Which / What Oil Should I Use? [Merged]

[Nofear20]

Castrol GTX High Mileage 10w-30... Just use it becuase I dont know what else to use and my motor has 150k miles on it.

 

[TunaTalon]

My 1998 TSI saw only Mobile One for the first 183,000 miles of it's life and the main and rod bearings were showing no signs of wear when removed for the stroker project. The balance shaft bearings were near end of life though.

 

[Whiplash]

I used to use Mobil 1 while I had money. Now I buy whatever is on sale.

 

[cturok7]

Hey guys, My name is Chris Torok and I work for Northwest Airlines. As an Airline employee who frequently works on the ramp (outside with the airplanes) I have come in contact with many Airplane mechanics.

Jet engines are serious and put out serious power to fight the drag that the airplane has to endure. With that serious power comes serious heat.

I was working one day at the ticket counter and I noticed the mechanic checking in a box of BP synthetic turbo oil. (Turbo as in turbine for an airplane). I asked him about the oil and why they use synthetic and explained to in simplest form how synth. oil works. It has to do with the molecular structure. Anyways, he said that company was switching to Mobile One. He told me about how they invented synth.

He told me about how he bought a Honda CRX with 120,000 miles and how his buddy had a CRX with just over 60,000. His buddy used Castrol and he used Mobile One. Keep in mind these are both synthetic. The higher mileage had cleaner internals than the low mileage Castrol car. His buddy ended up switching to Mobil One and sure enough his engine cleaned up after a few oil changes. Sounds like a commercail, but this is what airplanes use. If airplanes use it (which produces significantly more heat than our cars than who would you trust.)

 

[99gst_racer]

*SIGH*

This thread is almost 6 years old, and was brought back from the dead for no good reason.

There is probably 60 other "engine oil" threads that are much, much more recent than this one. Pay attention to time stamps, guys.

 

[GSXDNA]

I have a '99GSX w/ 75k. What brand and weight of oil do you guys recommend. And, what filters seem to work the best.

Also, are there any types of additives I can put into the oil that may reduce lifter tick?

 

[zero97tsi]

I buy Royal Purple 5w30 + K&N Oil Filter. I can get it at work (Advance Auto Parts). Both are expensive (RP oil is about $8/quart, filter is about $15) but seeing as your only doing it once every so often, might as well get whatever the best is.

Dont use any additives, they only mask the problem anyway. Im not a fan of putting any sort of additive into the oil at all. Good oil is made to do its job, you don't need to use anything to help it.

 

[kenamond]

I use Mobil 1 synthetic 10w30 and K&N filter. They don't have Royal Purple around here, but I don't know if it's worth it or not. The K&N is nice, because you can use a wrench on it if it's stuck.

As far as additives, I add Seafoam a couple days before I change the oil to help keep sludge down, but there are probably other additives that'd work, too. I don't care if your oil is $400/qt. A turbocharger is going to break it down and that will leave deposits in the motor over time.

As for lifter tick, just upgrade to revised lifters. $125 for a set of 16 topline revised lifters and $40 for a valve cover gasket kit. I also found that my oil pressure was better with 10w30 than 5w30, especially at lower rpm.

 

[zero97tsi]

I use Mobil 1 synthetic 10w30 and K&N filter. They don't have Royal Purple around here, but I don't know if it's worth it or not. The K&N is nice, because you can use a wrench on it if it's stuck.

As far as additives, I add Seafoam a couple days before I change the oil to help keep sludge down, but there are probably other additives that'd work, too. I don't care if your oil is $400/qt. A turbocharger is going to break it down and that will leave deposits in the motor over time.

As for lifter tick, just upgrade to revised lifters. $125 for a set of 16 topline revised lifters and $40 for a valve cover gasket kit. I also found that my oil pressure was better with 10w30 than 5w30, especially at lower rpm.

I stand corrected. Seafoam is a VERY good additive, my brain was focusing on the "gets rid of lifter tick!" snake oil products, however, to help keep the engine clean and healthy, seafoam is a great product.

 

[Splitpi]

I use Amsoil or Mobil 1 depending on how my pocket book is feeling and K&N oil fiters. I also add 1/4 quart of Lucas Oil Synthetic Oil booster with every oil change.

 

[FonZ454]

For oil I just run Mobil 1 10w-30. Not my favorite, but the I bought the car and it's all it's ran, so I'll continue to run it. I think this spring/summer I'll try out 10w-40. I used to run Shell Rotella T (diesel truck oil) 15w-40 non synthetic and I loved it(and the price).

For filters, I run either PURE ONE, NAPA Gold filters or Bosch. Nothing else. I've had good luck with them all. I also run an RX-8 filter as it's smaller and fits better with the looped coolant lines I have down there.

 

[hypnoticpimp]

+1 for k&n filter... I used 10w-30 mobile synthetic a few times and liked it, once i switched to RP 10w-30 i noticed less lifter tick and the engine ran a lil smoother... I might try RP new XPR 10w-30 oil for high performance engines.

 

[greddyturbo19]

i use GREDDY 5-40 and a greddy oil filter. but if you cant get a hold of it get ROYAL PURPLE 15W-40 AND K&N OIL FILTER

 

[crimsondragon]

I used Shell 10W-30 and a Mobil1 Oil filter in the last oil change. Also seafoamed it like a day before to clean the engine.

 

[dsmconvict]

10w-30 and a fram filter...what more do I need for a dd.

 

[vaboys2ndgen]

ive always used mobil1 and either oem or k&n filters

 

[GSXDNA]

Thanks for all the input guys. Before I started this post, I knew I was going to use either Mobil 1 (which I've always used) or Royal Purple (which I've never tried before). I've never heard so many people rant and rave so much about an oil as with Royal Purple, so that's what I bought. Got a Mobil 1 oil filter, because that's all they had there.

I'll try the stuff out tomorrow and see what all the commotion is about....

 

[1bad91tsi]

as long as its full syn. its good to use.They are all about the same.

 

[SwitchSkier]

I've been running Mobile 1 with a K&N filter, but now that winter has rolled around I am really getting a lot of lifter tick. I have an Amsoil filter and Royal Purple in my garage that I will try next, and hopefully it will run better.

 

[talontsiboy24]

The previous owner been using mobil 1 synthetic 15w-50 for the past 6yrs in the car and i was wondering should i stick with it since the engine is use to it? i was thinkin 10w-40 i think 15w-50 is 2 heavy but the car is modified and ams told the him to use that type of oil and he told me hes been using it yr round what do u think i should do? the car needs a oil change as we speak and i dunno if i should go down to 10w-40 yr round....

 

[stevo911]

Sorry to ask this and believe me I have been all over the forums trying to figure this out for myself. From what I can tell the heavier oils are the for the Turbos and high revin cars. Then there seems to be a bit of controversy about how many kms and such. So I have to ask to clear this up. A 91 Plymouth laser 2.0 NT with 180k km what would you use? Temperature is warming up here so a summer oil would be great then ill switch to 5w30 for winter as I did this year. Synthetic as far as I know was never put in this car I bought it from a cheap bastard. I doubt he paid the extra $3 for it.
Once again sorry to ask just exhausted every search option possible
Thanks.

 

[lacroixdp]

All 4 of my DSMs have eaten 5w30 Mobil 1 with the stock motor year-round. For a built motor I run Amsoil 0w20 (Edit: obviously if professionally built by a shop, go with what they recommend).

(Edit: I just noticed you are N/T. According to the service manual, you should run above when its above 16C either a 10 or 20 weight - they say you can run all the way to 20w50 down to 0C. Below 16C you can run 5w20-40, but that 5w20 is not recommended for sustained high-speed operation..)

 

[banshee04]

Valvoline Max Life 20w-50 for me. Real good protection and can quiet down some things.

 

[m0nk3estylez]

I say stick with it.
I use valvoline vr1 60w oil for summer 50w for winter just to get rid of lifter ticks haha works great for me so far.
Tryed royal purple didn't work for me so I just stick with valvoline vr1 60w!!

 

[lacroixdp]

Here is from the service manual for your car. I run 5w30 Mobil 1 in my stock DSM's and 0w20 Amsoil in my built engines.