Quick answer needed! Oil....

672 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by El Capitano, Sep 28, 2006

El Capitano

Discussion Starter · Sep 28, 2006

Hi guys off to town to buy some oil now, but no reply from Mech thread.

What oil is best to use in a aircooled engine?

I have a porsche 914 (same as type 4 engine) and need to change the oil today.

Quick answer as im leaving in a couple of mins!!!

Cheers

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JuiceBug

· #2 · Sep 28, 2006

Have you tried a search? If not I would ask at the place your buying the oil or look in your owners manual... I dont want to recommend anything in case its wrong, but a decent quality 15/40 should be fine with your engine I would have thought.

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M.I.B

· #3 · Sep 28, 2006

Castrol GTX 10/40 or 15/40.

forget recycled Morris 30 wieght, especially for the 914 motor

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AngelVenomous

· #4 · Sep 28, 2006

As it's got a filter, any 15w40 oil that has "ACEA" or "API" spec mentioned anywhere on it.

Castrol is a bit over-rated and over-priced for what it is IMHO. I use Texaco Havoline 15w40 in my 1600cc Vege engine as I know the history of this engine (it was run in with 15w40) and it doesn't leak. Plus Havoline it's about half the price of Castrol and is actually to higher specifications!

Any old aircooled engine without a proper filter (a strainer is not a filter) and prone to leaks I tend to use the cheapest 20w50 like Asda Smart Price and change it often.

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M.I.B

· #5 · Sep 28, 2006

AngelVenomous said:
As it's got a filter, any 15w40 oil that has "ACEA" or "API" spec mentioned anywhere on it.

that is an extremely dangerous statement to make.

API ratings come in 2 categories. The C rating and the S rating. Many oils have both.

The rating goes from A to Z. the higher up the alphabet, the better and more modern it is in terms of additives such as sludge dispersants and detergents etc. (detergents wash it out of the nooks and crannies, and disperants break up the microscopic lumps into microscopic tiny bits so that they don't gather again and block oilways etc.)

Saying "any API" means you think a CA rating is OK for a type 4 motor. WRONG

C=diesel rating and S = gasoline/"petrol" engine rating

No API means it probably is recycled oil with no additives at all.

Summary - make sure the oil has at least an SG rating or better ( SH, SK etc etc etc ) don't worry about the C rating (unlkess you have a diesel motor)

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Nic B-C

· #6 · Sep 28, 2006

M.I.B said:
Castrol GTX 10/40 or 15/40.

forget recycled Morris 30 wieght, especially for the 914 motor

I got slated for saying this

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M.I.B

· #7 · Sep 28, 2006

I went to Uni to learn all this guff, so it's not just MHO. It's fact.

And as for the usual "Castrol seems a little thin and runny" statements whiovch trot into any thread like this - the rating of 10/40 or 20/50 etc is a tested standard - means that all oils with the same rating are just as "runny" as each other.

By all means use straight 30 in your stock oval/1200/1300 split

But not in any type 4 or performance motor.

Not going anywhere near the Brand vs supermarket argument either.

Off to the garage for 11 days. Bye.

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vr666m

· #8 · Sep 28, 2006

I use 10W40 or 15W40 Quantum Synta in my goof.

Plenty of numbers on the back with regards specifications (including VW ones).

I just use it cos if I ask mr GSF man nicely, I get it for about £9

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AngelVenomous

· #9 · Sep 28, 2006

M.I.B said:
Saying "any API" means you think a CA rating is OK for a type 4 motor. WRONG

C=diesel rating and S = gasoline/"petrol" engine rating

Or you could simply choose the bottle of oil that doesn't say "For diesel engines" on the front of it.

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AngelVenomous

· #10 · Sep 28, 2006

My conclusion to this and all other oil threads is;
If you ask a 10 people what oil they use in their aircooled you'll get 10 different answers. That suggests to me that the ol' flat 4 is pretty happy using whatever oil you feel happy putting in it.

Regarding Castrol though - Speak to anyone in the oil industry and they'll tell you that Castrol is really basic oil. All this "Magnitec" and "Liquid Engineering" is just ad-speak. The only reason it's so popular (and expensive) is due to clever marketing. But hey, if you're happy using it then who am I to argue. Just posting up the facts here.

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El Capitano

Discussion Starter · #11 · Sep 28, 2006

cheers guys... i got 15w40 in the end. looks good. runs smooth. Nice one (i got mineral oil due to the age of the engine)

Thanks for the help

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