[MacDaddy]

What is the best Viscosity Oil to be running in a Zook, both older and newer Zooks ?
Is there a make or brand of oil that is better than another, or the best to use ?

I switched from the regular 20W 50, to a 15W 40 in my 89 Vit with G16A engine, and i think it runs better.

Also, i wanted to get 100% Synth oil for my Zook, and was told by Auto One, not too, but to get a Synthetic blend, are they right or wrong ?
Whats the pro's and con's of using a fully Synthetic oil ?

When i first got my Zook, just over a year ago, i put in Nulon 15W 40 Semi Synth, which is fairly pricey, but supposed to be good, then i got Valvoline Engine Armour Semi Synth 15W 40, because it had a $10 cash back offer, lol...

I will need to do an Oil change in a few weeks, so any knowledge on this topic would be really good !

And i think it will be helpful to others as well

[Westie]

You will learn the hard way and that is stick to one brand of oil and do not do Oil Changes on price of the day. Buy the best you can afford and stick with it.

[ajsr]

although I dont agree with some of the above.
I do think as long as you AT LEAST buy a good name brand middle to upper range oil you cannot go wrong really.
run a viscosity around the summer book recommendation for you vehicle as australia doesnt normally warent winter viscositys.

I would try within reason to pick a brand and stick to it as every change you have a 1.5 - 2 litres left in the bottle so next time you can use the leftovers and your not mixing brands.
95% of oils mix fine but your still better to not mix them
personally I think 20w50 is a bit thick for a 1.3 or 1.6 zook engine.

I use fuchs brand 5w40 full synthetic but only as I get it for free,It get oil pressure very quickly due to the light cold viscosity and I think 40w hot is thick enough.
15w40 would be a good weight for sierra/ earlier vits and you have a good range brand wise and they are generally not too expensive in this weight.

they are not super high tech motors in zooks so its sort of hard to warrent putting oil for a ferrari in , its just wasting you money
just in my opinion

[Scrawny]

I don't use anything thicker than 15w40 in anything.

[royce]

youll be paying $100 for a FULL synthetic oil

I use motul 4100 turbolite 15w40, I like it

[PJ.zook]

I use the cheapest brand thats on sale at the time, never even have to do oil changes. The 1.6 just chugs it all out the exhaust.

[BAZZOOK]

I use the cheapest brand that's on sale at the time, never even have to do oil changes. The 1.6 just chugs it all out the exhaust.

Gee. I wonder why

[Westie]

PJ.zook wrote:

I use the cheapest brand thats on sale at the time, never even have to do oil changes. The 1.6 just chugs it all out the exhaust.

That is what happens

[Fatzook]

I use Conoco. Its one of the better mineral oils. I can't justify full synth for a sierra.

[nandor85]

i have always run penrite seems to have done me good in the past with my turbo cars so should b more than enough for the little 1.3

[Rockhopper]

I've been using Penrite 5w40 in mine and it goes good. I'd like to use castrol edge, but the only thing they make in a 40 grade is the 0w40 which in my opinion would be too low a viscosity on start up for an old 8 vlave engine. Castrol recommends Magnatech for the Suzuki engines, but I hate that oil and stay away from it like the plague. Ultimatly you should look for something in a 15w40 manufactured by a reputable oil supplier.
Don't really agree with the go for what's cheapest attitude. I'd rather pay a bit more for a quality oil, than to pay a lot more to replace my engine.

[royce]

shit even my 40 yo original 33hp driven once every 2 months mini engine gets $60 worth of motul oil in it every 6 months!

oil and tyres, 2 things not worth skimping on

[Santos]

i now use 10w40 synth by nulon, i buy the 6l value pack
was running 10w50 synth from mobile, then switched to 10w60 synth (well 10 less and 10 more then 20w50 is a good range right?)

but now i am on 10w40, the fsm recommends it and i don't do desert driving after all.

The viscosity is only half the battle. You will see on the bottle things that rate SD,SG,SM etc Those rating ussually explain if the bottle says something like Pre-1988 vehicles etc and may be formulated to tackle issues typical of the motors built in that era (a newer oil may bot have a mineral component for problem 'x' as it is no longer an issue)

I feel however that the basic g13 engine is an extremely advance motor for its time. I am not talking about fuel injection or sequential ignition. Its an all alloy donk which may of been over-engineered in an era where most engines where tweaked cast iron clunkers (that includes a lot of the jap motors, i can only speculate that they drew experience from their rapid 4 stroke motorcycle development)

So i'll put a vote for synth nulon, but i feel frequent oil changes are more important, especially when you have mineral oil ( or blend). I can't remember where i heard it but apparently once a mineral oil breaks down due to overheating etc it becomes a chain reaction and the whole thing spoils. Where as synth if a bit breaks down it still floats around but is isolated and doesn't take the whole lot with it. i think thats one of the factors in why synth oils require less frequent changes.

Regardless i do mine every 5000 with synth or 2000 if i score free oil. ( i seem to regularly find clean oil mineral 2/3 full by the roadside, i blend it 50/50 with my left over clean synth oil, with the regular kero flushing my oil comes out cleaner everytime)

[MrRocky]

The brand isnt that important as long as you are in the ball park with viscosity then it wont die. I have only ever seen full synthetic make a difference in turbo cars where it affects turbo spool up. I pit crew for a mate in super sedan and he runs cheap $20 valvoline and pulls the motor down at the end of every season to inspect it, bearings are always like new. Its a 351 cleveland that runs 9's and gets spun to 8500rpm.
Quantity is more relevant than quality as far as sierra's are concerned.

[SuziBlu]

I think that quality oil is like an insurance policy, you may not need it, but its a warm feeling to know that you have it covered.

I use Mobile 1, 5w50, reason, I play a lot, and my suzi is not a daily driver, tho she is driven regularly, and when I do, the engine is mostly at full capacity.

Doesn't matter if its a shitbox 1.3 or a veyron if its running at capacity, its at its peak, and it needs quality oil to keep it at peak for as long as possible.

Oil and filter every 5k.

Thats my take on it, and my engine is old, but runs hard.

[MacDaddy]

Thanks for all the info with Oil in my Vit, i stuck with Valvoline 15W 40 Semi Synth, and changed it, and filter every 3 months, with a flush....

Ok, now i have a 2001 GV, this is a much newer engine with different oil needs... Does anyone know what is the best Oil is for the 2.5 V6, and how much it takes, as i want to change it myself every 3 months again, and dont want to take it to a Mechanic all the time, just for repairs...

Cheers

[Red89]

I must be a cheap bastard I use Valvoline 20W50 all day every day and cracked the shits when that went up to 20 odd dollars I have never had any problems, but change it every thousand K's or so ( Not DD )

[Brett]

i use penrite diesel oil, 20/60w some times a 70w if its a stroker. it keeps good oil psi when under very heavy loads. every engine i have built and pulled down the bearings look like new.

[royce]

mac look in the book for the GV it lists a specific viscosity for them to stop the chains rattling, might even be 5w30 from memory

motul make it in a mineral oil thats about $40 a bottle I think, Castrol might do it in that magnashit crap too

[Jamie]

i use castrol magnetic in my engines 15w-40 i think, never had any trouble once i changed to that. was using a bit of oil when using mobil 20w-50, but i think all zooks use oil. will be using castrol again in the new G13b engine too.

it pays to have a good oil in your engine, if you want things to last.

[esky]

An interesting thought is the quality of oil back in 1990. What ever was run back then, and before, was good enough to get these engines 20 odd years on. On a 1990 scale of 1-10 where do the good, average and homebrand oils of today sit?

[MacDaddy]

royce wrote:

mac look in the book for the GV it lists a specific viscosity for them to stop the chains rattling, might even be 5w30 from memory

motul make it in a mineral oil thats about $40 a bottle I think, Castrol might do it in that magnashit crap too

Which book is that ? Do you mean the the Manual in the downloads section, if so i tried to download it, but it stops after 30secs for some reason... oops, just noticed that manual is for the SQ420... i have the SQ625...
Or do you mean the thick book that comes with the GV, if so, i have that, it was in the glove box... i really need to get a Workshop Manual for it...

[royce]

yes the owners manual

[MacDaddy]

royce wrote:

yes the owners manual

Ok... had a look through the owners manual... it gives a range of oils for different temp ranges... lowest is - 5W-30 = -30C to 10C... highest is - 20W-50 = -10C to over 40C...

It says to make sure the Oil has a SE, SF, SG, SH, or SJ classification... not sure what they mean... but i would think they are for newer modern engines...

It does have a preferred Oil - 10W-30 for -20C to 30C... but i think that is to low... it does have a 10W-40 or 10W-50 = -20C to over 40C mentioned, which would be better i think... or it even has what i used in my 89 Vit, 15W-40 = -15C to over 40C...

Just wondering if using a Semi Synthetic blend in say a 10W-40 or 50 for the V6 would be ok... its a newer engine, i would imagine it to be ok to use... but its always better to make sure first...
One thing it doesnt mention, is how much/quantity engine oil it takes... anyone know ?

[Scrawny]

I would run a 10w40 in it. I think they hold 4.5-5 litres

[royce]

in this case its not about what you think is wrong or right, its what actually works and doesnt make the chain tensioners go bad

Bruce used this with no noise

http://www.motul.com.au/product_line_up ... oke22.html

[TZAR]

esky wrote:

An interesting thought is the quality of oil back in 1990. What ever was run back then, and before, was good enough to get these engines 20 odd years on. On a 1990 scale of 1-10 where do the good, average and homebrand oils of today sit?

Most of the "old oils " are no longer made. The classifacation has been upgraded since then.

have a read of this brochure on PDF explains a lot

"edit- forgot to put in link"

http://www.burkeoil.com/pdf/oilguide.pdf

[jonno_racing]

after killing 2 gti motors from cheep oil.. i have decided nothing but the best.. that extra $60 at the oil change saves me having to spend a day riping the gti motor out and putting a new one in.. oh and the coin!

for run in i used mobil 1 fully synthetic 5w25

and i am about to put this in (cant actually buy this off the shelf in aus mates work gets it in)

Elf 5w40 fully synthetic, yes its probably more expensive than a bar of gold, but worth it imo

[MacDaddy]

royce wrote:

in this case its not about what you think is wrong or right, its what actually works and doesnt make the chain tensioners go bad

Bruce used this with no noise

http://www.motul.com.au/product_line_up ... oke22.html

Yep i understand that... thats why i am asking questions, dont want to put the wrong oil in...
But wouldnt the preferred oil, 10W-30, be for European/other countries... in Oz it rarely gets below -20C, but goes above 30C alot... anyway... i will keep asking questions until i get i get a definite answer/recommendation...
Oils aint Oils...

[royce]

the fix for festivas with tappet knock is 5w30 oil country wide

the thought that a bigger number handles more heat is rubbish, likewise your engine runs at a nominal 90 degrees regardless of outside temp!

its obvious the GV owners that have gone with this oil and cured their problems arent going to post in here so I guess youll never know