marky1

What type of oil do you us ein your cars. For an MY03 sti, am I right to say you have to use either 10w 30 or 10w 40? Does anyone use a 0w or 5w grade? I'm in spain and it seems to be hard to find anything above 5w

Thanks

Dark Blue Mark

Search.

MB

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

I use mobil motorsport 15w50. Change every 3k. Never had engine trouble. Now wheres that piece of wood!??

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

You can get Mobil One 5w-50 (as opposed to 15w-50) off the shelf at Carrefour in spain...lucky sods!

marky1

Yep MB, you're right, lots of info there, thanks.

Without wanting to start a whole new deabte though, still a little unsure as everyone seems to have a different view.

I want to use Mobil 1 as it's easy to find here. I'm in Spain and it's hot most of the time. Am I right to say the best type is either 5w 40, or 10w 40, but not anything which starts with 0w. Also which is better for the hot weather, 5w or 10w.

Thanks

Mark

marky1

ali, yeah I know and it's cheap! The problem is though that they all seem to be 0W 50. I dont think I can use 5W 50 in my car, well it doesn't say it in the book.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Your getting your numbers mixed up with vicousity ratings...the first bit is the COLD rating (the thickness rating in cold temperatures). The latter numbers are the hot engine temperature ratings.

IIRC the 03MY scoobs have thinner oil requirements than the older scoobs - which is what a lot of poeple on here run, so bear that in mind when searching.

Andrew Timmins

Asda at Tipton stock it in 1 litre packs.

marky1

Ali, yep, I'm the first to admit I'm clueless. So, what woul dyou recommend given that I'm in a hot country, and my dealer in the UK was putting in texaco fully synthetic which I can't find here (so I need to get an oil change and put in a new type)

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

But

I bet 4litres is alot more than 35 euros though

GC8

There was a thread perhaps two years ago about Mobil oils and real synthetic as opposed to so-called synthetic oils; does anyone have a link to it as I've been searching all morning. One of the points covered, was how oil companies are misleadingly allowed to describe a number of product as synthetic which aren't.....

Anyone?


Simon

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=378713


I'm not sure if this is the one you mean but it's still a good read.

Jason

oilman

iTrader: (9)

Remember that 5w-40 and 10w-40 are the same when hot. If you are in warmer climates than an sae 50 would be better so look at 10w-50 or 15w-50.

Cheers
Simon

PS. I don't think cold crank viscosity is an issue in Spain

marky1

..

marky1

sorry oilman, one last question, would a 5w 50 mobil 1 be ok do you think? It's easy to find here.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I wouldn't say that Simon...I was there a few weeks back and it was freezing overnight...upto minus 3 degrees

oilman

iTrader: (9)

Bloody hell, it's not that cold when I've been there but I suppose it depends on what part of Spain you are in :0

Here's a guide to operating temps:

Below 30°C, 5W-30 or 5w-40
Above -20°C, 10W-40 or 10w-50
Above -15°C, 15W-40 or 15w-50

Cheers
Simon

GC8

Unfortunately not Jason but thankyou for looking; the threads quite old now but it makes very interesting reading, as does Oilman's thread about grades from last July.

The principal topic as I recall; was how a number of companies market non-synthetic (in the correct sense) oils to us as synthetic.

I had a link to the thread but Ive lost it so if anyone remembers it or can shed any light on the topic Id be grateful

Simon

Robocop

I found some Mobil 1 I'd forgotten about in the garage that I brought back from France last year. It's 5w 50 and cost about £18 for 4 litres.

oilman

iTrader: (9)

Is this what you're looking for?

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthrea...ht=lubricating

Cheers
Simon

marky1

oilman, what if it is above 30c?

oilman

iTrader: (9)

These work above. The sae 50 will work at higher than sae 40 though.

Above -20°C, 10W-40 or 10w-50
Above -15°C, 15W-40 or 15w-50


Cheers, Simon

GC8

Simon; its an extremely informative post but unfortunately that isnt it, it was reading your July post last night that reminded me of it though...

Regards

Simon

oilman

iTrader: (9)

Just one last idea, it could be this one, written by John Rowland (Chief R&D Chemist of Silkolene/Fuchs UK)

A word of caution – You get what you pay for!

Quote:

Costs of synthetics vary considerably. The most expensive are the “Ester” types originally only used in jet engines. These cost 6 to 10 times more than high quality mineral oils.

The cheapest synthetics are not really synthetic at all, from a chemists point of view. These are in fact specially refined light viscosity mineral oils known as “hydrocracked”. These have some advantages over equivalent mineral oils, particularly in lower viscosity motor oils such as 5w-30 or other oils with a low “W” rating such as 5w-50 etc and they cost about 1.5 times more than good quality mineral fractions.

We use several different grades of this base oil, where appropriate. This is the “synthetic” which is always used in cheap oils that are labelled “synthetic”. Yes it’s a cruel world, you get what you pay for!


Now, you may ask, why are these special mineral oils called “synthetic”?

Well, it was all sorted in a legal battle that took place in the USA about ten years ago. Sound reasons (including evidence from a Nobel Prize winning chemist) were disregarded and the final ruling was that certain mineral bases that had undergone extra chemical treatments could be called “synthetic”.

Needless to say, the marketing executives wet their knickers with pure delight! They realised that this meant, and still does, that the critical buzz-word “synthetic” could be printed on a can of cheap oil provided that the contents included a few percent of “hydrocracked” mineral oil, at a cost of quite literally a few pence.


So, the chemistry of “synthetics” is complex and so is the politics!

The economics are very simple. If you like the look of a smart well-marketed can with “synthetic” printed on it, fair enough, it will not cost you a lot; and now you know why this is the case. But, if you drive a high performance car, and you intend to keep it for several years, and maybe do the odd “track day”, then you need a genuine Ester/PAO (Poly Alpha Olefin) synthetic oil.

This oil costs more money to buy, because it costs us a lot of money to make, very simply, you always get what you pay for!


Unquote:


If this isn't it, just explain what it was about and I'll dissapear for an hour or two into the archives.


Cheers
Simon

GC8

I think that that's it but I remember it being quite a lot longer, is this all of it or am I mistaken?

Thanks for taking the trouble btw.

Simon

GC8

I was sure that it went on to evaluate a number of popular products, naming some hydracracked non-ester 'synthetic' oils too.

Simon