engine tone.

 

Same thing when a car engine is revving freely in neutral....it's quieter when it's working and pulling the car along.

 

Oil facilitates a quieter engine, but it's not the main contributor.

[boost monkey 0]

Yeah, I wouldn't say changing the oil to fix a loud engine was a good idea!

[oilman 0]

I need to get oil and a filter to do the first oil change since I rebuilt my engine, it's had new pistons, rings, re-honed bores, new bearings (big end, little end, main) all new seals ect, so its basically a new engine again.

According to the mountain of receipts i had with the car it had always been fed shell helix 10w 40 oil since it was new on every service, and never used a drop of oil even after 140k miles, so i kept using the same oil.

 

As its basically starting from scratch again what would your recomendation be ?

 

Make - VW

Model - Corrado

Year - 1991

Engine size/type - 1.8 G60 supercharged

Any mods - 68mm charger pulley, SNS chip, boost return removed, mocal oil cooler, windage tray fitted in sump, K&N panel filter (although considering going back to standard filters)

Type of use - Fast road

 

Additional info (max oil temps, current oil used) max oil temp since fitting the oil cooler 110c, allways used shell helix 10w40.

 

First of all you need to run it in for 1000 miles, a semi-synthetic or mineral 10w-40 here is what you will need

 

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-657-10w-40.aspx

 

Once run in switch to a 5w-40 synthetic here

 

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-656-5w-40.aspx

 

Cheers

Guy

[coolrado 0]

thanks for the reply. :salute:

[pete_griff 0]

hey there i would love an oil recommendation if there's one going please....

 

Make - VW

Model - Corrado

Year - 1993

Engine size/type - 3.2 2006 mk5 golf r32

Any mods - air filter (bmc), exhaust/sports cats, remap - completely standard other than that

Type of use - Fast road and occasional track

 

Additional info (max oil temps, current oil used) - no idea what oil temps i will see. when running my vr engine occasionally i do long journeys at ridiculous times in the morning, which sees the car being driven quite hard for long periods of time - saw 136 degs oil temp several times. i'm currently toying with the idea of fitting an oil cooler, but i hear that the r32 lumps run quite cool anyway - any suggestions would be very welcome..... no idea as to the current oil used i'm afraid - guess standard stealer stuff.

 

(have used mobil 1 10-50 supersyn motorsport stuff in the past and always been quite happy with that - think it's possibly a little thick for an r32 though, maybe 5-40?)

also take it (within reason!) that money is no object, as it shouldn't be as far as oil is concerned...

 

 

thanks very much

 

Pete

[oilman 0]

At those temps I would look at the Silkolene Pro S 10w-50, this is good for 150degc all day long, 125degc is the upper limit of most 5w-40 synthetics.

 

Cheers

 

Guy.

[pete_griff 0]

thanks very much - most appreciated :clap: