A great read about oil

[frazman]

I was struggling with an oil decision yesterday and a friend forwarded this to me.  Makes for a very interesting read!

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/faq.php?faq=haas_articles

What do you all think?

[cristimm]

Has been posted before. A very interesting reading indeed.

[VegasKyle]

Thanks for posting that. Convincing article.

I don't have any leaks now with 10w-40 and plan on changing my timing chain soon.  I may try the Red Line 5w-20 or Mobil 1 0w-20.  I read a post on here somewhere where someone went to 0w-30 (I think) and loved it.

I think the owners manuel called for 20w-50 but that was 20 years ago.

What do you guys think about going to a super light oil?

[cristimm]

I'm tempted to try 5w30 or 0w30 instead of 0w40 that I use currently.

[DesktopDave]

I've run Mobil1 0w30 on my car since day one, winter and summer.  No problems yet, except for cost.  Makes cold-weather starting far easier, but it does leak a bit more.  My mileage picked up slightly.  Hard to say which did more, the motor  oil or the diff & gearbox oil I changed at the same time.

Wally World has Mobil1 5L bottle (all flavors) on sale for less than $30 here.  

I used Valvoline gear oil (synth 75w90), but I've heard great things about Redline shockproof lightweight.  I'd suspect Amsoil and Royal Purple are good for the car too, but I don't have any really good evidence either way.

[jscribble]

I have used royal purple for the engine since the day I got my 'is. I haven't had it leak one drop, and winter starts are a breeze. I was even able to milk a tired battery (realllllly tired) through an entire winter.

I used valvoline (ditto, Dave) for my diff, but have not changed the oil in the trans. (suggestions?)

[VegasKyle]

I used valvoline (ditto, Dave) for my diff, but have not changed the oil in the trans. (suggestions?)

I just put in the Royal Purple Syncromesh (sp?) that is an ATF made for manual transmissions that call for ATF.  From the little I've driven it going into reverse seems harder but every other gear change has smoothed out a lot. I couldn't find a tool to get the fill plug off my diff but I'll put Mobil 1 in it when I get the car home.

I think I'm going to try Red Line 5w-20 or 0w-30 next oil change. I'll have replaced a good amount of the gaskets by then. Hopefully it works out.

[DesktopDave]

@scribble: Royal Purple has a great online chart for the different BMW OEM tranny oils.  BMW recommended different oils for the same G240 in our cars apparently at random.  They color-coded the transmissions.  IIRC mine is a green label, requiring regular gear oil.  Who knows what the difference is...marketing?  I think it's unlikely, but it's possible that the synchro, shim or fork tolerances are slightly different.

I can tell you that the Valvoline synth 75w90 works well.  It made a big difference in cold-start shifting and likely in fuel mileage.  It still grinds 1st gear synchros in sub-zero weather on the first few shifts, otherwise it's been perfect.

My brother's old Mazda 626 spec'ed ATF..I changed his out for 75w90 (not synth) and it made very little difference.  Synthetic is so superior to conventional, it made shifting smoother and lasted the life of his car.

I'm now tempted to put the thinnest viscosity synthetic fill in my gearbox...I might try the Synchromax ATF this year.


@Vegas: IIRC...just use a 1/2" socket wrench extension on diff plugs - no need for a special tool.

[VegasKyle]

@Vegas: IIRC...just use a 1/2" socket wrench extension on diff plugs - no need for a special tool.

My diff (4.10 open) is a 14mm allen for the fill and drain. I bougt the car away from home so my access to tools was limited.

I think I'm going to try the Red Line 5w-20 the article says it's more of a 30 weight and the reviews on it have been good. Other options are Red Line 0w-30 and German Castrol 0w-30. The castrol is closer to a 40 weight so I will try that if the car doesn't like the others.

[DesktopDave]

I must be thinking of a different car.  You're right, it is a 14mm hex.

Post your results if you're experimenting with oils.  Fuel mileage, noise, oil tests, etc.

[dkbmxer002]

i run 10w-30 any brand, usually the cheapest crappiest stuff available.. lolz.