Engine oil

D

DOC

New Member
Having heard about the dreaded black gunge from infrequent oil changing, I am going to change the ADMIRAL's oil soon. As the original grades are no longer available what is recommended for a series 2 V8 with about 65000 on the clock and running perfectly with about 35 - 40 lbs pessure when really hot.
Although modern oil sounds like a good Idea I have read about and witnessed modern detergent oils ruining a good old motor by over cleaning the motor of all the crap and subsequently revealing all the wear.
All advise will be gratefully received.

DOC
 
I can't answer your question. However, if you register and ask your question over on Britcars the Oilman (Opie oils) will answer your question. I believe that he will also give a discount to registered members of the Britcars forum.
 
you can still get original grade oils, castrol advertise them and some shops still sell duckhams 20 - 50
 
I use the cheap, unknown brand 20/50 that our local factor sells for £5/6 per gallon. No additives, just basic oil. It goes in all 6 of our cars.
 
I'm with the Rovering member I get Comma 20/50 for both the 2000 and V8. Its about £5 a 4.5 litre. its formulated for older/ high milage engines. Change it every 6 months (with a filter if you can afford it).

Since removing my sump and cleaning out all the gunk, I also removed and cleaned the oil pick up pipe (Had lots of oil leaks took supm of to replace rear rope seal and sump gasket - so far none came back) I must have done 400 + miles and the oil is still clean ---- I think removing the sump has helped as I got rid of all the old oil by leaving it off over night. - might do the same to the 2000 next time oil change is due.
 
that makes sence, after all you would wash round your bath before putting new water in. Its probably similar to doing an oil flush, does anyone do this anymore? I remember seeing adverts at garages about haveing your engine flushed, All they seem to do now is top up or drain old oil out, change filter, and top up.

Infact didn't STP do something called oil flush? you stuck it in with some cheap oil, and it made it thinner, so when you drained it, it removed all the old crud that had built up as well, or something like that.

does anyone else remember this or am I having a "moment" again ? :D
 
wow did a search and I wasn't having a moment :D
STP 5 minute engine flush
put it in your oil 5 minutes or so before an oil change and it cleans and reomoves sludge from system.
stp.jpg
 
Might also remove bits of old gasket etc causing oil leaks! not common but it has happened
Cheers
AL
 
I personally would not flush an old engine as your dislodging old crud that has been there for years and I'm not sure I'd want it running around the oilways.
I think that oil flushing is somthing you can do in modern engines - and I think you have to due the acids etc that come out of the oil. I think its a better bet with older engines to just keep changing the oil and filter regularly and USE the car regularly.

I recently had some 1960's car mechanics mags and they did alot of features on wear and tear and the effects of oil, why it goes black etc - there were a few of cars that done 100,000- 300,000 miles which is good these days but incredible then - they were all REP mobiles and had the engine oil changed every 1000 miles....ok a bit much but it did prove that keeping the oil fresh and getting the car fully warmed up all the time lead to a very long engine life
 
I use Castrol GTX 15W/40 'For Older Engines' plastered on it which Halfords sell. Previous to that, Valvoline Racing 20W/50 which is now difficult to obtain.

The GTX is semi-syth but I've noticed since using it the engine runs smoother and it's also reduced running noise (usually from the valve springs). I'm lucky, my engine had a top-end rebuilt and new sump (with seal) about 5,000 miles ago.

As for a flush, I drain the old (with filter in place), fill with flushing oil, run the car round the block under load and then drain. Pre-fill the new filter, quick change over and then fill with new oil.

I am a fan of Wynns Molyslip and all my cars (i've owned over a dozen) have had a dose of this added with every engine oil change. I added some to a recent oil change for the rear-diff on the P6 (EP90). I would advise to stay well clear of any PTFE (Teflon) compounds, I've heard some nasty stories about this stuff clogging filters.

There is a lot to be said for "over-servicing", I do a very simple oil change (drain and re-fill) every six months, I only do 2,000 miles a year and therefore only change the filter prior to it's service and inspection leading up to MOT.
 
A good one which is common on the 800 forum, is to use Diesel oil (not diesel fuel), changed every few hundred miles for say three or four changes, then back to a decent proper oil for the engine, probably no need to change filter between changes, just change it when you fill with proper oil.

Due to the muck that the diesel engines introduce to their oil, diesel oil has a very high additive level, this helps to clean the engine out but still provides full protection.

Hydraulic tappets are terrible for holding the oil for long periods and getting clogged up if not serviced regularly.

Richard
 
Duckhams Q 20W-50 has been re-introducted recently and I see Halfords are now selling their own brand of 'Classic' 20W-50 oil.
It's best not to use a modern oil in our cars, 20W-50 or otherwise. As has been previously mentioned, the detergents could have a detrimental effect on dirtier engines and modern additives can attack and degrade the rope seals as fitted to the earlier V8's.

Unless you have a freshly fully rebuilt engine you can't really go wrong sticking to a quality 'Classic' 20W-50. Something like Millers, Penrite, Duckhams etc.
 
My V8 engine top-end was overhauled some years back and was lovely and quiet when I purchased car. I ran it for a good six months and it never changed, and it didn't look sludged when looking through the filler neck.

Then decided on my first oil change. And I flushed it. Well, I thought it would be good practice after reading RPi website pages.

But now the top-end ticks and ticks on start-up, taking 10 secs to clear some days. Handy that. I wish I'd never touched the stuff.
 
You could give it a couple more goes with a flush and some cheap oil, that might get rid of the tapping, though a lot of these engines do tap after starting.
Do you know if the sump is fairly clean internally?, could be the flush has possibly disturbed some sludge in there.
If so, a sump clean out and then a few oil changes in quick succesion could help.

Also, do you know what oil was in there before, and what did you use for the change?
 
On moving off 20W/50 onto GTX, there was a number of spring rattles.

The advice from a TVR RV8 friend of mine was 'flush the oil at least twice over the next 100 miles.'

Sure enough, doing this, draining down to a few drops with the car on a slight downhill gradient and then a refill sorted it out no end.
 
With the V8 it's not a good idea to let it drain for too long , especiallly with the filter removed or the oil pump might not prime on refilling
Once the oil has got cold , little more would come out , anyhow
I had a cheap supply of Castrol full synthetic motorsport 10/60 oil for 3 years .The engine sounded superb and the pressure gauge would go right up when cruising
Dave
 
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