GT6 Mk2 engine oil recommendations

[richhl]

I'd appreciate latest thinking and advice / recommendations for engine oil;

Many thanks -

[SpitFire6]

Hi Richhl,

 How is the engine? Burning oil? leaking? Oil pressure greater than 15PSI/1000 RPM when engine hot?

Cheers,

Iain.

[Pete Lewis]

club shop  .....any decent 20/50 from factors or even halfords is fine for everyday ,

got a handbook ??? its all in there , even a haynes manual  

unless youre doing many thousands of miles a year there is little point in silly oils , the standard offering will suffice for most normal use

just dont think some silly skinny modern oil is better it wont work in our old engines 

Pete

[Badwolf]

I recommisioned my Spit with Wilko 20/50 as a 'flushing oil' 18 months ago with some sort of additive to boost the oil (molyslip, duckhams or something similar). Just about to replace with that 20/50 that Fuzz Townsend flogs, only 'cause I got it for a good price on fleabay and it appears to be well recommened by forum members here. It's a very personal choice though from cheap and cheerful to bl**dy expensive and all points between. I expect the engine to outlast me, even with the cheapest oil!!

[SpitFire6]

Hi,

 If you are doing about a 1000 miles a year with long drives & live in a tropical climate 20W50 mineral might be all you can buy at a cheap price.

If you use the frequently recommended 20W50  grade oil or follow the 60-year-old recommendations, change frequently. The cheap ones will break-down a lot, over extended mileages. Castrol GTX is good modern oil for that grade.

Personally, I would not put 20W/anything in a car engine. Don't worry about the ZDDP hype.

About modern oils being more skinny; if that means they flow better, is that bad.

Cheers

Iain.

Edited May 25, 2019 by Spitfire6
Tidy.

[Pete Lewis]

I would think a modern 5-30 being lets say skinny would flow but with our old clearances would escape a bit quicker than we need 

Just  a thought,   triumph had a spec so if we stick close to it it does what it says on the tin,  after all its done use proud for  40- 50 years 

Pete

[Badwolf]

To be perfectly honest I get a bit fed up with reading stuff about modern oils, classic oils, vegetable oils, mineral oils, science, tables... blah blah. If 20/50 with extra zinc stuff is good enough for Practical Classics (July 16 issue) then it will do for me. I put it in, drive it, change it, recycle it and repeat as needed. It's done good for me with all sorts of cr*p, for 45 years so if it worked in 1972, I reckon it will work now. Everyone to their own, I want to spend time driving not comparing oil top twenty tables, that a. I don't understand and b. Don't give a stuff about? Sorry.

[SpitFire6]

3 minutes ago, Badwolf said:

To be perfectly honest I get a bit fed up with reading stuff about modern oils, classic oils, vegetable oils, mineral oils, science, tables... blah blah. If 20/50 with extra zinc stuff is good enough for Practical Classics (July 16 issue) then it will do for me. I put it in, drive it, change it, recycle it and repeat as needed. It's done good for me with all sorts of cr*p, for 45 years so if it worked in 1972, I reckon it will work now. Everyone to their own, I want to spend time driving not comparing oil top twenty tables, that a. I don't understand and b. Don't give a stuff about? Sorry.

Hi,

 Practical Classics & the extra zinc has sold me.

Thanks.

Iain.

[johny]

9 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:

I would think a modern 5-30 being lets say skinny would flow but with our old clearances would escape a bit quicker than we need 

Just  a thought,   triumph had a spec so if we stick close to it it does what it says on the tin,  after all its done use proud for  40- 50 years 

Pete

yes apparently its the smoothness of the surface finishes that comes into it as well. Now that these are machined smoother compared with the old days surfaces can run closer together without the microscopic peaks coming into contact so clearances can be smaller and oil films thinner. Rougher surfaces have to be held further apart so a thicker oil film is needed and this is achieved by using a higher viscosity oil....

[Clive]

Best to be pragmatic about this stuff. For most people the usual 20/50 will work fine but doesn't like a hard life. Change it annually or 3000 miles and it won't hurt the engine.

But as with most things, oil design/manufacture has made huge progress, so if you wish to benefit from that development, there are alternatives. Especially if the car is driven hard.

[johny]

18 minutes ago, clive said:

Best to be pragmatic about this stuff. For most people the usual 20/50 will work fine but doesn't like a hard life. Change it annually or 3000 miles and it won't hurt the engine.

Agree especially as our oils are usually subjected to much more contamination from fuel and combustion products than a modern engine and which no filter or oil, no matter how good they are, will protect against.  

[AndyTV8]

Currently, I wouldn’t look any further than Classic Oils Heritage 20/50 .... mineral with great ZDDP defined in the right way  and at a good price. I can’t see a downside

...... Andy 

PS. Just checked, and the pice has risen a little to £19.95 now

[Pete Lewis]

The type of driving has a lot to do with how well your oil survived. 

In my rorty vt6 a reasonably modified 1600 driven as it was a goer , couldnt hold it back cheap facfor oil lost pressure when long hard hot runs dropped the cruise pressure to around  30psi    where as pistoneze or VR1  would hold 60+all day long , 

Theres the old saying you get what you pay for,  the spec must be respected, ,  we do need decent Zd  in our oils to protect the things 

Like cam followers,   rockers etc.  Theres a good deal of rubbing movements in the old engines,  

Pete

[thescrapman]

When you can buy the Pennine 20/50 from the club shop at the special offer price regularly, I have seen no reason to look elsewhere, as it is only a couple of quid more stuff like the Wilco reclaimed stuff, and the spec is very good.

Millers Classic Sport and Valvoline VR1 have also been very good. 

[Graham C]

When I was running my Spitfire 1500 as an everyday motor during the 80/90s I use to change the oil (20/50 oil) twice a year including the filter (approx 10000 miles per yr). I just went and got Wilko' s best. I am afraid that engine is still going strong even though it is not doing the same mileage. The important thing is changing the oil regularly. 

I can't believe our car are doing the same mileage now as everyday motors. So my advice is what ever you buy then change the oil regularly. In addition now a days it is the trend to add flushes to the oil prior to look changes. Did not happen in the 80/90s. So to my mind why spend lots of money on expenses oils if the car sites in a garage and not moving. If doing 10000 or 1000 miles then just select the oil you need. Remember if the car does not move the oil is in the sump.

Posted a similar comment on the old web site, and got shot down so just off the the bunker.

Graham

[Colin Lindsay]

3 minutes ago, Graham C said:

In addition now a days it is the trend to add flushes to the oil prior to look changes. Did not happen in the 80/90s. Graham

It certainly happened in the 60s and 70s, but these days the engines don't sludge up to the same degree.

I agree with you re regular oil changes - once a year at least, no matter what miles you're doing.

[SpitFire6]

Hi,

 can't go wrong with motorway driving & regular six-month oil changes.

I thought the Triumph recommended oils were capable to turn to sludge in the less ventilated modern engines of the early '80s? More modern oils of the mid-'80s reduced this?

Cheers,

Iain.

 

[Graham C]

I believe the original service requirement for oil changes was every 6 months (6000miles), Colin I can't remember the need for oil flushes but then I serviced the car myself. So garages may have carried them out but from 1984 to 90's my Spitfire ( x reg, 1981)  was an every day car in the 90's I was driving 30 miles a day to work at various speeds up to 70 plus. 

So at the end of the day just change the oil regularly.

Remember these engines are based in the 1940/50 designs not like modern ones.

Graham

 

[Badwolf]

TIN HAT ON - READY TO DIVE FOR COVER!!!

I remember going to my local garage to buy oil and just got the cheapest that was on offer. Incredibly I found, in the shed last summer, a bottle of oil branded (I think) Texaco priced at £2.95 for 5 ltrs. I have no idea what grade it was or how old it was, probably based on molases, but it came from a garage so it must be good and it was cheap. Turned out the bottle was full of used oil from an oil change long ago. Not even good enough for the lawnmower.

[JohnD]

Excellent, small book, "Which Oil?" by an oil industry professional.   

John

[daverclasper]

I use, used engine oil to oil my electric chain saw blade, rather than buy the "special" stuff.  Unless I'm missing something, why would you buy the special stuff, even if used daily for tree surgery?.

Dave

 

[Graham C]

I have now shut the bunker door.

☺️

Graham

[dave.vitesse]

Use a  20/50 mineral oil with a good ZDDP. Change it each year, at the end of the season. Its not good leaving an inactive engine with used oil in over winter.

A Toledo I had from new did 12500 miles before the engine came out. Over the years I used either a 15/40 or 20/50 mineral oil.

Dave

[Colin Lindsay]

14 hours ago, Graham C said:

I have now shut the bunker door.

☺️

Graham

Did it shut okay, or does the spring plate require adjustment?  

Asking which oil is best is like asking which flavour of soup is best. It all originally depends on taste, but once you start getting into vegetarian / vegan / gluten-free / recyclable packaging etc you'll wish you had never started.

 

[Wagger]

Reviving an old thread in order to add personal experience.

In the 1960's I used molyslip in a gearbox that kept leaking on my scooter. Seemed to work, but I cannot say how long  it would have lasted without it. It got me through my test.

I then added it to a 500cc Triumph. When stripping down some time later, all of the 'Additive' was in the centrifugal sludge trap in the crankshaft, almost blocking the oilways. Same with a pal who use Filtrate oil which had 'Dag' in it. (Australian for sheep's dingleberries). Fine grains of graphite, maybe.

Never used either ever again.

Slick 50 resulted in clutch slip where the engine (dry sump) also fed the wet clutch housing on my mate's Norton.

No need for additives.

I have never used injector cleaners either in fuel.

If we could machine our classics to the same tolerances as moderns, maybe we could use new oils.

Those who race probably use them, but strip their engines down more often.