Just a quick question. My brother can supply me with Shell Helix 20W 50 oil for nothing. Acoording to the owners manual this spec oil is OK to use. Anyone out their used it ?. Hard to knock back since its free.

Go for it. just remember to change it a little more frequently than a semi/full synthetic oil as mineral oils tend to last a little less. Oil is oil in my mind, for a stock NA car 20w50 is perfect as it provides oil pressure and good cold start protection. 10w30 in NA cars is just plain stupid

10w30 in NA cars is just plain stupid

And who recomended to me to use it in my old TP? lol

As long as its the right grade of oil (check owners manual) then there won't be a problem. Those good old owners manuals are very useful things :cool: .

And who recomended to me to use it in my old TP? lol
bah..

like they said follow owners manual recomendations, too thin oil castrol magnatec caused timing chain rattle problem in my old TR 2.6 :cry:

10w30 in NA cars is just plain stupid

Saying that is just stupid. It all depends on what is the recommeded oil for the engine. The recommended for my one now is 10w40. I've been told I could use 10w30 if I wanted to as well.

but really, why use a thinner oil.

20w50 is perfect as it provides oil pressure and good cold start protection.d

I agree with the high oil pressure, but not with the good cold start protection.

As you might know most of the engine wear is taking place when the engine is started, as the oil takes time to go through the pump and reach up. 20W50 will be harder to be pumped and to reach the critical areas of the engine than 10W30, or better 0W40

I agree with the high oil pressure, but not with the good cold start protection.

As you might know most of the engine wear is taking place when the engine is started, as the oil takes time to go through the pump and reach up. 20W50 will be harder to be pumped and to reach the critical areas of the engine than 10W30, or better 0W40
A good example is the astron engine. a 0w40 oil will reach the top (and u can tell by the noise they all make lol ) in about 1 second.. a 30w70 will reach it in 1.1 second. What your saying is semi true Arun the majority of wear does happen at start up but only because the engine isn't at operation temperature, it has 0.0001% to do with the fact oil gets to the cam and rockers a tiny tiny bit slower

I havent tested it nor ever will but the time difference is negligible

in those 100 miliseconds (1.1) the pistons are going up or down once more with 20W50, without lucrication. That extra cycle adds to the engine wear in time. Just count how many times per day you are starting the engine (maybe 2?) then multiply that with 365 days (average) and you'll see how many times per year the pistons are moving inside of the engine block without lubrication - metal on metal

Castrol is advertising their Magnatec oil brand as having some kind of magnetic properties and after you switch off the engine some of the oil remains sticked to the pistons/valves/etc

im pretty sure if i turn my car off and come back a week later the rockers and cam are still greasy :wink:

The extra 20-40 bucks for some is piece of mind, but i happen to know it does SFA. with that said i have 10w30 fully synth.

PS thinner oil burns easier aswell if its just thin and not semi/full synth

corect the magnatec does sfa, i bought it once and tested the magnetic properties by dipping a n iron nail into it and leaving it standing up o/night, along with another one dipped in ordinary engine oil. In the morning the magnatec had all run off the nail just like the other oil.

thin oil might be better at quickly getting onto oil rings and lubricating the bore also getting up to top when cold, but where moving parts in contact have a large tolerance or looser fit like older engines with pushrods and tappets and chain and sprocket, too thin oil allows too much "slap" and wear.

but really, why use a thinner oil.

If the engine can handle it it's a good idea, the moving parts dont have to work as hard to move through it.

corect the magnatec does sfa, i bought it once and tested the magnetic properties by dipping a n iron nail into it and leaving it standing up o/night, along with another one dipped in ordinary engine oil. In the morning the magnatec had all run off the nail just like the other oil.

thin oil might be better at quickly getting onto oil rings and lubricating the bore also getting up to top when cold, but where moving parts in contact have a large tolerance or looser fit like older engines with pushrods and tappets and chain and sprocket, too thin oil allows too much "slap" and wear.

It's not magnetic. It's not said that it's is..it says Mollecular attraction...so they get away with it by saying that.

Also yeah thinner oils are a bad idea with worn engines....turbo or n/a. If the motor can handle it, a thinner oil is a good idea.

So you guys don't use thin oil for older cars. So what oils do you use, i got a TS with 180000 km on the clock, I was told Castrol GTX2 is the oil to use........ any one agree / disagree???

like arun said, anything in the 25w50 is good all round protection for older and newer engines.

Hey Guys.
It seems that the exhaust debate has subsided for a while eh?
Anyhoo, in older motors, its wise to use a thicker oil. IN an Astron II, 20w50 would be fine. If it has excessive timing chain rattle and blows some blue smoke, then a 20W60, or 25W60 would be the ticket. In the newer engines, eg, late 2nd Gen and 3rd Gen 6's, the recommended lube is a 15W50, which is a thinner oil. This is becaus that newer engines are manufactured with tighter tolerances. For example, say in a brand new 1985 TM with the Astron II, the clearance between the crank and main bearings could be say 3 thousandths of a MM, well, in a brand new TL 3.5, it probably will be more likely to be about 1 thousandth of a MM, so a thinner oil is required. Correct me if I'm wrong, but i'm pretty sure the recommended engine oil for an AU Falcoon, is a 0W30. Those measurements are only a guess, they are probly entirely different.
I hope this has helped at all, and if any of it is wrong, please correct me, but be nice! :)

the diffs in tolerances between old and new engines are not as much in the bottom end but in the top end, tolerances on main bearings are much the same.
wheras consider the difference between a 60's design of crank driving chain and gear to cam acting on a pushrod acting on a tappet, all of these are in basically on/off loose contact. Compare that to your new V6 that has a dry nylon belt driving cams, and the cams are acting on roller rockers which are in basically constant contact, no real metal hitting metal anywhere, you can see why thinner oil can be used. also the tolerances are gapped in thous of an inch, not thous of a mm :cool:

I used Magnatec in my TF 3.0L magna, and it made a horrible horrible knocking noise, I was then told by RPW to go back to a Mineral base (GTX3) and I havent had a problem since. But this isnt always the case in all engines, Mitsubishi engines just prefer somehting a little thicker and not synthetic.

I've used Castrol GTX3 15W40 the last couple of changes and it seems to do the job. I don't get strange noises from the engine with this oil either.

I used Magnatec in my TF 3.0L magna, and it made a horrible horrible knocking noise, I was then told by RPW to go back to a Mineral base (GTX3) and I havent had a problem since. But this isnt always the case in all engines, Mitsubishi engines just prefer somehting a little thicker and not synthetic.
synth is fine, i have just heard lots of bad storys about magnatec. i stick to mobil synth s 10w40 and i guess for a new car that would be good aswell