ANOTHER oil question!!!!

[unclepete]

I recently took my '96 Legnum VR-4 to AWD Motorport in Perth for an AYC oil change and Transmission Oil change and found out at the last minute they did not have the machine yet so they just did a check on the motor (more about that later if anyone's feeling patient and helpful) and an engine oil change. I obviously told them about Amsoil but they didn't have a clue and said they would put in some very good stuff.

Problem - since then it's ticking like a timebomb (hopefully no pun intended) all the time instead of just at tickover.

The oil they used appears to be a bit heavier than what I have read on these forums - Motul 15W/50 300-COMP.

Should I drain and start again with different oil? The car runs fine, no real difference since before although it certainly felt more sprightly for the first 1000 miles.

Thanks, Pete

[AncientOfMu]

Get a can of Amsoil engine flush and 5l of 0w30 amsoil engine oil and you wont look back.

I put £50 of Castrol EDGE fully synthetic 0w30 in mine and she ticked like a b**ch. 200 miles after putting amsoil in and doin the full amsoil flush and she is as quiet as a mouse 99% of the time.

Only trouble is the engine is so quiet that im starting to hear all sorts of noises that I havn't heard before......

I cannot recommend Amsoil enough. I was a bit sceptical that an oil could make that much difference but it sure does. These cars are so good they deserve the best. :iloveyou:

[ralliart-type-s]

I just put that castrol edge in mine and its quiet as owt, much better than b4. B ut i flush mine with diesel not normal flush, then when all the oil is dropped i fill the sump with diesel and run it for 20 secs or so, loadsa crap comes out!!

[AncientOfMu]

Forgot to say I did an engine flush with some engine flush stuff before putting the Castrol Edge in. So the difference between the two was definatly not flushing.... Maybe after 2 flushes in 4500 miles that cured it?.

Would still recommend Amsoil and with the members discount it is actually cheaper than the Castrol.

[Kieran]

15w/50? Too thick - at both ends of the spectrum in my book! No wonder it's ticking. Motul is a good oil by all accounts, but that's the wrong grade for these engines. You really want to be looking at a 5w/40 fully synth, or as Ancient says (and I also run this stuff) An engine flush and Amsoil Series 2000 0w/30 is top stuff.

I also recommend, having seen the crap that it's dragged out of my engine and Isaac's, a flusing oil made by Comma - it's called 'Flush out'. You use it like engine flush, but rather than being a 'flush in a can', it's proper old-school flushing oil. Effective stuff!

[bradc]

Yeah 15w50 is too thick, even an Amsoil branded 15w50 (not sure if they even do one) would cause you problems. Change to 0w30 and you'll be off and away laughing.

[Davezj]

I just put that castrol edge in mine and its quiet as owt, much better than b4. B ut i flush mine with diesel not normal flush, then when all the oil is dropped i fill the sump with diesel and run it for 20 secs or so, loadsa crap comes out!!

That seems a bit harsh running it with just diesel in. but let us know how you get on as i am not brave enough to do the full deisel flush, i have considered it. but i would do a second flush with crap oil (20W50).

I have flushed with 500ml diesel in the oil then, flushed that with crap oil (20w50) to ensure all the deisel is removed. otherwise you are in danger of contaminating the very expensive amsoil which is already very thin oil.

Just to say i think amsoil is great, i have never had any problems with there products, club dicount is good, and delivery is excelent.

I also used to use amsoil on my Jeep Grand Cherokee (ZJ). So i have been using the products for number of years now. and i was always surprised to see how good the oil looked when i drained it out. unlike some other well know brands.

I would also like to point out that i only required a flush out when going from non amsoil prduct to non amsoil products or non amsoil to amsoil. once i used amsoil, it never need the flush, as i say it always came out looking very good, maybe i changed to too often and could have got away with leaving it in for longer, but it is just not worth the risk.

[RugbyPete]

Yeah, too thick that stuff, even if it is good oil.

Go 5w-30 or 0w-40, with a decent oil. I would avoid oldskool flushing oils as they have been known int he past to REALY feck you're engine up. Instead go with an engine flush you put in regular oil and run that, or put in a flush that you dont run the engine on.

I usually flush with some 10w40 I had in the garage.
Take the old crap out, fill with the cheap oil, run it for a few minutes or even a days driving around, then dump that oil, changing filter and filling up with at least a semi synthetic 5w-30

[Kieran]

I would avoid oldskool flushing oils as they have been known int he past to REALY feck you're engine up.

I guess this depends on the engine. Certainly, my Legnum's always been fine with it. I think I've used it at every change before I switched to Amsoil.

Don? What's your take on this?

[RugbyPete]

In theory, if you are changing the oil regularly and you're using Amsoil which has detergents in it constantly cleaning the engine components there should be no need for a flush with anything other than more amsoil

In fact, as Don will tell you, they do an amsoil with less detergents in it for the purpose of preventing overcleaning of older engines.

I know for fact however, there were lots of engines in years gone by seizing when using these flush oils. They shouldnt be needed these days with such advanced additives and base quality.

If you've been using Amsoil for a while already, there shouldn't be anything other than old amsoil to flush out

[unclepete]

Thanks for all the advice, I ordered some Amsoil 0w-30 last week so should hopefully get it very soon. The motor's just been sat there for a week now. Very depressing.

[amsoil]

I guess this depends on the engine. Certainly, my Legnum's always been fine with it. I think I've used it at every change before I switched to Amsoil.

Don? What's your take on this?

If you want to use diesel in your engine good luck but take care not to sell it to club members afterwards!
At £6 quid odd Amsoils AEF is cheap; if you have any doubts about what has been in the engine use it.
If you have Amsoil in the engine you wont need to do another flush when doing the next oil change. Just another bonus of using a top quality synthetic oil really.

[unclepete]

Got the oil changed to Amsoil and everyone was right - it has made a difference. So much so in fact that the bird felt the difference! She is a bit of petrolhead but I was still surprised!!

Thanks for your input.

[White Lightning]

If you have Amsoil in the engine you wont need to do another flush when doing the next oil change. Just another bonus of using a top quality synthetic oil really.

Ahh. Glad you confirmed that Don. I am going to change the engine oil on mine in the next couple of weeks (keep an eye out for the order :thumbsup: ). I have been running on Amsoil 0w-30 since the engine was fitted (3000 miles ago). I was thinking about doing a flush as the oil is now quite black and I have no idea what oil the engine was run on before. But it sounds like I don't need to bother. I guess that the black colour is just the cr*p being pulled out by the Amsoil? I engine is only 36k old now.

Oops and sorry about the thread hijack ...

[Kieran]

Great - Never used diesel to flush my oil, just the Comma flushing oil - but if I don't need to, that's cool.

[RugbyPete]

Ahh. Glad you confirmed that Don. I am going to change the engine oil on mine in the next couple of weeks (keep an eye out for the order :thumbsup: ). I have been running on Amsoil 0w-30 since the engine was fitted (3000 miles ago). I was thinking about doing a flush as the oil is now quite black and I have no idea what oil the engine was run on before. But it sounds like I don't need to bother. I guess that the black colour is just the cr*p being pulled out by the Amsoil? I engine is only 36k old now.

Oops and sorry about the thread hijack ...


If at oil change time I see black oil, I'm happy.

If at Oil change time the oil comes out the same it went in, I change oil brands!

Engine oil gets contaminated and cleans whilst doing its normal lube routine, so EXPECT suspended particles and lovely clean engine internals

[Rambaud]

I have read that diesel oil has more powerful detergents in it. Is this true, and does it apply to Amsoil diesel oil?

If so, I thought this might be useful in my GDI engine to prevent carbon build-up etc.

Mitsi dealer yesterday confirmed that fully synthetic oil was required for GDI engines - 5W-40 Q8 Formula Excel was used in my service yesterday.

[amsoil]

Not just the detergents are different (ie higher) but also the additive package, it can really really get complicated and I wouldn't want to confuse people
To give you an idea.... The newest engines require special synthetic oil to the very latest specifications. The additive packages in these oils is reduced to avoid problems with the burnt and expelled additives killing the cats, well this is within the warrenty period be it a std 5 years or extended jobby. IMHO the manufacturers are playing the game of balancing engine wear against cat life which will potentially cost them money! The top quality synthetic oil is necessary to give a really high film shear strength to counteract the reduced secondry protection given by certain parts of the additive package. Hope you can grasp this one? its a jungle out there! If there is any interest in knowing why you shouldn't automatically use the latest oils in some cars just ask and I'll try to explain so you can understand but i wouldn't want to bore you otherwise.