Up until now I used Castrol GTX mineral oil with no problems. Now this is hard to find where I am, and at Castrol UK site recommendations for my car are Edge 5W-40 and MAGNATEC 10W-40. Would I have any problems switching to synthetic, and do I need some special procedure for the first change?
Or do I just try harder, and stay with the mineral oil?
With that engine, I'd just use whatever 10-40 semi-synthetic you can find locally. As long as you change the oil regularly you certainly don't need fully synthetic (or even semi synthetic in all honesty) with this engine.
JB
Yvan@office gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
None whatsoever.
I wouldn't bother with Castrol specifically. Just a good brand semi- or full-synth of the right viscosity - which it'll say in your handbook.
There is no reason not to use synthetic, apart from cost - and that's a non-starter. I pay about £3-4/litre for Fuchs full-synth.
Nedavno Adrian napisa:
I think that I have read somewhere that the engine might start leaking oil, as synthetic oil cleans the engine, and you get a leak at any sealant that is not in a mint condition. Something like that.
So I can continue using with mineral oils...
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Yvan gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
All oils have detergents - no matter what the base is. Good brand oils have more effective detergents.
Personally, I'd rather that a pile of muck & crap wasn't the only thing holding my engine together. If the oil you use isn't shifting the muck - or, worse, is allowing it to continue to build up - what's happening with the oil flow through some of the small oilways inside the engine?
Mixing them? Absolutely.
That's mostly a concern if you start to use a much thinner grade than orginially specified. As others have said, just use something decent of the right viscosity range (preferably with approval to the relevant BMW standard) and it will be fine.
Nedavno Chris Bartram napisa:
OK, thanks yo all.
Nedavno Chris Bartram napisa:
OK, thanks to all.
I liked "yo".
Think I read that synthetic could attack the material older seals were made of. But I didn't believe it. ;-)
You better believe new ULP petrol attacks older seals. personally I would not use synthetic oil in older cars unless they are specified to used them.
5% Ethanol
Eats 60's plastic / GRP motorcycle petrol tanks. Eats tank sealants. Eats solder on tin plate "piecrust" tanks.
When they have finsihed destroying the nations classic vehicles they will up it to 10% and take out everything made before 1995.
Peter Hill gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
The BS for 95RON unleaded has allowed E5 for _years_
Strange how the E10 that's been ubuiquitous in France for three or four years doesn't seem to have done that, eh?
New ULP? What is that? Unleaded has been on sale here for about 30 years.
They are sticking more Ethanol in it.
Which is slightly more hygroscopic than the old stuff so you need to more careful about corrosion. God knows who made a seal that's attacked by it though.
E5 (and E10 or E85) damages fuel systems with seals made from natural, rubber, or chlorinated rubber, nitrile rubber, and not a fluro-elastomer (eg Viton).
"Unsuitable Materials : Some synthetic materials may be unsuitable for containers or container linings depending on the material specification and intended use. Examples of materials to avoid are: natural rubber (NR), nitrile rubber (NBR), ethylene propylene rubber (EPDM), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyisobutylene. However, some may be suitable for glove materials"
Clearly the white epoxy paint that had lined the tank of MY Honda CB500F since 1984 was polyester and not amine cured. It survived a season of "Formula Shell". One fill with UPL last year has stripped it bare and left me with a rust filled tank. It was OK when I filled it, now it isn't.
It will also damage terne metal (like solder) tank coating. Many vintage bike petrol tanks where made by soldering tin plate together.
Formula Shell caused me so much grief in the 80's when within about 50 miles of a refill it removed all deposits from the entire fuel system and chucked them onto the spark plugs and float chamber.
All it took was less than one tankful to give me weeks and weeks trying to initially diagnose and then fix the damage they caused. Spark plugs would typically foul and short circuit within a few 10's of miles with huge clumps of brown baked mess.
The final cure was fuel tank removal and steam clean and flushing the entire fuel system with a very strong chlorinated cleaner that would be banned today, followed by a fill of the cheapest brand fuel. Never had a problem before, never had a problem since. I filled with Formula Shell *once*.
The 'extensive testing' by Shell appeared to take no account of anything other than brand new vehicles that had been run on nothing but Formula Shell. Their response after the incident when presented with the photos showed they really couldn't give a f*ck about the customer. Over the next few months more and more vehicles were affected until it finally hit the national press and that heap of junk formulation of additives was withdrawn.
I now go out of my way to avoid using their fuel in any of my vehicles to the extent that I've walked in the pouring rain with a petrol can right past one of their forecourts to another more responsible supplier.
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