The good oil.

[Guest Ketchup]

If you are referring to Nulon, it's rubbish as well.

There have been Lawsuits against 9 different Lubricant additive companies in recent years.

 

 

A problem that haunted many Japanese Gearboxes and it was due to the wrong viscosity being used. The most common Gear oil till then was good ole 80/90. But the new Jap gearboxes needed a much thinner oil and a 75W had been called for by them. But at that time, few made a 75W gear oil.

 

Yip I know it first hand. Many a mechanic thought I was a blessing in disguise when I said "put this in there and the gear change issue will go away"

[Battgirl 23]

A very timely thread as I'm about to do the annual oil change in the Volvo 2002. The oil in it is very sludgy. The previous owner was using BP visco 15w50. Yesterday I got some Shell helix 20w50 from supercheap so will try that and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice guys

[wheels 543]

Battgirl, while at Supercheap, get an Engine Oil cleaner. This is nothing more than a Detergent, but if the oil is really sludgy, it can help to grab that sludge and suspend it. Then when you drain the oil, the sludge drains better with it, instead of just sitting on the bottom of the pan.
Sludgy oil may also mean you need to change more often.

[Battgirl 23]

Thanks Wheels I will heed your advice and do just that. Cheers

[Guest 000]

Right! Nearly summer so going to the boat to do the annual oil and filters change so I'm all set for the average 150 hours engine run time. But I wonder if this is the right way to do it, because come May or June we will pretty well put the boat to bed for the winter - with all that used contaminated oil in the sump. Would you not be better to do the oil change just prior to laying up for the winter?

[Steve Pope 243]

Do both, good quality oil is the cheapest maintenance you can do.

[rmiker 15]

Do both, good quality oil is the cheapest maintenance you can do.

I agree 100% Good advice!

 

But how can I tell what is good oil? Currently buy branded oil that meets the spec's that I need. But how do I know it is good oil?

[Guest 000]

Do both, good quality oil is the cheapest maintenance you can do.

Bugger! I thought you might say that. That's going to take a bit of explaining to the Keeper of the Purse.

[Ed 143]

I agree 100% Good advice!

 

But how can I tell what is good oil? Currently buy branded oil that meets the spec's that I need. But how do I know it is good oil?

 

Without getting a sample sent for analysis you wouldn't have a clue.

 

On the flip side we goto brand name oils for our tunnelling gear for hydraulics, gearboxes, bearings etc. Never had any issues.

[armchairadmiral 411]

Extremely interesting thx guys. Wheels,what is the top oil you referred to?

[Steve Pope 243]

Ah, the keeper of the purse will recognise sage advice.

[rmiker 15]

Without getting a sample sent for analysis you wouldn't have a clue.

 

On the flip side we goto brand name oils for our tunnelling gear for hydraulics, gearboxes, bearings etc. Never had any issues.

That is what I thought would be the answer

 

Will just have to keep buying the bigger brand names and hope for the best: which is what the previous posters have suggested.

[clochmerle 2]

Yahoo! Summer's coming, and I'm getting slowly thru my 'to do' list. Change of filters and engine oil next. Of course, having read the blurb about 'liquid engineering' on the bottle, I'm going to use Castrol. But then, there's Mobil's advanced synthetics, not to mention Shell's engine life prolonging wonder-gunk.

Whatever bottle you pick up and read the label of implies you'd be a fool to use anything else. All the ships I ever sailed on seemed to have a preference for Shell Rimula, but talking with an old chief engineer of mine this preference was more related to Shell's dominance in the marine market than any superiority of product.

So what is the opinion? Are all diesal 15w/40s created equal?

 

Wow a lot of replies for this question.  I did some internet research awhile back.  3rd party additives, forget them, don't need them, scam, good brand oils have the additives what you need.  Synthetic will not degrade nearly as fast as a full mineral oil, so will offer much better protection as the hours build up.

 

Like everyone says, buy what you can afford - a good brand synthetic would work the best.  If you just buy cheaper mineral and change often would probably offer good protection.

[wheels 543]

Yes stay away from additives. They are snake oil smoke and mirrors all combined in one package.
Pretty much any oil sold in NZ is a good Oil. The important thing is to get an oil that does not have big differences between the two numbers. As in the 10/50 20/40 and so on. Older engines usually require a Mono 30. Mono 30 is in fact a very stable oil. The more greater the distance of those numbers, the less stable an oil becomes. A 20/40 is a good oil also. But don't go putting in 5w/60 or something as silly.
You do not need to get carried away with price. A mid priced oil is good quality and expcially now prices have become so cheap. Make sure it is a Diesel oil for Diesel engines. It has a high detergent ratio and this suspends the particles in the oil so as they are carried to the filter. Regular changes with a reasonable priced oil and filter is better than a really expensive oil. The top of the line synthetics can be good if you really need extended change intervals. But for most small engines that don't take much, it's not worth it.

[rmiker 15]

 Older engines usually require a Mono 30. Mono 30 is in fact a very stable oil.

 

Yes mine is an old engine: Bukh. Mono 30 is not a term I have come across yet, I don't think.

 

Is that the same as SAE30?

 

I was under the impression that synthetic oil for the bukh's was a major no no.. Also finding pure mineral oils using the SAE30 spec is getting expensive.

 

I have tried to stick to the spec's: SAE30, CD/CF, API, and 1st and foremost 20/40. It tends to get a bit confusing to someone that only buys oil once in a blue moon but the engine seems to be coping so far..

[clochmerle 2]

Yes mine is an old engine: Bukh. Mono 30 is not a term I have come across yet, I don't think.

 

Is that the same as SAE30?

 

I was under the impression that synthetic oil for the bukh's was a major no no.. Also finding pure mineral oils using the SAE30 spec is getting expensive.

 

I have tried to stick to the spec's: SAE30, CD/CF, API, and 1st and foremost 20/40. It tends to get a bit confusing to someone that only buys oil once in a blue moon but the engine seems to be coping so far..

 

I have a bukh also, dv10.  I read the manual says sae30, but this is a very old engine, I think oils have come a long way since it was made.  I use mobil dieselmax 15/40w, i get it cheap and change often.  I think any oil made these days would be better than the old 30w they recommend.  By the way if you didn't know the ryco z418 fits the dv10, so don't need to spend heaps on the genuine filter.

 

a mineral oil will degrade and loose it's viscosity over time, a synthetic wont - so for instance the 15/40w will be more consistent over time and not go gluggy and give better protection.  I cannot see any reason why someone would say don't use synthetic?

 

I cannot see any reason to worry, just buy known brand, best you can afford, change often you can, and keep eye on levels.

[Guest 000]

With regard then to frequency of oil changes, what is recommended? At the moment I do an annual change in November/December. I average 200 hours running per year and at oil change time the oil is only slightly darker in colour than when new. Do I actually need a biannual oil change?

[wheels 543]

Is that the same as SAE30?

 

I was under the impression that synthetic oil for the bukh's was a major no no.. Also finding pure mineral oils using the SAE30 spec is getting expensive.

 

I have tried to stick to the spec's: SAE30, CD/CF, API, and 1st and foremost 20/40. It tends to get a bit confusing to someone that only buys oil once in a blue moon but the engine seems to be coping so far..

 

Yes SAE 30. Mono means there is the one number, not the two.

30/40 and 20/40 will also suffice for a mono 30.

Be aware that oils with wide gaps in the numbers will often burn oil. A 15W/40 may not be the best choice for a Bukh.

Be VERY CAREFUL using a synthetic in an old Diesel. A synth MUST be designed for older Diesels or you will glaze the Bores and burn through Oil. Amzoil do a Marine Diesel Oil for older engines, but for the small ones, it just isn't worth the expense.

The quality of an oil is determined by those Letters of who and what spec it was made for. Nothing to do with age. Oil has not changed hardly at all. Buyt specs have changed over the years to meet engines of close tolerance, high power output and high RPM of the modern Diesels.

 

[wheels 543]

Chris, no I would stick with the one per year.