Thanks everyone for all the feedback received on the last thread I posted and I hope it was at the least an "eye-opener" for some.

 

I thought it would be a good idea to keep details of any advice given and a list of recommendations somewhere on this page (hopefully an admin will make it a sticky at some point so that it is easily found).

 

Looking at my comments so far, these are the ones that I feel belong in here, if you have any others then please contribute or ask futher questions which hopefully will make this an interesting FAQ thread one day.

 

Quotes so far:

 

Oilman c/o John Rowland (Silkolene/Fuchs R&D Chemist)

 

So, the chemistry of “synthetics” is complex and so is the politics!

 

The economics are very simple. If you like the look of a smart well-marketed can with “synthetic” printed on it, fair enough, it will not cost you a lot; and now you know why this is the case. But, if you drive a high performance car, and you intend to keep it for several years, and maybe do the odd “track day”, then you need a genuine Ester/PAO (Poly Alpha Olefin) synthetic oil, such as PRO S or PRO R. This oil costs more money to buy, because it costs us a lot of money to make, very simply, you always get what you pay for!

 

 

Oilman

 

My opinions are frank but based on facts so I'll apolgise in advance if I upset anyone but I will ALWAYS give you the "best advice", you don't have to take it.

 

Finally, oil for the 300zx is an interesting one as the recommendations I have had are based around the Manufacturers which is 10w-40 Semi-syn however, depending on driving conditions, the following grades can be considered 10w-40 semi-syn,10w-50 Fully-syn, 5w-40 fully syn and 15w-50 fully syn.

 

These all have different advantages to the performance of the car depending on how you use the car. Short journeys, long journeys, track days etc....

 

 

deve8uk

 

So how about sugesting something for a zx with minor mods, running approx 10psi boost that is a daily driver and normaly does short trips and only rarely gets booted. And I do mean rarely here.

 

 

Oilman

 

Firstly bear in mind that the car was designed to run on 10w-40 which is the manufacturers recommended oil but as just about all 10w-40's that I know of except for one are semi-synthetics I would go for fully synthetic as it has a higher resistance to thinning down with temperature (a good one that is, not just an excuse for a synthetic with a pretty label) as they stay in grade longer.

 

 

Oilman

 

For short journeys and lots of cold starts, you need an oil that circulates quickly as this is where 70+ percent of the engine wear occurs so rather than using a 10w consider a 5w, its thinner and circulates more easily. 0w is even quicker but may be too thin and you could end up with oil seal leaks.

 

For faster longer journeys where the engine is operating a high temperatures (hard driving) I would consider a 10w-50 or 10w-60 to give more protection at the top end but you want an oil that has a high resistance to thinning down and "stays in grade" longer. Ester is the best for this (see note below).

 

For racing and track days, you need an oil that will give more protection still and I would consider a 15w-50 which is a recognised motorsport and racing oil which will protect you almost entirely at the top end.

 

 

RichardSmith

 

What are your views on Millers XFS 5w40 and Shell Helix Ultra 5w40 fully synthetics?

 

 

Oilman

 

Difficult to comment really as I've never stocked Shell or Millers. I would be happy using Shell but based on Millers prices, I wonder about the quality, the first post here may be relevant to their oils but without the data it's difficult to say for sure.

I'll try to speak to some technical bods on monday and see if they have any data or experience of these oils.

 

Here are some comments so far for kick off.

 

Cheers

Simon

What do you think of Magnetech? I use 10w40 but change it between 1 and 2 thousand miles, because I change it early should it be up to the job? 15.5psi.

Bump for this one.

 

Mods - any chance of making it a sticky so that we can build up a database of information?

 

Cheers

Simon

Simon,I spoke to you on the phone last week but I want to ask your oppinion on 15 or even 0 as this is 5 over and under standard spec.

I still stick with 10w-50 and I've spoken to Silkolene Technical about it since.

 

I even spoke to John Rowland about the Castrol 10w-60 as I am concerned about the use of this oil in the 300ZX.

 

I've sent him a sample of RS 10w-60 to analyse and compare against the Silkolene PRO S 10w-50 so will hopefully have something to post in the next week.

 

This was Johns response to the Castrol 10w-60 technical data sheet and my fears about using it in your cars.

 

Quote:

 

Simon,

 

Don’t worry about it!

 

First, there is something odd about the Castrol Data Sheet. They claim a ‘CCS’ by which I think they mean a ‘Cold Crank Viscosity’ of 4200cP at -35C. this means, if true, that it passes 0W. 10W just requires less than 7000cP at -25C. Is this a misprint? Anyway, with a VI of 170 it is unlikely that the RS will even pass 10W; I’d like to try it on our test apparatus.

In any case, even hot-running engines do not need SAE 60 oil these days. (by ‘hot’ I mean 120-130C). remember, SAE 60 is heavier than most SAE 90 gear oils. If an oil is too thick, it de-aerates slowly, leading to cavitation in the oil pump, or the bearings being fed slugs of air along with the oil.

Pro-S 10W/50 would be ideal for 300ZX engines. ( a shear-stable xW/50 that stays at 50 is better than an xW/60 that doesn’t!)

JR

 

Unquote:

 

I'll get back to you as soon as I have something!

 

Cheers

Simon

OK,

 

10w-60 has been tested, just waiting for lab report, will not publish here but will email anyone a copy who's interseted once I have it.

 

Cheers

Simon

I would be interesteed in the report of 10W-60 RS once you have it.

 

Could you e-mail it to alex.cuthell@airbus.com

 

Cheers

alex.

OK,

 

10w-60 has been tested, just waiting for lab report, will not publish here but will email anyone a copy who's interseted once I have it.

 

Cheers

Simon

 

Could you please send me a copy as well please.

Email to ade_folorunso@tiscali.co.uk

 

Many thanks

This makes for interesting reading too.

 

Wouldn't advocate 0w-20 though!

 

http://www.silkoleneoil.com/techtip6.htm

 

Cheers

Simon

ok so what oil then?

OK,

 

10w-60 has been tested, just waiting for lab report, will not publish here but will email anyone a copy who's interseted once I have it.

 

Cheers

Simon

 

Yes please.

ok so what oil then?

 

My recommendation has not changed from before,

 

Silkolene PRO S 10w-50 ester Fully Synthetic.

 

With this oil IMHO you can't go wrong!

 

Would recommend Castrol 10w-60 but today changed my way of thinking :nono:

 

Semi-synthetic 10w-40 is a low cost option but perhaps a little underspecced in my opinion for the 300zx.

 

You could also use Mobil 1 15w-50 but it may be a would say the 15w may be a little heavy for winter.

 

For prices email me: sales@opieoils.co.uk

 

Cheers

Simon

Yes please.

 

Need your email address m8.

 

Cheers

Simon

Need your email address m8.

 

Cheers

Simon

 

 

can you send it me please?

 

sevansATtote.co.uk

 

 

Obviously change the AT to @

Thanks

Yes please:

 

mct@dsl.pipex.com

 

 

Cheers

A copy of the report too please.

 

andyp@300zx.co.uk

 

 

Any thoughts on Morris Multilife 10w50 'fully synth' ?

http://www.morrislubricants.co.uk/productinfo.asp?v06c41q7p6=EF

I'd love a copy too please. :)

 

j.d.f.palmer@swan.ac.uk

 

Cheers. :)

Any thoughts on Morris Multilife 10w50 'fully synth' ?

 

Looks pretty good on paper, just looked at the tech data.

 

VI index is in range, pour point good but no flash point mentioned (there's always a piece of the jigsaw missing :mad: )

 

Looks like a PAO which is inferior to ester as PAO's are not polar but having said that it's probably a pretty decent oil against other PAO's.

 

Hope this helps

 

Simon

Oilman,

 

Thanks for the oil by the way got it the next day as requested!!

 

 

Simon is there any chance you can give us a simple overview of oil, its qualities, characteristics and how the different parameters interact with one another, if you have enough time?

It'll take me some time but I'll certainly post something for you all.

 

Cheers

Simon

A copy of the report too please.

 

andyp@300zx.co.uk

 

 

Any thoughts on Morris Multilife 10w50 'fully synth' ?

http://www.morrislubricants.co.uk/productinfo.asp?v06c41q7p6=EF

 

Same here too please bud

redstarinc@hotmail.com

Looks pretty good on paper, just looked at the tech data.

 

VI index is in range, pour point good but no flash point mentioned (there's always a piece of the jigsaw missing :mad: )

 

Looks like a PAO which is inferior to ester as PAO's are not polar but having said that it's probably a pretty decent oil against other PAO's.

 

Hope this helps

 

Simon

 

Well that's encouraging because I've been using it for about 25,000 miles.

Simon,

You're stretching the boundries of our agreement. If you wish to be a trader on the board then you need to subscribe as such. Currently we agreed to provide a link to your commercial site in exchange for club discounts. We are very happy to gain the benefit of your knowledge and experience of oils, but this is blatent advertising and contravenes our Acceptable Use Policy.

Apolgies Andy,

 

Won't do it again.

 

Regards

Simon

Here's part one.

 

I'll do it bit by bit and we'll get on to the more complcated stuff as we go.

 

Happy reading.

 

Cheers

Simon

 

 

What is a multigrade?

 

A good oil must be quite low in viscosity even when it's cold so that it gets around the engine in a fraction of a second when you turn that key!

 

On the other hand it needs to protect engine components like piston rings at very high temperatures as the engine gets hot without evaporating or carbonising and it must maintain oil pressure.

 

Unmodified thin oils simply can't perfrom this balancing act. The answer is to use a mixture of thin oil and temperature-sensitive polymer which as the oil gets thinner with increasing temperature expands and effectively "fights back", keeping the viscosity at a level to hold oil pressure and film thickness on the bearings.

 

So, these polymers are added to a thin base, 0w,5w,10w etc at cold tempertaures they are "coiled up" and allow the oil to circulate very easily

but as the engine and therefore the oil warms up, the begin to "uncoil" into long chains keeping the oil more viscous.

 

It is impossible to make a good 5w-40 or 10w-40 using only mineral oil. The base oil is too thin and evaporates away at high temperatures found in powerful engines that are highly stressed, this is why synthetics are used to build up the oil to cope with the stresses of modern engines.

 

This is called a multigrade.

Is engine flushing recommended?

 

Cheerz.........Simon.