Castrol GTX????oil Magnatec

[fast x 0]

Hi guys is me again the Castrol people just got out this oil for high millage cars the gtx magnatec 15-40 is this any good for a 129,000 kilometer 95 vr6??? and i just had the engine rebuild???

 

cheers any info be great at the mo im using 10-40!!!

[Geo 0]

I would say that if the 10W 40 is working ok in the engine (ie not using too much) then don't change it. 15W 40 is a thicker oil which can help reduce oil consumption in higher mileage engines but 10W 40 would be better as long as oil consumption isn't a problem.

[Henny 0]

All I know is that Porsche stopped using Magnatec due to the problems with oil pressure that they found it caused.... Since then it doesn't go anywhere near my engines... :|

 

Just stick with Quanta silver (VAG's own semi-synthetic oil), it's cheap enough and is obviously good quality else VAG wouldn't sell it! ;)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

When I picked up a can of Quantum silver from Mr Wilbury last, he mentioned it's recently been improved too. There is a new number on the back now, but can't remember what it is though.

[goodridge 0]

All I know is that Porsche stopped using Magnatec due to the problems with oil pressure that they found it caused.... Since then it doesn't go anywhere near my engines... :|

 

Just stick with Quanta silver (VAG's own semi-synthetic oil), it's cheap enough and is obviously good quality else VAG wouldn't sell it! ;)

 

Thats interesting mate :| We put 10-40 Magnatec in pretty much everything at work (main dealer) :roll:

[Henny 0]

main dealer for what make? (just out of interest) 8)

[goodridge 0]

VW of course :wink: 8) We also have a Porsche dealer in the group, and I was under the impression the whole group is using Castrol, (group also includes Ferrari, Maserati, BMW amongst others) as we changed from using Duckhams a while back.

[Musicman 0]

Anyone tried Castrol 'R'? ;) :D

 

(god, it smells good in a 1930s ERA)

[dubster82 0]

porka stopped using magnatec?????

 

Brian nervously pushes his bottle nervously away from him.....

 

Not the first time i've heard a VW garage not actually using VW oil.....

 

In fact, none of them probably do!

 

My servicing garage appears to use shell helix.

 

any views?

 

I've never heard any reports on the stuff

[stevemac 0]

Magnatec causes oil pressure issues in some particular engine designs but is perfectly okay in others.

 

My advice remains the same as it has always been - only use oils specifically recommended by the vehicle manufacturer.... :shock:

[dubster82 0]

well yeah, but the sticker on my lil plastic panel said use oil to this standard.

 

I walked into the shop and looked at bottles til i found the said number.

 

there it was on the back of magnatec.

 

along with the prosche one.

 

so what am i meant to think now?

 

What other engines does it appear to cause problems in ?

[Henny 0]

VW of course :wink: 8) We also have a Porsche dealer in the group, and I was under the impression the whole group is using Castrol, (group also includes Ferrari, Maserati, BMW amongst others) as we changed from using Duckhams a while back.

 

Ah... I'm not knocking ALL castrol oils, GTX and the like are great... It's just Magnatec that I know about problems with... 8)

[dubster82 0]

is it not odd that dealers themselves dont use Synta oil???

 

any thought about this?

 

is it to expensive for them to use themselves and there using the cheapest they can get from factors, or do they not think its that great....

 

its a wonder they sell the stuff....

[Kevin Bacon 5]

There is no problem using Magnatec in a VW. I don't know why Porsche were experiencing issues with it, but what ever it was, it was more likely to be a fault with the engine design rather than the oil as Subarus also use flat 4 and 6 engines and Magnatec causes no problems in those engines. Chances are the oil pump just wasn't man enough or they spec'd the wrong viscosity and just blamed the oil.

[dubster82 0]

phew.

 

well, just as long as me charger doesnt pack my bags when i do use it then.....

 

Anybody know anything about shell helix?

 

Any good?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yeah I used Helix Ultra 5-30W in my Golf 16V Turbo, a great oil....but it drank the stuff. I am fan of the Helix oils but they do tend to burn off quicker than some other brands. Engine felt really really smooth using it though :D

[Neil VR6 0]

Ask oilman. He runs Opie oils and I'm sure he'd have something to say about these "supermarket" oils. He posted in another thread but I haven't seen him on the forum much though. They have a website:

 

http://www.opieoils.co.uk

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yeah and he has this to say about "Supermarket" castrol on his site:-

 

CASTROL is a household name in high quality lubricants and has more than 100 years of experience. The Castrol range of Automotive high performance products is tried and tested on the racetrack to give the best performance in modern and older high performance vehicles

 

Oil is oil and it's another one of those pointless debates that goes round in endless circles because everyone rates their own oil above everything else, despite the fact you cannot prove one oil is better or worse than an other without doing exhaustive testing over 1000s of miles.

 

If Magnatec was PROVEN to wreck engines, it would be pulled from the shelves, simple as that and you'll find very little info relating to Magnetec issues on the net.

[Neil VR6 0]

Fair enough but Castrol produce scores of different oils. I'm sure if you actually spoke to him he would recommend something other than Magnatec. That comment is about Castrol as a company and probably taken off Castrol's website by the way it reads, and is not specific about individual oils. When I spoke to him about my old car he said that Magnatec was not that good at all and all the spiel about "molecular attraction" was marketing hype. He recommended me a Silkolene Pro S oil. Second to that, he recommended Fuchs (who own Silkolene).

 

The most critical thing about oil (apart from weight & viscosity etc) is how regularly you change it, most of the enthusiasts on this site change it so regularly that oil choice is less critical.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Hmmm, Fuchs just sounds dodgy, LOL! Yeah I've heard good things about Silkoline but with the myriads of oils out there, how can any one person know how good each and every one is in any particular engine?

 

As Stevemac says, just use what the car manufacturer recommends or uses, safest bet I think!

[Neil VR6 0]

That's what John at JMR does with my car. Exactly what VW intended. I'm sure oils have developed since the car was made but there are 2 schools of thought. One says use the most modern oil, full ester, detergent enriched oil to take advatage of the advances in oils OR use what the manufacturer recommends as the engine was designed for that oil in the first place. With me it doesn't matter too much. I'm paranoid about oil changes as dirty oil has such a detrimental effect on the charger. I only cover a few 000 miles a year and will change the oil every 6 months. I figure it's cheap (comparatively) and helps my charger to keep in good shape.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yeah agreed on the frequency of changes. I change mine just after it goes brown, which is about 4000 miles. I never ever let it go treacle black as that is when oil is least effective and completely choked with carbon.

[stevemac 0]

is it not odd that dealers themselves dont use Synta oil???

 

any thought about this?

 

is it to expensive for them to use themselves and there using the cheapest they can get from factors, or do they not think its that great....

 

its a wonder they sell the stuff....

Synta oils are not available in bulk - or they weren't 3 years ago when I worked for VW. 5L cans would work out way too expensive for dealers to use in the quantities that would be required.

[goodridge 0]

is it not odd that dealers themselves dont use Synta oil???

 

any thought about this?

 

is it to expensive for them to use themselves and there using the cheapest they can get from factors, or do they not think its that great....

 

its a wonder they sell the stuff....

Synta oils are not available in bulk - or they weren't 3 years ago when I worked for VW. 5L cans would work out way too expensive for dealers to use in the quantities that would be required.

 

We actually offer the Synta oils as a cheaper alternative. A lot of lease companies have it instead of GTX Magnatec because it's a fair bit cheaper.

[stevemac 0]

When I worked for VW, we didn't use Magnatec - we used Castrol "Protection Plus" 10w40 semi synth.. :wink:

 

We used to buy it in bulk at 58p per litre & sell it at £5.99 per litre.. :shock: