21 replies to this topic

[d4nnyk]

Hi all, I have a query about oil types, basically I don't understand, what is the difference between 0W40, 5W40 and 10W40 (besides the first digits)?? My hand book says to put in 5w40 or 10w40 but I have searched this site and see some people put in 0W40 or 5W50 What is the correct oil for an NA?? goes wuthout saying needs to by FS

[SteveA]

IIRC It's to do with the change in viscosity with weather. I use 5w40 Fully synthetic for my VXT.

Edited by SteveA, 26 November 2009 - 11:04 AM.

[JG]

more specifically with temperature

[SteveA]

more specifically with temperature

or wind

[starlight]

Checkout oliman's website for all the info you will need... or wikipedia

[d4nnyk]

Checkout oliman's website for all the info you will need... or wikipedia

Thanks but know I am more confused they say to use 5w30

[styles]

I use Mobil 1 0W40

[Crazyfrog (Fab)]

I use Mobil 1 0W40

i use it as well to cook my chips on the 6th of december special promotion for mobil ...........

[styles]

Those are gonna be some black chips

[Seb.F]

I'd use 5w, only because I go on the logic that it's a vectra engine, and they wouldn't really be using a 0w oil..... The 0w's are usually for higher performance engines, as they are slightly less viscous, especially from cold. Though they do provide extra protection when the weather is cold.

[Wolfstone]

Thanks but know I am more confused they say to use 5w30 [/quote] TMS serviced mine with 5w30. They ought to know what they're doing.

[slindborg]

basically use what ever you want as the engine isnt going to give a toss. I use 10/60 FS note the oilmans website is there to sell and not nessecaraly be unbiased etc

[starlight]

note the oilmans website is there to sell and not nessecaraly be unbiased etc

It was only that it had some useful references...

[slindborg]

note the oilmans website is there to sell and not nessecaraly be unbiased etc

It was only that it had some useful references...

yarp.

Just dont take advice from them directly (ie phone/email) as gospel

[Tomlad]

I use Mobil Super S 10-40W Semi Synthetic oil which it seems to like. Unless you live somewhere that goes below -30 deg C you'll be okay. Got a feeling that the VX220 handbook explains the differences and recommends what to have. Thomo

[Seb.F]

I'd personally only use fully synthetics. More protection.

[Phear]

In simplest terms, the 2 numbers refer to the viscosity when cold and when warm. Therefore the first number is important when the engine is cold and therefore what you use really depends on the climate you live in, in the UK 5 or 10 will do. The second number is important when the engine is up to temp. For general purpose 40 should be fine, 30 is a little thiner and therefore reduces engine friction, but engine will burn it more quickly so check more regularly. 50 or 60 are thicker, so provide better protection especially when the car is thrased a lot. Thats a very simple explanation, if you wanted to it gets a lot more complex.

[tim king]

Hi all, I have a query about oil types, basically I don't understand, what is the difference between 0W40, 5W40 and 10W40 (besides the first digits)??

My hand book says to put in 5w40 or 10w40 but I have searched this site and see some people put in 0W40 or 5W50

What is the correct oil for an NA?? goes wuthout saying needs to by FS

Fully synthetic Is wot i use

[oilman]

Hopefully this will help explain a little. 0w-40, 5w-40, 10w-40 and 15w-40 are all the same thickness (14cst) at 100degC. Centistokes (cst) is the measure of a fluid's resistance to flow (viscosity). It is calculated in terms of the time required for a standard quantity of fluid at a certain temperature to flow through a standard orifice. The higher the value, the more viscous the fluid. As viscosity varies with temperature, the value is meaningless unless accompanied by the temperature at which it is measured. In the case of oils, viscosity is generally reported in centistokes (cst) and usually measured at 40degC and 100degC. So, all oils that end in 40 (sae 40) are around 14cst thickness at 100degC. This applies to all oils that end in the same number, all oils that end in 50 (sae 50) are around 18.5cst at 100degC and all oils that end in 60 (sae 60) are around 24cst at 100degC. Now, ALL oils are thicker when cold. Here is a table to illustrate this. SAE 40 Temp degC.........................Viscosity (thickness) 0..........................................2579cst 20..........................................473cst 40..........................................135cst 60..........................................52.2cs t 100........................................ 14cst 120.........................................8.8cst As you will see, there is plenty of viscosity at 0degC, in fact many times more than at 100degC and this is the problem especially in cold weather, can the oil flow quick enough to protect vital engine parts at start up. Not really! So, given that an sae 40 is 14cst at 100degC which is adequate viscosity to protect the engine, and much thicker when cold, how can a 0w oil be too thin? Well, it can't is the truth. The clever part (thanks to synthetics) is that thin base oils can be used so that start up viscosity (on say a 5w-40 at 0degC) is reduced to around 800cst and this obviously gives much better flow than a monograde sae 40 (2579cst as quoted above). So, how does this happen, well as explained at the beginning, it's all about temperature, yes a thin base oil is still thicker when cold than at 100degC but the clever stuff (due to synthetics again) is that the chemists are able to build these oils out of molecules that do not thin to less than 14cst at 100degC! What are the parameters for recommendations? Well, we always talk about good cold start protection, by this we mean flow so a 5w will flow better than a 10w and so on. This is why we recommend 5w or 10w as the thickest you want to use except in exceptional circumstances. Flow is critical to protect the engine from wear! We also talk about oil temps, mods and what the car is used for. This is related to the second number xw-(XX) as there may be issues with oil temperatures causing the oil to be too thin and therefore the possibility of metal to metal contact. This is difficult to explain but, if for example your oil temp does not exceed 120degC at any time then a good "shear stable" sae 40 is perfectly capable of giving protection. "Shear stability" is important here because if the oil shears it thins and that's not good! However, if you are seeing temperatures in excess of 120degC due to mods and track use etc then there is a strong argument to using an sae 50 as it will have more viscosity at these excessive temperatures. There are trade offs here. Thicker oils cause more friction and therefore more heat and they waste power and affect fuel consumption so it's always best to use the thinnest oil (i.e. second number) that you can get away with and still maintain oil pressure. The VX220 is happy on a variety of grades, 5w-30, 5w-40, 0w-40, 10w-40 etc The key is to stick to a quality quality oil and regular changes. Cheers Guy.

Edited by oilman, 27 November 2009 - 11:37 AM.

[oakmere]

My engine is much quieter on 5w-40 (millers) then 5w-30 (Vauxhall synthetic). A few people have noticed this. Cheers Oakmere