Oil Recommendations

Rmd

So why do you recommend those two brands only , are you saying all other brands are not satisfactory .
All the other name brands are name brands because of the protection they have offered for many years in many different motors .

Cheers

G'day Mark
No, I wasn't saying the other oils commonly on offer are not satisfactory, Satisfactory is to me, means sort of good enough but not above the pack.

I consider Castrol, Valvoline, Penrite, and other heavily promoted oils just aren't as good or perform as well as the two mentioned.

A while back, approx 2 years ago I had quite a lot of correspondence with Hilux owners who had oil burning/use problems. Their oil also went black too soon after a service change.
Some of them changed to either Castrol Delo in appropriate specs/viscosity and or Mobil Delvac MX. They reported back to me their oil use had reduced and the rings must have sealed better than before because they noticed had less blowby and subsequent less caontamination rate of carbon into the sump oil.

I have found similar performance but in different Toyota engines.
I never use those advertised oils, they must sell less because they have to advertise them.

It is interesting what transport companies use, it isn't those lesser oils, why would that be?

Mark,
What a crock of excrement !!!!!!
Personally, I don't use BP/Castrol (one and the same) but your doubting its quality,
& you also bag Penrite an Aussie product.....just out of passing Mark what oil was in the winning car (Holden) at Bathurst this year?
Cheers & stay safe

Just because a race car has a sticker on the side does not mean it is using that product.
Only the team really know what is being used, and even then probably only a couple of staff members know the truth.

Tony H
I suppose you believe P Brock used Mobil oil in his car, as mentioned above, the sticker on the door mean nothing.P Brock used NEO synthetic oil from USA in his cars for a long time. I Know who used to import it for him in 44gal drums, lots of them.

RIGHT
Lets talk about Diesel spec oils ..... and yes I have done quite a bit of research into the matter. over more than 5 years

The diesel spec oil market is very competitive ... heavy transport uses heaps of this stuff and yes the same stuff in the right spec goes in your 4wd.

Unless you get into the exotic top spec stuff from the US, the best value for money and performance is Mobil Devlac, Caltex Dello and and a couple of the Shell ( rimular and rotella from memory) products and there is very little to seperate them.

BP and that includes Valvoline ( their cheap brand ) and Castrol (their flagship brand) have been dragging their heels on everything for over a decade.

In this market Pennrite ( and the other boutique oil brands) simply does not compete well in the under 20 litre market.

In the last year or two there has been a shake up in the Diesel spec oil market and everybody has had to lift their game.

If you have a pre common rail diesel you are looking for a JASO DH1 rated oil .....
From memory even Castrol RX super is now JASO DH1 accredited ( it was not for a long time), the word is the old RX super has been re-branded down range.

There are some issues raised with the more modern formulars and what additives are permitted in the later specs ..... there are arguments that, where permitted DH1 is a better oil than DH2 ( the common rail spec), because of the additive that are permitted and don't harm the DPF.

YES in this market the JASO spec is the one to go by.

ANY JASO DH1 rated oil will be fine for a pre-common rail diesel ... the spec and the market is so damn tight.

BUT the best value and performance is in the 3 mentioned , Mobil, Caltex and Shell.

Personally I run Caltex Dello 400 15w40 in my 03 diesel and pretty much everything I own right down to the ride on mower.

Most of these oils are "multi-fleet oils" which are specifically designed to run in the whole fleet diesel and petrol.
Start looking at the oil specs they comply with and it will open your eyes ..... then compare that with retail oils and you will be in for some surprises.

All the DH1 and above rated oils will be at least semi synthetic ...... it is not them being synthetic or not that matters it is the oil specs they comply with ... read up on the oil specs
Concern yourself with what oil spec is complied with and not what is written on the bottle or the advertising.

If you want to read up on these issues start with " bob is the oil guy"

When it comes to buy, whatever brand, buy where the truckies buy and 20 litre minimum.
Some of the truck stops do well, some of the diesel spares shops are worth a look.
Personally I buy from the Caltex fuel depot at Lytton ( not the refinery) .... they won't give you their best price over the phone.

For dello 400 you should be looking around the $120 ish for a 20 litre .... I buy 2 x 20 litres when I buy so my price might be out of date.

Bottom line is you can't go wrong with any JASO DH1 rated oil .... the market is so very competitive.

Think twice about running more exotic grades ... there are some arguments both ways

I hope this helps
cherrs

Theo,
Recommending/suggesting changing to a synthetic HIGH detergent oil in 'an engine' that has done 560,000k's on an unknown oil is crazy.
The high detergent will certainly clean the engine....(resulting in filthy oil in no time) ......including removing the carbon build up around the rings.....resulting in massive oil consumption in a relatively short period!!!.

Not trying to take anything away from Delvac as it is a great lubricant......if used continuously from new or a vehicle with low k's !
Cheers

Like I said, if it's done 560K with no hiccups - maybe not touch it?!?!

But, if you were to change... I would still use Mobil Delvac.
I have used this in three of my diesel vehicles after using other oils (all of which at the time of change were over 250K) and the Delvac was coming out much cleaner at every 5K oil change. Absolutely zero change in oil consumption. It didn't make any noticeable change in power or performance, but my mechanic who does periodic work on one of my vehicles (a 3L zd30 Navara) commented on how clean it looked when changing the oil injector seals. He guessed exactly which oil I was using, too.

I have a family friend who is now using this oil in his 2H turbo 60 Series (which has done over 400K) and he can't speak highly enough of it.

Just my 2c worth.

removing carbon build up around rings in Diesels may not necessarily increase oil consumption.

carbon build up between the rings can be a cause of loss of compression and performance in Diesels.

Loss of compression in Diesels is a far bigger problem than oil consumption.

When my diesel first came to me it was a bit of a slug ..... a couple of hard runs and short oil changes and it was running a hell of a lot better and at over 300 000 the compression is still well within spec.

cheers

Pop

15w40 is one of the most common grade oils used in older 4x4 ,s . Comparing a racing car with the an old 3 litre Hilux is a long bow .

Cheers

Mark,

I'm not trying to compare apples with oranges. Just making the point that thicker i.e. 15w-40 50 or whatever is not better in all cases.

The OP Robert has used a certain oil of a certain viscosity in whatever application he uses his vehicle for and now reports that he has achieved 560,000 ks.

I pointed out that whatever he is using seems to be working for him so why change now unless something has changed recently.

Cheers
Pop

If you have your glovebox manual you will see a viscosity v temperature chart.

For anything we will encounter 15w40 is just fine.

I have heard several accounts of people putting 20w50 in Toyotas and getting an increase in oil consumption and smoke from the exhaust.

My understanding is that this is due to the head not draining fast enough at high RPM and oil going down the valve guides .

Thicker is not always better.

Remember much the lubrication system, particularly in the bottom end relies on oil pressure and not oil thickness.

The safest choice is to stay with the standard specified viscosity.

cheers

An engine should start ok on 20w50 as it is only 20 viscosity when cold and NOT 50 as some seem to think. 50 means it only thins to what 50 would thin down to when it is hot. Therefore it is thicker when hot than a 20w40 and is more parasitic drag on the engine internals.

I agree, Castrol is rubbish and most other “dumped “ oils in Oz are too.
Many oils are spec’d up on the label but don’t do the job but are sold as best ever by unprincipled companies.

hi
RMD
Agreed on how oil system works I do underatand how it works but eg 20w-50 takes longer to get oil pressure upon start up . I suspect that's the pour-ability of the mineral oil . Synthetic oil does is not effected as severe . At least that's what I have experienced.
There is an oil test that's carried out by oil makers just cannot remember its name .
Evidence is when u have to run engines with valve covers removed, oil when as above takes a while to get around fully.
My advise to people is try different oil combos and u would be surprised .
Some oils [mineral] take along time to spread internally in an engine ,you would be surprised !! Typically 20w/50 .
As we all know now is oil technology has improved greatly so for use in older engines that's great .
For later tight clearance ,turbo [temperature] and even diesel , plus longer oil changes all place big demands on your oil .

on what basis are we saying castrol is rubbish, does it not meet the same standards as other oils???? or is that just a personal opinion that castrol is rubbish. i used castrol rx super in my old troopy happily hit 747,000 odd km before the rust took over the body nothing wrong with castrol in my opinion.

Absolutely everything manufactured by BP and that includes Castrol and Valvoline has been behind the game for some time ...... except some of their custom made for purpose products.

Castrol has been more about advertising and less about achieving performance for a very long time .

Look at any of the independent oil reviews and the BP products lag the field.

Yes you can look at the multiple standards that the particular oils are certified.

This diesel spec market is very competitive and very well scrutinised and independently reviewed.

Some of the smaller oil companies may make competive or superiour products in other areas, but in the main stream market and in diesel spec oils ... BP products lag the field.

cheers