thanks vxcalais, ill remember 5w40 for next time, ill just keep an eye my oil in case it is losing some due to been to thin, BTW you a mechanic or something? seem to know your sh*t in regards to oil. Please dont tell me you are a sales rep for Castrol LOL.
lol, i am very far from being a mechanic, very far, just an enthusiast, but i talk to people who are oil specialist (tribologist), some lecturers, forum members, reading, trial and error, oil testing, when you see that tech number on a bottle of oil, give it a call sometime, and see what they have to say. They make the product at the end of the day.
If i was gonna be a salesrep, it wouldnt be Castrol ! I dont like some of their marketing etc. and grudge as they are the cause of confusion between real synthetic, fake synthetic etc, even though the others Mobil etc also didn't help. Anyways, they make good products, and on another forum, i talk and regularly read posts from someone who helped develop Castrol Edge 10w60 here in Australia. His knowledge on Oil, and Engines is amazing. If he says something is good, it has to be. The Castrol Edge range is an excellent oil(too expensive and complaints from guys in the U.S its too expensive there as well), Magnatec i dont like too much. Its really good oil mixed with really poor oil and sold at a premium, talked to someone recently who blew the seals on his Turbocharger when using it with a certain engine cleaner. Wasn't the oils fault, it actually proved it contained a certain seal swelling additive, which seems to work. Magnatec has creeped up to the mid 30's nearly $40 mark. Shell Helix Plus 15w50 and Valvoline Engine Armour range are a very similar make up, GRoup 3 synthetic oils, Group 1 mineral oil and some GRoup 5 Ester, which gives it that magnetic attraction to metal engine parts, as well as conditions seals etc.
Engine ratings sums it all up though, for the average user like you and I, when we go in the shop, we look for SL/SM rated oil, we know that it has to survive a certain amount of time in our engine without breaking down, and only causing so much wear. SM being the highest (SN soon to come out) is supposed to be designed to cause the least amount of wear over a longer period of time. Thats why i say any type of oil for 5000k's as long as SL/SM, Synthetic minimum 7500k's. Our mineral oils arent as good in general compared to U.S minerals, their minerals can easily go 7500k easily.
Let us know how the oil goes..........