The Goods On Oils

[08yannch]

I used to use the $10 20w50 GW oil in my previous car. It had a leak and burnt a bit, so really I could have used anything in it and it would have done the job.

In my Skyline however no chance of that. The minimum for me would be a semi synth or a lower group "full synthetic". But ideally a proper genuine full synthetic and there are really only 3 options for that. Motul 300V Chrono, Royal Purple and Sougi S 6000.

Yeah interesting how Gulf Western have this great product but it's not sold anywhere really, at least not in stores. The supplier I went to said they sell it on a slow but consistent basis for people like us

I've been looking at GW's ATF fluid myself actually. You're talking about the Syntrans stuff? their fully synthetic one? It looks comparable to the other compatible ATF synthetics out there like the Nulon or Penrite stuff for well under half the price. Though the mack daddy of them all the Castrol Transmax Z is what I'd be interested to know how it stacks up against.

Have you changed over to the GW ATF fluid yet? Would be interested to know how your car goes with it in.

i have changed over and it seems to shift a little faster, it all seams good only done 100km. i was looking at using the castrol transmax z my self i used it on my power steering and its all good but to do the auto i would need 2 more bottles and 4 that i was looking at spending $150 for a (in my opinion) a marginally better product V $80. because it is more compatible then the Syntrans but the previous ATF that was in there looked like crap dextron III so the Syntrans is a big step up.

the auto was not playing up but it was only a matter of time.

on a side note. if u only drain the pan u will only need 5L do the converter and u will need another 5L. but yes the transmax z is the mack daddy of them all but i like 2 buy aus and im cheap... thats why i have a skyline

[Birds]

i found a supplier in perth

leader lubricants there on oxleigh dr.

the guy there convinced me to try the PREMIUM GOLD but for $18 what could go wrong worst case i see is i do oil change at 2500km and doing that i still save $19 every 5000km and if im really not happy i will just try something else

note* they dont cary much sougi and will not get any in unless there is a demand for it. apparently it has taken them more than a yr to move a box of the 6000. it $55 for what they have left 2-3 bottles.

and while i was there i got some ATF for my auto $40 every 5L for the top spec GW so i saved $70 on that over all my wallet is happy and i will tell u how i go when i try out the new oil.

Nah I wouldn't use Premum Gold in a performance car unless you're on a budget. It will work fine in the car but it's just our basic mineral 15w40, similar to Shell Helix HX-5 etc. so make sure your service intervals are regular and short. It's GW's biggest seller, an every car oil that we sell to mechanical workshops along with our 20w50 so they can service 90% of the vehicles that come in. There is a better oil though, called SYN X-3000 which is a 10w40 semi synthetic - doesn't cost a big deal more than Premium Gold and we've been converting all our workshop customers to using it. Packaged (5 litre) version of it was only recently released, so I'm not sure how widespread distribution of it is, but I do have some on the shelf so should be able to find it somewhere.

Yeah interesting how Gulf Western have this great product but it's not sold anywhere really, at least not in stores. The supplier I went to said they sell it on a slow but consistent basis for people like us

Hardly anyone knows about Sougi! The extent of GW's marketing for it has been a couple of magazine placements. I've done an editorial or two for it, but it's an oil I wish GW would push harder because there's a nice little niche market for these boutique oils amongst car enthusiasts, particularly when 300v has such a massive following for double the price. I'm probably GW's biggest Sougi customer haha. But packaged oil represents very little in terms of sales for oil companies, particularly a car specific oil like Sougi hence the marketing efforts are next to none. But it is good in an "underground, non-mainstream, I've been using this for years before everyone discovered it" way lol.

[08r3308]

Hahaha nah it's good that you asked, it's actually a very good question and your theory behind it was mostly correct, just looking at it too simply. Oil is a very confusing topic because there are so many variables to it, hence why this thread was created. If you can't find someone in your area give us a hoy and I'll get a bottle mailed out to ya.

This is true. Some people (myself included) are actually against engine flushing fullstop. We believe buildup becomes an organic (so to speak) part of the engine over time, replacing worn tolerance with a buffer. When you remove it you can do more harm than good. Different situations call for different measures though. Let us know how you go with Sougi...I've heard nothing but positive so far. I did have one complaint from someone about it being black when they drained it out, but that was from someone who didn't know that oil is there to clean and lubricate at the same time

Yup Sougi is genuine. Royal Purple is awesome too. Heard good things about their oils.

Have you tried 300v???

yes i have and downfall is that it comes in 4L and it is pricey , 8100 is cheaper and car loves it.

[Birds]

Yer that kind of sucks, I always find my R33 takes only 4 litres or so anyway. I always say go with what works, rather than what everyone else says is good. Every car is going to be different...if 8100 is your thing it's your thing.

[G0DZLR]

what are peoples opinions on castrol edge 10W 60? . . .

for a cold environment so cold starts happen quite often

[Galois]

hey guys,

so that nulon stuff isn't real synthetic? damn lol. so the proper synthetic oils are royal purple, sougi and motul 300v and 8100?

I had a look at the 300v the other day but ws retailing at $105 for 4 litres! the 8100 is cheaper but ive been running the car on the 10w40 stuff for a while. I guess the question is: how will i know if the motul 5w40 is too thin for the car?

[Birds]

The difference between 5w40 and 10w40 isn't a great deal. You can only really try it, as no one here knows your car specifically...it's on you to give an oil a shot. Remember, you aren't going to kill your engine with it...if you hear any louder sounds or it's running rough or blowing smoke on startup then simply change the oil for a different grade.

Josh don't use a 10w60 it's way too thick for your vehicle.

[KrazyKong]

Isn't it a little odd that oil companies offer certain weights only in certain grades of oil? For instance Motul only offer 10w40 in the 300V Chrono or 4100 Turbolight, but there's no 10w40 in the 8100 series. Makes you wonder if in fact the oil itself is the same, but the weights are different and thus they brand it differently.

Edited April 16, 2010 by KrazyKong

[Birds]

There's alot oil companies do that you don't know about haha. Some companies don't even make their oil

[Galois]

ok so i changed oil a couple of weeks ago to kind of flush the engine as I wasn't sure what was in it before i bought the car and it was overdue for a service. i filled it with 10w40 nulon stuff. i changed it again yesterday with 8100 and the old oil was completely black, after only 1200km.

any ideas why this would be?

thanks!

[BASHO]

ok so i changed oil a couple of weeks ago to kind of flush the engine as I wasn't sure what was in it before i bought the car and it was overdue for a service. i filled it with 10w40 nulon stuff. i changed it again yesterday with 8100 and the old oil was completely black, after only 1200km.

any ideas why this would be? thanks!

A less than conscentious previous owner who couldn't be bothered with frequent enough oil changes--ie most of the J's who owned these cars before we get them.

[Galois]

*further resists the urge to call the previous owner to express some pretty strong opinions*

this adds to a very long list of things the previous owner did wrong by the car. thanks mate, hopefully im on the engine healing process now.

[Birds]

Yep, the Nulon oil did a bit of housework on your engine. Wouldn't surprise me if the 8100 comes out black in 1000km too. I'd be getting a shitload of cheap mineral oil and running it through your engine in 1000km cycles until it's reasonably clean.

[BASHO]

I'm generaly not much in favour of chemical engine oil flushing thingos like nulon engine flush but if the engine is realy gunked up it may be worth your while to give it a go at your next oil change perhaps ???

[Galois]

Yep, the Nulon oil did a bit of housework on your engine. Wouldn't surprise me if the 8100 comes out black in 1000km too. I'd be getting a shitload of cheap mineral oil and running it through your engine in 1000km cycles until it's reasonably clean.

I'm generaly not much in favour of chemical engine oil flushing thingos like nulon engine flush but if the engine is realy gunked up it may be worth your while to give it a go at your next oil change perhaps ???

wow, i didn't realise it was that bad. i have some nulon left over so ill put that through after 1000km, then what, buy some $30-40 semi-synthetic stuff? any suggestions? lol, good thing changing oil is still a novelty, looks like i'll be getting heaps of practice!!

should i use a different oil filter?

from what ive read id like to avoid using the harsh cleaning agents on the engine if possible, but i guess after a few oil changes i might feel differently

[KrazyKong]

I've got some of that Nulon Engine oil flush for my next change over. Was going to run some cheap mineral 20w50 with the flush, but decided it would be better to simply flush the semi synth I have in already. But after reading the last few replies, I'm now wondering if the engine flush stuff is bad for my engine. Is it? Or can it help as designed to flush out the old crap from the previous owner (Toyko Special) still left in there? Now I'm confused.

[Galois]

over the last 5 or so pages there are a few posts talking about the effect of engine flush chemicals on engines. the basic idea seems to be that, to some degree, the oil degrades, hardens and lines the engine evening out imperfections from aging. i guess its some form of coking? it forms kinda an organic part of the engine, to quote one of the previous responses.

anyways, this almost self-healing quality of the hardened carbon from the degrading oil will be ripped out by the engine flush, and the cylinders will have larger and more frequent imperfections.

in general i'd be uncomfortable with putting some strong solvent instead of a nice smooth oil in my engine under the fairly extreme conditions an engine actually runs in, but im still learning

[BASHO]

wow, i didn't realise it was that bad. i have some nulon left over so ill put that through after 1000km, then what, buy some $30-40 semi-synthetic stuff? any suggestions? lol, good thing changing oil is still a novelty, looks like i'll be getting heaps of practice!!

should i use a different oil filter?

from what ive read id like to avoid using the harsh cleaning agents on the engine if possible, but i guess after a few oil changes i might feel differently

If the engine is REALY shitty inside it may be best to flush, if so----

Buy some engine flush , it comes in 100mill bottle I think , nulon is just one brand, you add it to your existing oil when changing, the instructions are usualy to run your engine at idle for 20 minutes reving it to 2000-2500 a couple of times during this period, stop engine and dump oil as fast as you can leave to drain as long as you possibly can before refilling.

Deffinately change the oil filter everytime you change the oil. -But especial if you;ve just done an engine flush.

Hope that helps a bit.

[Galois]

should i use a different oil filter?

yeah, ive been changing the filter every time. i meant is there a better brand than just the nissan one? the dealer seems to give me a different filter every time anyways

[08yannch]

i use K&N oil filters just because i tried it once it was easy to put on and take of and i never looked back. i really dont know if its better at filtering but im happy with it.

altho i have heard that the system 1 oil filters can be cleaned and re used so might be worth looking into them.