Oil - Cold weather selection

[oilman]

Im currently using fully synthetic 5w-40 oil. For some reason, my oil temperature gauge reads high at 120c when on motorway drives. When you maintain 100mph + for any say 5mins or more, i have seen smoke in my rear view mirror.
Someone has suggested, i put thicker oil in to prevent this?
I use 5w-40 as it has good circulation when cold.

What oil should i use?

Depending on what kind of 5w-40 you are using 120degc is at its limit, you can either move up to a 10w-50 or use a better quality 5w-40 that can take the temps.

Cheers

Guy.

[jason_pmr2]

So does 10w - 50 still have good cold start properties, and also maintain good protection for hard driving(track days)?

[oilman]

Hi Oilman,

I've an old MGB 8v with an 1860cc re-bore, new pistons, seals, uprated oil pump, fully balanced crank, lightened flywheel, piper cams, uprated gaskets, hardened valve seats, new valves & springs, soon to have new oil cooler & pipes and looking forward to a supercharger next year. What's the best stuff for the winter and the summer as the MGOC recommend a few different types? Car's built for weekend fun with occasional EXTREME use on track/sprint/hillclimbs. Approx 2500-5000 miles year max.

[EDIT]

Oooo - and just another quickie - what yer recommend the mileage/time between changes is for the MR2 and the MGB?


Cheers Oilman,

HM

Hi,

For the MGB we would suggest a good 10w-50 for all year round use. These tend to be synthetic and this will be fine for the engine and a good idea if track use is going to happen. Have a look at the Silkolene Pro S 10w-50.

Oil changes every 8,000 miles or once a year.

Cheers

Guy.

[oilman]

So does 10w - 50 still have good cold start properties, and also maintain good protection for hard driving(track days)?

Yes, the 10w is fone for winter use in the UK and the other end the SAE50 is ideal for hard/track use.

Cheers

Guy.

[billybobbooth]

ok quick question

at the mo my car is back to is 1991 mr2 3s-fe state, its got a trd oil filted and is curently running 5w 30 i think may be 5w 40 let me go look,

ok its castrol gtx magnatec 5w-30

the only thing i have noticed sence i have changed is could be coz the oil is that bit thinner is that the oil light stays on for about 2-3 secons where as it use to have 10w-40 in and it went out strain away, but i have in 5w coz i maybe going to scotland for xmas now its going to be cold!

is this oil ok? its only going to be for another 2-3kmiles as i do oil changes every 6000kmeter works out at about 3200 miles! then im going back to the gtx magnatex 5w or 10w 40 which is better the 5w-40 or 10w-40? and will the oil thats in it be ok for the next 2000miles?

[oilman]

Yes mate for the next few k it will be fine, especially as it is cold. Bear in mind it is not a performance oil though so wont be able to take much in the way of abuse.

Cheers

Guy.

[jason_pmr2]

Just put 10w- 50 in as suggested, and my oil pressure gauge is now reading off the scale at over 100psi on cold start. Could this just be because of the thickness of the oil?

[oilman]

How long is it like that for?

Cheers

Guy.

[jason_pmr2]

How long is it like that for?

Cheers

Guy.

Just took it out for a 30min motorway drive, and the oil pressure gauge is constantly reading off the scale. The whole time i was out, it didn't drop at all, even when the oil temp was up to 120c.

It is a cheap pressure gauge(£25), but it worked this morning with the thinner oil in.The gauge does only go up to 100psi. Should thicker oil give higher pressures?

Only changed the oil this morning, had 5w-40 in it before(This used to read 100psi on cold start and go down to 30psi when hot)

[oilman]

Hmm, the difference between 5w-40 and 10w-50 is not enough to send the gauge nuts. Sounds like there could be a sender/sensor problem perhaps?

Cheers

Guy.

[123gruffudd]

Hi oil man, just done a oil change on my car yesterday.I have a rev3 turbo with just filter and used Millers XSF 5w-40.I heard they were good, what do you rate them?

[oilman]

Not bad, they claim to use a tripple ester formula, though I have not been able to find out what the third ester is.

In reality the product should be good, however according to the tech data on their website the oils meet quite a low spec, meaning pretty basic. Maybe their website is out of date now.

Any ways, you will have no problem with it.

Cheers

Guy.

[Harry_T_Hamster]

Hi oilman

You ever heard of Amsoil and their bypass filter ? - I am seeing some pretty amazing claims about it and would welcome your advice

(Claims like not having tochange it for years !)

http://www.ghiagirl.com/garages/garage_09/g9g.htm

[oilman]

Amsoil make some good oils, we sell some. However dont bother with this toy. There is no substitute for decent oil with regular changes.

Cheers

Guy.