Oil Choice

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CITMAN
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Joined: 02 Aug 2002, 00:22
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Oil Choice

Post by CITMAN »

What kind of oil would you recommend I use for my 95 zx 1.4i with 78000 miles on the clock. Im currently using valvoline maxlife 10w 40. But with nearly 80,000miles on the clock there is bound to be wear in the engine. Should I use something thicker 15w 40 20w 50
alan s
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Post by alan s »

If it's not spewing it out all over the road & not burning much, leave it where it is.
My policy has always been to use as thin an oil as you can, after all, modern engines in particular the 16V varieties have to pump a lot of oil through a lot of nooks & crannies in a very short space of time & modern engines tend to rev much faster than the older varieties so need that coating over as much as they can all the time.
I saw the "thick oil/thin oil" theory blown out the window a couple of years ago now when a woman with a BX that had 535,000 miles on the clock & who worked at an oil research company developed the old leaky oil stem seals problem & approached the engineers at the company for advice.
They suggested <b>going to a LIGHTER grade of oil</b> [:0] the reason being that it drained back to the sump faster when the engine was switched off. When tried, it worked; so from that it is fair to conclude that using thicker oil is not a cure for burning oil. They also went on to claim that as the thicker oil would not find its way into the smaller tolerance areas, that using it would in fact speed up wear & shorten the life expectancy of the motor.
Out of interests sake, have a read of this article on the ins & outs of oil; I'm sure you'll find it most interesting.
Alan S
http://www.chris-longhurst.com/carbible ... bible.html
CITMAN
Posts: 407
Joined: 02 Aug 2002, 00:22
Location: United Kingdom
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Post by CITMAN »

thanks a lot alan for the link to chris longhursts website i.e. the car bible. I found it very interesting as you said and spent a good hour reading everything.
thanks again citman
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