Castrol oil

[Micks]

Well.... yes, the 10W indicates it "flows like" a 10 weight oil and the 60 indicates it protects like a 60 weight oil.

However the overall oil makeup is different between a 10W60 full synthetic and say a 15W50 semi-synthetic. Personally I like the semi-synthetic due to cost and protection level for the driving I do. If you drive according to the oil you have, there can be no detriment to running something like 10W60, for me it just doesn't quite fit.

For the record, I normally run Martini Racing Grand Prix 50 (15W50) but currently have Nulon 10W40 in as I was trying the thinner oil to see how the lifters behaved. I'll be going back to the Martini next oil change.

How do you find the Martini for lifter noise on your L76 Simon?

[markone2]

I've been told to use a good mineral oil with a 20w50 weight for my 382 stroker I'm building, and to change the oil ever 5000ks.

I know who told you that

[swingtan]

How do you find the Martini for lifter noise on your L76 Simon?

Very good. The Nulon 10W40 is not bad either, but it does make the motor sound a little more noisy. Actually, I just remembered that I log oil pressure on most runs, so....

• Nulon 10W40:
  
  ECT=20'C Engine RPM=1000 Oil Pressure= 45PSI (This was a cold start from this afternoon), at 2700 RPM the pressure was 56.7PSI
  after 20min driving in Melbourne traffic
  ECT=95'C Engine RPM=775 Oil Pressure=32PSI. At 2700 RPM, the pressure was 51PSI.
  
  On Tuesday, it was 31'C here and after 40 minutes of driving, the idle pressure was the same as above with the ECT varying between 95'C and 100'C.
  after 20min driving in Melbourne traffic 63.8PSI at 5800 RPM.
  
• Martini 15W50:
  
  ECT=21'C Engine RPM=1000 Oil Pressure= 45.8PSI (This was a cold start from Feb 1st 2013), at 2700 RPM the pressure was 56.3PSI
  after 30min driving in Melbourne traffic
  ECT=93'C Engine RPM=775 Oil Pressure=34.2PSI. At 2700 RPM, the pressure was 52.2PSI.
  
  Peak warm oil pressure on that run was 63.8PSI at 5900 RPM.
  

So overall, the pressures between the two oils are not much different. However, as already mentioned, there are differences between the Full synthetic Nulon and the semi-synthetic Martini. The L76 seems to like the semi-synth. If the engine behaved the same on the Nulon, I'd much prefer it as the oil pressure is the same, but the oil is rated as a lighter oil. This, in theory, should result in more power / economy.

[Micks]

Those press. are very good! Mine increased quite a bit after I installed the secondary bypass plug as your thread.

[Ratsmow]

So I've been doing a bit more reading on various oil company web sites and have this question. Is it fair to assume the higher the (base number) of the oil the in the spec sheet the better the quality of oil. Is this an important factor when selecting a quality oil.

[swingtan]

Basically....

The number printed on the pack simply gives the minimum specs of the oil when new. You used to be able to get recycled oil from the super market that was rated as meeting all the manufacturers specs. I only used it to paint a sleeper wall once.....

The low number is an indication of how the oil flows when it's cold. The high number is an indication of how well the oil protects when hot. Both are a reference to when single weight oil was the only option. The lower the first number and the higher the second number, the better the oil should be. IE. you want an oil that flows like water when cold and protects like grease when hot, this is exactly how oil does NOT behave.

Mineral oils used dispersant's to stop the paraffins from thickening the oil when cold. Synthetics use special polymers that "ball up" when cold to help flow, but unravel to long chains when hot to provide excellent protection.

So the numbers don't really indicate the "quality" of the oil, just the stated viscosities. They are an important factor though and really, you want the thinest oil that will maintain a film of oil between bearing surfaces. Go too think and you loose power in trying to pump the thicker oil and must be a lot more careful with the warm up cycle. As I've indicated above, the 10W40 does quite well with the pressures, but is a little noisy. So I'll go the 15W50 semi-synth.

[Ratsmow]

Yeah I got all that. You must have misunderstood what I was referring to. On the spec sheet oc the oils along with viscocities and cranking pressures and all that they also refer to a base number eg 8.5 or 11.2. This seems to be the range of a decent oil. This number is the oils ability to suspend contaminants and resist corrosive products produced in the combustion process, got that from Wikipedia. The higher the number the better the oils ability to perform these tasks.

[Drizt]

I would have thought 15w 50 would be worse for short trips than 10w 60?

[Ratsmow]

I don't think either would really be any good for short trips. From what Steve from main lube said, a 10w60 is not necessarily the same as a 10w50 at the 10w part of the oil. The 10w60 would probably be more resistant to flow than the 10w50 at cold start up.
After using a 10w50 and then going to a10w60 I can confidently say my Monaro uses a bit more fuel on the heavier oil. About 1 litre per hundred more.

[Drizt]

For someone who does lots of small trips 5-10 mins of suburb driving..... But also likes to give the car plenty of herbs when given the chance ....

Which oil would you recommend... rate them from most suitable to least suitable if you like

Castrol Edge 5w-40
Castrol Edge 10w-60

http://castroledge.com.au/oils/5w-40-sn
http://castroledge.com.au/oils/10w-60-sn

Penrite Premium 10 Tenths 5w-60
Penrite Racing 10 Tenths 10W-40
Penrite HPR 5 5W-40
Penrite HPR 10 10W-50

http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products.php?id_categ=1&id_brand=4&id_products=281
http://www.penriteoil.com.au/engineo...d_products=277
http://www.penriteoil.com.au/engineo...&id_products=1
http://www.penriteoil.com.au/engineo...&id_products=2



The penrite 5w-60 sounds interesting.

[bush_basha]

Hey guys thought I would just stick this in this thread. How long will an open bottle of oil last V's a sealed bottle? The ve takes about 8 litres so then there's 2l left from 10, can that be reused say 18months down the track or not? Cheers

[Wonky]

I may be ignorant but I'd think the remaining oil in a bottle with the lid on properly should last as well as new oil in a sealed bottle. Unlike for example brake fluid it won't absorb moisture from the air.

[offshore]

The oil they put in my LSA is Castrol Edge Pro TWS 10W/60

[Blown 454 AWD]

Yeah I got all that. You must have misunderstood what I was referring to. On the spec sheet oc the oils along with viscocities and cranking pressures and all that they also refer to a base number eg 8.5 or 11.2. This seems to be the range of a decent oil. This number is the oils ability to suspend contaminants and resist corrosive products produced in the combustion process, got that from Wikipedia. The higher the number the better the oils ability to perform these tasks.

TBN & TAN?

Total Base Number refers to the alkalinity reserve to be able to stop the acid build up (by product from combustion) dissolving your engine

Total Acid Number is the ph the acid has built to (which shouldn't be there if there's plenty of TBN left to combat it, simples!


As for viscosities?

SAE is bullshit if you are trying to understand viscosities,

SAE 50 engine oil is ISO 220 cSt@40C
SAE90 Gear oil is ISO 220 cSt@40C

So SAE doesn't make sense, it's only an indication of a multi-grade, you could never work it out correctly from SAE.



viscosity chart.jpg


It's not really big enough (picture) but you can see the difference between engine and gear oil viscosities.

Cheers

Steve

[Tingle92]

Not using Edge10W60 again! It made my VZ L76 run really high end hot! (too thick-too much friction) I thought it was suppose to keep oil temps low! Yes I have an Oil Temp gauge. Ive heard mineral oils are good at absorbing heat, synthetics don't!