66 replies to this topic

[slindborg]

well it was purely an economical choice... managed to get 4 galons of 10W60 fully synth for £40 as opposed to £40 per galon, from a good friend in the motorsport game. Although I'm not kitted up with oil temp/pressure gear I noticed that coolant temp was lower in hot weather than when it was on 5W30FS, on the road let alone on track. It would sort of drink 5W30, where as it dosent touch a drop of 10W60 blah blah blah.... it works (well no dead engine after 30K miles so it cant be utter sh*t/dangerous can it lol) and its actually pretty good value in the grand scheme of things. Oh and the more well known oil supplier cant seem to ever give a GOOD reason not to use it (or any oil in a sensible grade they dont stock lol), so to "go against the grain" is more fun too There is no right or wrong answer with automotive stuff, there are many many many many ways to achieve the same ultimate outcome. my 10w60 choice might not seem right but it works, much like someone else running on 0w20 might get exactly what they want etc. This discussion will go down the same route that fcuking brakes thread did...... ie never ending and repeating the same stuff over and over again.

[siztenboots]

[burnerblowout]

well it was purely an economical choice... managed to get 4 galons of 10W60 fully synth for £40 as opposed to £40 per galon, from a good friend in the motorsport game. Although I'm not kitted up with oil temp/pressure gear I noticed that coolant temp was lower in hot weather than when it was on 5W30FS, on the road let alone on track. It would sort of drink 5W30, where as it dosent touch a drop of 10W60 blah blah blah.... it works (well no dead engine after 30K miles so it cant be utter sh*t/dangerous can it lol) and its actually pretty good value in the grand scheme of things. Oh and the more well known oil supplier cant seem to ever give a GOOD reason not to use it (or any oil in a sensible grade they dont stock lol), so to "go against the grain" is more fun too

There is no right or wrong answer with automotive stuff, there are many many many many ways to achieve the same ultimate outcome. my 10w60 choice might not seem right but it works, much like someone else running on 0w20 might get exactly what they want etc.

This discussion will go down the same route that fcuking brakes thread did...... ie never ending and repeating the same stuff over and over again.

You are absolutely right. There will be no right answers to be found here because there is no one size fits all.

Lots of tradition, personal choice, cost and hopefully the most important aspect, the application of a bit of reasoned application of technology relevant to each specific case.

I’m on Mobil 1 – also get it dirt cheap and I’m certainly not going to push it on anyone else.

[M3VXT]

Skipping back to the turbo problem!! I have been emailing AET turbos trying to figure out a resolution to the problem of VXR turbos that seem to be dying lately. It turns out that as standard the VXR turbo has a very small trust bearing area and at higher boost levels over time causes problems with oil leakage from turbo trusting and wearing the seals. They can also put a higher flowing 35lb/min compressor into the turbo from a K06 focus RS unit. This is what I am cosidering. They can also fit it with and uprated bearing arrangement (not ball bearing) BUT It's will be about £800 A GT28/25 ballbearing turbo is only £650 alot stronger but will need manifold and other pipework about £800 so that would be nearly double the price of the VXR hybrid unit. The garrett would be a much stronger and more reliable unit over all. Maybe food for thought if you are concidering a new turbo.

[Stu-7]

Just to "close-off" this thread, I'm really pleased to say that Courtenay called me on Monday to say the car is all sorted
As per initial diagnosis by Thorney and other contributors to this thread - it appears my severe lack of technical knowledge got the better of me in thinking I had a problem with the car: I don't.
To verify the state of the car, John @ Courtenay is willing to provide a 100% independent opinion on the car to verify this. It just turns out I have been very prudent in getting it checked out by the experts.

I'm posting the details here for x2 reasons:
1) I want to be giving any potential buyer of the car 100% transparency and honesty about the condition of the car. Given that the car drives as it always has done and never uses a drop of oil on the road, it would have been very easy for me to offer it for sale without getting it checked out (and thereby passing on an undiscovered problem). Other sellers may be comfortable doing this but personally, those who know me on this forum will know that I simply could not live with my consicience about passing on a car I have so passionately invested in, if it had a known *problem* to me and me alone.
2) I don't want to speak on behalf of Courtenay, but there is a recommendation they will be making to other CS4 cars which has come about from the testing they have done on my car (more on that below).

Just to recap on the situation: The car has used some oil on trackdays. NOT on road use.
I had the car compression-tested and leak down tested: both tests revealed a perfectly healthy working set of cylinders and pistons. The *assumption* on subsequent telephone conversations with Courtenay was that the turbo seals were on the way out, so I got the car to them for inspection.

Courtenay carried out a very detailed inspection including:
- Detailed inspection of the turbo and pipe work - no fault.
To exclude it being anything engine-related, they took it out for an 80 mile road-test with an oil catch tank fitted on the inlet side to the turbo. If any oil was found in here then it would indicate the engine was breathing internally (specifically that an oil control ring may have gone - this would not have shown up on the compression and leak-down tests which were prev carried out on the car). After 80 miles of "spirited" driving, no oil was found in the catch tank.

Given that test, Courtenay are of the opinion that the oil use was down to the oil getting too hot on certain tracks where the engine is exposed to sustained load. For example - whilst i noticed oil use at Silverstone in March this year (about half a litre) it didn't use hardly any (one noth on the dipstick)at Oulton Park in June. Several people have mentioned this earlier in the thread as an issue. This is why the problem is impossible to replicate on the road.

This is the first car they have seen this in. As a result, John said he will be advising anyone with a heavily tuned VX - who is using it on a very demanding trackday such as Silverstone - to fit an uprated oil cooler system. Another option is to use a heavier oil eg: 20w-50, but this would have an impact if you were driving it on the road.
Again, I don't want to speak on behalf of Courtenay - this post is by way of closing off what I started.

Either way John has offered to give any potential buyer of the car a 100% independent opinion on the car, so they don't have to listen to me drivelling on about it. if I was buying a any Exige, VX, Evo or suchlike, i would want this type of opinion, as you never know what you are getting yourself in for.

So, there you go. I didn;t want to list the car for sale without making this kind of detailed post as it would only lead to questions like "did you get the turbo fixed" etc etc.... so thanks for reading. If you want to discuss anything about trackday-related oil cooling issues, please call Courtenay directly. Again - I want to stress that i'm not wanting to take something mentioned to me in a phone call to Courtenay and present it as my own opinion on the web.

So, I have listed it for sale on PH in present spec for £ 18,500.
If I get no interest, then off will come the nitrons and brakes and harnesses, anf I will then offer the car at c £17,000+ without those items but including the CS4 bits and pieces and pro alloy fuel tank. If anyone reading this is in a position to give me some VXR suspension / S2 Exige / Elise 111R suspension to swap for the nitrons, then let me know by PM?

For Sale listing on Pistonheads.com:
http://www.pistonhea...ales/831342.htm

Cheers, Stu

[MAXR]

Stu, Glad to hear that your problem was in fact not a problem...I will be considering another oil cooler on my new car. I'm not sure what thickness oil has been used in my VX, but what you've said makes complete sense! Good luck with the sale...It's a damn fine car & bloody fast car on Track too! Merry Christmas! Max

[cheeky_chops]

glad you came to a conclusion - just to add, couple of astra VXR owners have had problems with oil passing thru the turbo seals. One guy was selling some restrictors that fit in the oil lines to reduce the oil pressure - i did consider buying some but so far not had a problem with oil loss thru the turbo....