oils

[Mat Grant]

Hi guys,

Can anyone recommend a brand and viscosity of oil for the 1UZ (engine is stock), and same question for a W58 gearbox. I've been told "fully synthetic 10/40" but that's it. I'm in the UK, so stuff available in the UK is good, but any brand recommendations welcome.

Cheers, Mat.

 

[cribbj]

Mat, it's a slippery slope you're on, asking about oils

If the engine has been on a diet of dino oil prior to your ownership, putting a synthetic in is liable to find some leaks you didn't know you had, plus you may find you have worn valve guides and/or hardened & leaking valve stem seals (smoke on starting, deceleration, etc.)

Not to say you shouldn't try it, but just have your eyes open going in.

I've always liked Mobil1, but having said that, I'm running Redline in the Ferrari based on a recommendation by a Ferrari tech that I have a lot of respect for. He felt the shear strength of the Redline was superior to the Mobil1 and would work better for the Ferrari motor in our hot Houston climate. Being in the UK, that's not a consideration for you

I've forgotten what the recommended oil is for the W58's, but I know for the V160 in my Supra, nearly anything that guys tried other than the recommended V160 oil caused issues either with shifting, or seal swelling. Redline, in particular, was NOT recommended to be used in the V160 because of the seal swelling. (The BMW crowd had similar problems with the Getrags in their cars.)

So, based on all this, I'd say you could do a lot worse than Mobil1's line of products.....

 

[BigSteve]

http://planetsoarer.com/OilAnalysis/OilAnalysis.htm

This article has me thinking Penrite 10w-50 semi synthetic would be a good choice. And Shell helix looks pretty good too, just heard a lot more people recommend penrite.

 

[stevieg]

too be honest, in my 3 1uzfe powered cars including my single turbo'd 92 motor making 500+whp I run Shell Rotella T 15w40 in the summer, its got a lot of detergents for cleaning up high mileage engines as well as all the additives that they need

 

[gloverman]

I have run Elf 15/50 compitition in all my 1uz conversions. I have found it has given excellent results even in my turbo and supercharged jobs. These motors often burn a little bit due to past maintanence and I have been happy with this oils results here. I use ELF 75/90 trans synthese for my toyota gearboxs most of the time. The other gearboxoil which I like is Castrol VMX which can help with cold shifting if the box is a bit tired. At the end of the day I think the most important thing is to find an oil that you like and stick with it and change it at suitable intervals. We all have different opinions with oil and we all have good results with our prefered brand and thats why we use them. Cheers

 

[ash]

too be honest, in my 3 1uzfe powered cars including my single turbo'd 92 motor making 500+whp I run Shell Rotella T 15w40 in the summer, its got a lot of detergents for cleaning up high mileage engines as well as all the additives that they need

^^^

the diesel engine oils also have that little bit extra zinc
the 1uzfe being a non rollerized valve train, needs the zinc to not gall, and smear metal from the cam lob on the bucket.

 

[spf_lexus]

I have been running synthetic 10w40 diesel oil in mine for over a year now. As stated above ^^^ the extra zinc and higher heat tolerance is great insurance. I pay about the same as I did for general synthetics.


Speaking of oils I just read an article on WWII allied vehicles. They said in the winter time when temps dropped near zero or below the trucks' oil would get so thick that the crews would dig holes under their trucks and start small fires so that the sump would heat up. I also found it amusing that back in the prohabition days, cold temps would freeze coolant so it was common to add vodka or whiskey in place of coolant which im assuming had not been invented yet?

Back to the UZ, if its over 150,000 I would reccomend a heavier oil (depending on climate). John is spot on about the low viscosity causing weeping seals.

 

[BigSteve]

Penrite have increased their zinc levels for their Petrol oils, they did that because of people using the diesel oils but with less detergents because there were worries that the heavier detergents "could" cause problems.

I think pretty much any of the good brand name oils in the right weight for your climate will give acceptable results.

 

[samsdad]

I run a multifleet 15/40 (Lubrimax, Melbourne based crowd) and no issues engine stays nice and clean with services every 60 months or 10k (6000 miles).

Gearbox W and R series Castrol VMX80 is the Ducks Nuts there. No Baulking in cold weather, Nice shifting and no seal swelling. I did try Castrol Syntrax for a while but eventually dropped in and went back to VMX

 

[Mat Grant]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the replies - btw Samsdad - how did you find the Castrol Syntrax gearbox oil - reason for asking is I can't find VMX80 listed here (I'm in the UK). Was the syntrax any good?

Cheers, Mat.

 

[samsdad]

Nope.. Been using VMX since 1991

 

[Alan Whitaker]

Hi,
Talk to Guy at Opie oils, they also have a large range of oils.

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-337-cars.aspx


Alan