Hey guys, i know you probally have plenty of threads on which oil is best to use on what, but the search really isnt great.

Also my question may be a little different.

Ok well i always assumed that when a car got alot older (eg: mine has 330xxxk's) that 20-50w is the oil to jump straight to. Then i was reading about how having an oil that is that thick on startup can cause alot more engine wear.

The oil i am using is Valvoline Max Life 20w-50 Semi Synthetic, and i have been using this oil because its probally one of the better 20w-50's out there (since i have heard that Mineral 50 grades are just terrible), and i was also experiencing some tappet noise.

My car doesn't use much oil, just leaks a little and i have just replaced my tappets and i am wanting to do my oil change tomorrow. Now i was thinking about getting myself a 10w-40 or 15w-40 since i want to reduce my wear on startup but dont want to have an issue with oil pressure. Also my current oil is pretty expensive.

What are people's thoughts on this matter?

Thanks in advance.

20W oil is way off the mark mate

Use either HPR10 or if you want to pay for full syn, use the Penrite Syn5

The oil you are using is most likely oil leaks from places like the camshaft thrust cap and dist seals

20W oil is way off the mark mate

Use either HPR10 or if you want to pay for full syn, use the Penrite Syn5


Well someone had a good argument in my tappet thread about just using mineral oil, since when the motor was designed Semi Syn wouldnt have been readily available as it is now.

I personally think its a good idea, and i myself am not a big fan of Penrite oils only from poor personal experience.

Is HPR10 a 10w-40? You think i should try this grade?

Well someone had a good argument in my tappet thread about just using mineral oil, since when the motor was designed Semi Syn wouldnt have been readily available as it is now.

I personally think its a good idea, and i myself am not a big fan of Penrite oils only from poor personal experience.

Is HPR10 a 10w-40? You think i should try this grade?

Not sure on your personal experience, I have been using Penrite for over 25 years personally and would not even think of using another brand. Even many of the competition cars out there which advertise "other" oils really use Penrite lol

Have not seen the comments in your other thread but then again if you look at some members here who have had issues with valve stem smoke for and example, they have flushed with Wynns or similar and then used the correct Penrite and most of the issue has gone. Often the smoke will not be a seal issue but varnish build up on the stem and oil breaking down will also cause similar symptoms

The theory of stepping up oil grade in an older engine is actually very flawed, is too long to go into here on a foum but there is so much info on the net it is not hard to find lol

Back to the Penrite, I would be very interested to hear what the issue was and what the actual grade of oil was etc as I have never had any issue with Penrite with either my street cars or my race cars in years gone by, and some of my engines being Turbo Rotaries in the past years are damned hard on oil lol

The issues weren't really anything major but i was using was i was pretty sure was Penrite 15-40 when i had my old Falcon, and it was a pretty poor drive when the car was cold, and then one day i decided to swap the oil out and replace it with the Valvoline equivalent and the issue was gone, i didnt really look into it further i just decided not to use Penrite again.

Also i knew a guy who had his motor reco'd and only used Penrite oil and after about 40xxxk's he pulled it apart and it was full of sludge. There was alot of speculation that he didnt change the oil every 5000k's like he said, or he blew a head gasket but its just one of those things that make me un easy around Penrite. Its good that you stand by Penrite though but i would prefer to use something other than it, if i can get away with it.

What grade would you think i should try Mal, 10 or 15-40? or even lower prehaps?

The best independent unbiased site I've seen on oils is:
http://www.bobistheoilguy. com/

Well changed my oil today and since i didnt want to spend $$$ on the 330xxxk motor i opted for a $20 Bottle of Valvoline Engine Armour Semi Syn which is 15w-40. I went for this because it is the same grade as the Mitsubishi oil the dealer near me uses and i have used this product before and loved it.

A thicker oil will KEEP oil pressure. Go too thin and watch your bearings spin. Nothing wrong with a 20w-50 at all and at 330,xxx km's any 'start up damage' would of been done already. Just keep regular services up - and I wouldn't dare go lower then a 15w. I used to use a 5w weight oil which at idle was at dangerously low pressure. Switched to a 15w weight oil and voila, perfect oil pressure.

Thanks for the Info Tuffy.

I do service the car very regularly so thats not an issue, and if this oil goes well in the Magna i might keep using it rather than trying to go lower.

Sorry Paul but you really need to read that article to get a better understanding of oil and how it all works

Telling someone to go 20W in an engine that has been specified as a 5w oil is not the correct information.

At the end of the day, I have 100's of customers running HPR10 on engines ranging from 30k old to 500k old in all engine types including 4 and 6cyl second gen, 4 and 6cyl thrid gen not to mention lancers etc etc,

Please get a better understanding of how the oil works and more importantly get an understanding of the way modern oils work with the range etc.

Well you can run a 5W oil in a car with 300K if you like but you won't see me doing that. Run a 5w oil in an engine with 300+ clicks on the clock and just pray you have more then 10psi of oil pressure at idle.

If you want proof of how dangerous it is, hook up an oil pressure gauge, run some 5w oil in it and just take note of how low it dips. Switch back to a 15w or 20w and then watch your oil pressure gauge.

All up to you but hey I prefer to keep nice oil pressure.

;1349034']Well you can run a 5W oil in a car with 300K if you like but you won't see me doing that. Run a 5w oil in an engine with 300+ clicks on the clock and just pray you have more then 10psi of oil pressure at idle.

If you want proof of how dangerous it is, hook up an oil pressure gauge, run some 5w oil in it and just take note of how low it dips. Switch back to a 15w or 20w and then watch your oil pressure gauge.

All up to you but hey I prefer to keep nice oil pressure.

Sorry Paul but clearly you do not understand how oil works when HOT and cold. If you think I just run oil in an engine with no idea of what is going on, then think agian.

Remember I have been doing this for 25 years approx, you have been doing this for 5 minutes, it was not all that long ago when you used to call me every 5 mins asking questions on fairly basic things so please dont come here and pretend you know it all, you dont.

If you also look at what you are saying, are you running a single range 5w or a multi range? Remember that we are no longer running old 250 cross flow engines where the bearing clearance you could park a truck in it. Our engines are very close int he tollerance, if you really want to go and change, the 10w50 is not too bad, but 20w is way off the mark

Just check the Operators Manual - section 8 - 14 on lubricants: it says 5W-30 is the factory fill and only good for temps up to +39C, so that really doesn't suit most locations in Australia and being a 'factory fill' maybe it's also a 'running in' oil?
The table of recommended lubricants in this section also lists 20W50 as suitable for -10C to +50 so for me living in Queensland that would seem a logical oil grade, but then it also lists other 10/15W multigrade oils as suitable. The oil supplied by Mitsubishi for Magna's over 100,000km is 15W50 and branded Mitsubishi and this is the oil I've been using. My last car was a VS Commodore which for 7 years ran on the cheapest oil available as long as it was 20W50 with no problems.
I usually lean towards the voice of experience so next change I'll change to HPR10 although I will cry when I pay for it....but I'll see if I notice a change - pressure may drop but it's really oil flow that is the consideration.

Two schools of thought here, regarding oil pressure at idle.

(a) It needs to be high to protect the crank bearings from metal to metal contact.

(b) Low oil pressure at idle indicates the oil is flowing freely around the engine, there is not much stress on moving parts at idle and you can rely on the quality of the oil to protect the engine. Pressure at higher revs is the important thing.

There used to be a time when people added oil thickeners to a worn engine to up the idle pressure, I don't want to think how poorly the thickened oil moved around the engine to cool and lubricate at idle or on full song!

Anyhow, the debate on which oil is "best" is a never ending story, it's a personal choice thing. 10W-30 seems to be right for healthy modern engines, ok in older engines if it doesn't lead to bearing rattle or chain slap in the 2.6 at hot idle. Just remember oil technology and filtering have improved tremendously since the 6G72 and 6G74 engines were designed.

I've always run 20W-50 but I think I will get some 10W-30 for the wife's Lancer and the TJ for the next change. lol

Just check the Operators Manual - section 8 - 14 on lubricants: it says 5W-30 is the factory fill and only good for temps up to +39C, so that really doesn't suit most locations in Australia and being a 'factory fill' maybe it's also a 'running in' oil?Where in Australia consistently experiences temps over 39°C? And as for 5W-30 being a 'running in' oil, why do you suppose the manual doesn't say that?

Where in Australia consistently experiences temps over 39°C? And as for 5W-30 being a 'running in' oil, why do you suppose the manual doesn't say that?

Using that logic, where in Australia do you consistently experience temperatures of -35C?:neutral:
Can you explain what "factory fill" means with authority?
I was simply explaining to the OP what the instructions were in the Factory Operators Manual, maybe I should not have said "maybe it's also a running in oil"......note I said "maybe".