Which oils to get?

Noy · Jan 24, 2008

Hey guys im servicing my car this week, and dont want to go buy crap oils. So what oils and oil grades do you guys use for your ecotec?

And what transmission oil?

Cheers

Not_An_Abba_Fan · Jan 24, 2008

Do a search Noy, bringing it up again will only cause more arguments.

dufus · Jan 24, 2008

Not_An_Abba_Fan said:
Do a search Noy, bringing it up again will only cause more arguments.

Noy · Jan 24, 2008

My bad, lock thread then.. i dont mind

vxcalais_01 · Jan 25, 2008

Mate, with all those different opinions and arguments we have on the threads, no wonder people keep asking again hehe.......What is the best oil ? What is really the best oil ? Seriously now, what is the best oil ??? Then everyone of us goes on and pastes the same sh%t. I Dont blame people.

Not_An_Abba_Fan · Jan 25, 2008

The best oil is what you can afford that matches the recommendation in the service manual. If there are two choices, go for the higher viscosity one. (The one with a higher first number).

vxcalais_01 · Jan 25, 2008

Hehe, brave answer Abba_Fan hehe. That could really blow the powder keg with an answer like that, but yes i agree, start number isnt too critical, unless its a 0 weight. Dont use less than a 50 in the end figure. If its new, up until 100,000 you can use a 10W50, but even then, slightly higher may be better. 15W50 is a good balance. If you have a VZ or a VE then you can use the lower stuff for the time being, as i myself dont know much about those motors and what they are designed to. BUt with the VT and VX, there is a discrepency, for the same motor, Holden recommended 20W50 then for the VX recommended 10W30, which clearly shows a recommendation to suit Emissions and EPA guidelines. How can you specify 2 different oils for the same motor ??? THen even places like repco will tell you 10W30 too thin, even Holden SPare parts !!!

Seriously, on oils, most are good, as long as they meet API requirements. Theres alot of confusion around oils, and i myself are trying to figure it out. Good oils out there that i would personally recommend and some i have used are;

BP Visco 5000 ($50) - 5W40- Probably too thin, but has always done very well in test, only bad reviews are its viscosity. Available only in 4 litre and 1 litre bottles at BP servos. Again, marketed as a full synthetic, but really only a group 3 mineral, had good levels of ZDDP(advertised).

Fuchs Titan GT 15-40 ($30) - Semi Synthetic, fantastic oil, probably thinnest you would go.

Valvoline Durablend 15W50 ($34-36)- Semi Synthetic, Is more synthetic than Castrol Edge and even Valvoline Synpwoer which others which claim to be full synthetics, when they are only highly refined minerals. Valvoline Durablend actually has 33% POA Lab made real synthetic blended into a Group 2 mineral oil. Valvoline recommend 5000 k changes on all oils. Feels quite thin for the oil it is, did well in a Streetcommodore Test, for oil film strength.

Gulf Western Protecta Ultra 15W50- ($27)- Cheaper option than the durablend, carrying 30% POA real synthetic, blended into mineral oil.

Pennzoil GT Street Machine 20W50- ($38)- Not cheap for a full mineral( made in the USA), marketed more for cars on the drag strip, carries good detergents and anti wear products for components typically found in muscle cars (large cams, solid lifters, etc). Can be used on any car, and is a very good oil. Apparently good for keeping noisy lifters quiet.

ULX-110- ($60-$70) - Full Mineral, U.S designed, not much is known about it except for where its really used, and thats the professional drag strips, circuits etc, probably one of the best oils known to man, but has not been tried by the general public much, Subaru WRX STI drivers swear by the stuff, a non biased soarer driver did extensive tests on it and other oils, and it slightly out performed Mobil 1 Full Synthetic. Easily found info on the net about the test. Performance probably based on high levels on Zinc, and Molybdenum disulphide. Can last up to 15,000 changes if tested.

PM Lubricants Endurance Lube 25W-60($55)- Again a fantastic oil, can be marketed as a full synthetic as it is a Group 3 Hydrcracked oil, designed to outlast any oil, expensive initially, but provides testing, and can on my own car from a recent test can possibly last up to 60,000k's on 1 full fill with filter changes every 10,000 ! Thats means i will only need to pay $55 + 3 filters for a year and a half, as i do about 40,000k's a year. Reported to have the oil with the highest film strength (large market with Farming and construction plant) and resistance to break down, anti wear, looks and even smells good(hehe its like strawberry syrup).

These are my picks and opinions from reading, talking to people, seeing some tests and others opinions, and that is all. Some people dont like Valvoline or Penzzoil, but i feel that is only because they are so common, main 2 oils used in the U.S, been around for ages, and release info about their oils and are easily scrutinised, unlike some other oils. Yes pennzoil did have problems but we talking way way back. I wanna see someone prove it has done something recently to their car with real evidence. If you go no the bob is the oil guy site, Pennzoil, and Valvoline are pretty much the oils to use. They love the stuff. Some people say Valvoline has hardly no additives, which is i am led to believe is crap. Both these oils have done well in oil analysis test.

One oil i didnt really like was Penrite Gas 10W-50- Seems to break down, and didn't really seem to be cushioning the engine as well as the others. I might try it again to see as i may be wrong.

commsirac · Jan 25, 2008

Feel the advice about the W rating of the oil is a bit off the mark. We also don't know how old the motor is.

The W(winter) rating is basically a cold viscosity rating, it is only an advantage to have a 0W,5W or 10W oil, though I think 15W should do quite well enough in the colder months for most engines older than a couple of years old and generally it is not worth paying the extra dollars to have the W rating much lower than 15. The other idea being the higher the difference between the W rating and the 100C rating, the more viscosity modifiers need to be added(which makes it more costly) and this is what can break down in the oil reducing its serviceable life. Not really something to be concerned with if the oil is replaced at the required intervals.

The higher number(sae viscosity rating at 100C) is the one which will determine whether the engine is sufficiently protected etc at operating temp. 30 is too thin with engines with some wear according to most and either a 40 or 50 should be considered.

There does appear to be a misconception that a 0W oil would be too thin when cold or that the oil becomes thinner when colder. This is not true. The oil becomes rapidly thicker(exponentially thicker) when it cools down even with viscosity modifiers, much thicker than the differences in tolerance of the metal which only contract in a linear fashion.
For example a 0W/50 oil at 20C will have ~ six times the viscosity that it will have at 100C, the oil is six times thicker(if you like) when it is cold.

Fr3ak+-- · Jan 25, 2008

in my personal experience ?w-50 is too high at full heat.. i tend to stick with a 40 and even then its still a little high.. btw i have a series one vt with 190000 on the clock

vxcalais_01 · Jan 26, 2008

commsirac said:
Feel the advice about the W rating of the oil is a bit off the mark. We also don't know how old the motor is.

The W(winter) rating is basically a cold viscosity rating, it is only an advantage to have a 0W,5W or 10W oil, though I think 15W should do quite well enough in the colder months for most engines older than a couple of years old and generally it is not worth paying the extra dollars to have the W rating much lower than 15. The other idea being the higher the difference between the W rating and the 100C rating, the more viscosity modifiers need to be added(which makes it more costly) and this is what can break down in the oil reducing its serviceable life. Not really something to be concerned with if the oil is replaced at the required intervals.

The higher number(sae viscosity rating at 100C) is the one which will determine whether the engine is sufficiently protected etc at operating temp. 30 is too thin with engines with some wear according to most and either a 40 or 50 should be considered.

There does appear to be a misconception that a 0W oil would be too thin when cold or that the oil becomes thinner when colder. This is not true. The oil becomes rapidly thicker(exponentially thicker) when it cools down even with viscosity modifiers, much thicker than the differences in tolerance of the metal which only contract in a linear fashion.
For example a 0W/50 oil at 20C will have ~ six times the viscosity that it will have at 100C, the oil is six times thicker(if you like) when it is cold.

I agree with everything you just said commsirac, strangely enough, if you have a car with a starting weight of 20 or 25W you should let it idle a bit, and then again if you have 0W you need to let it idle and warm up before heavy use.

With the VI improvers, this is only with Full minerals where its really an issue. And again, changing your oil regurlarly diminishes this. But apparently this is not the case with Full synthetics, as well as fake Group 3 mineral synthetics, as they hold their viscosities better apparently.

The thick and thin oil battle will rage for as long as this stuff is around. I have had a lot of reputable people telling me to use 10W-40 even at 180,000k's. But is that only cause they have looked up their Oil guide, which uses the hand book recommendations, or is that what they know works well ? And i have people recommending thicker, which they may be doing out of precaution and thinking at those k's there is definitely some wear, so it warrants thicker. I see my Holden handbook and it states 10W-30, does anyone really believe i can still be using this at 180,000 running on LPG ? Then it mentions if thats not available use a 20W50 (whats the deal with that, if you cant find it just practically double the viscosity), and in the snow use a 15W40(which is a stupid recommendation), not the viscosity, but i just cannot understand how that oil is the better in cold/snow conditions.

As you can see, in my little experience and my personal preferences i have mentioned oils from across the viscosity range.

Just Commodores Forum Community

Which oils to get?

Noy

New Member

Not_An_Abba_Fan

Exhaust Guru

dufus

Donating Member

Noy

New Member

vxcalais_01

Well-Known Member

Not_An_Abba_Fan

Exhaust Guru

vxcalais_01

Well-Known Member

commsirac

Banned

Fr3ak+--

Closed On Monday

vxcalais_01

Well-Known Member