yet another Oil question

[Badgerman]

OK, so I should look for 15w40 or 20W50. I did not founded full synth oil in range of 15w40. Only one 20W50 that I have founded is that Royal Purple Motor Oil - 5 Litre, 20W-50 for AU$90. Is it a good oil ?

 

[The1]

the labels on the bottle dont mean a whole lot, one 15/50 to another 15/50 might be completely different, you need to look at viscosity CST at 100c and 40c, from my testing so far HPR15 is great if you can't find 15/50 from mobil 1, the ecotec runs super on it. supercheap or repco on sale usually has 5L bottle for $40, it's cheap atm at supercheap

Penrite HPR 15 Engine Oil - 15W-60, 5 Litre - Supercheap Auto

 

[Badgerman]

the labels on the bottle dont mean a whole lot, one 15/50 to another 15/50 might be completely different, you need to look at viscosity CST at 100c and 40c, from my testing so far HPR15 is great if you can't find 15/50 from mobil 1, the ecotec runs super on it. supercheap or repco on sale usually has 5L bottle for $40, it's cheap atm at supercheap

Penrite HPR 15 Engine Oil - 15W-60, 5 Litre - Supercheap Auto

15W-60 ? All in all - this is finally full synthetic. Holden recommends in 15W class ver 40. Is that 60 (instead of 40) in 15w-60 from Penrite do not wreck my engine ?

 

[jeepyrocks]

OP you likely wont find SG, SH or SJ spec oils as those were superseded years and years ago. By memory the latest is SN. You will find SL and SM spec oils and these are fine (actually better - they have improved additives, better sludge control, etc etc)
If anything, end of the day the Ecotec will almost run on cooking oil - they are very non-fussy. As a reference though, my partners VY with 270k on it has just been changed to 5w40 Shell ultra, after running whatever quality syn 5w30 or 5w40 oil is on special for the last few years. Still runs beautifully, is very quiet and I would hazard that I top it off about 500ml over 10000kms between changes.
I would only step up to a 20w50 if it had oil usage problems. The old Aussie "thick is better" 20w50 attitude comes from the 80s when it was pretty much all you could get. Compare that to the yanks who also had this engine and happily used 5w30, 10w30 with no issues (and likely had better economy from using it)

 

[The1]

manual states 20/50w for ecotec, HPR15 is 15/60w on the bottle but msds datasheet here states cSt @ 100C 23.9
http://www.penriteoil.com.au/msds/HPR 15 Rev 7.11 0715.pdf

Spec table here which is about the best you'l find puts it on the edge of 50 range.

You'l get plenty of hearsay on this forum but again if you want the best then put in the effort and monitor your own oil pressure and do your own oil tests on your own engine which is the best solution if you want the best.

 

[VT13]

Google netlube and check out the results......you will get links to vehicle search pages for all the major oil brands. Select your vehicle and review the presented recommendations direct from the oil company boffins.

 

[Skydrol]

The Owner's Manual has the answer for the right viscosity. Any Synthetic Oil that is Dexos approved will work. The rest is nothing but shopping for best price. I use 5 W 30 on all my cars except for my wife's VW Beetle with the 5 Cly inline Audi engine that calls for 0W40 per VW/Audi specs.

Oil has to be thin enough, to go around fast enough in engine to lubricate and carry heat; thick enough to cushion, seal and preserve. So is a balancing act between thin and thick. As far as I can remember, the thickest oil I ever used was Single Grade SAE 40 and was on an old 77 Chevy Nova with a 5.0 (305 in cu) V8 while I was stationed in Hawaii. I say, 50 grade is pretty much obsolete from today's automobile applications; hell, even gear differential oil is going thin. Remember the days of 80W120 gear oil; now is as thick as 70 weight.