Which oil to use?

[Colin C]

I'm changing out the engine oil and replacing the filter over the next week or so. I already have an unopened gallon of Duckhams 10W/40. Does anyone know which is the best grade oil to use? Also is there any preference on brands? Lastly does anyone use an engine flush when changing the oil? I've never used one before but wasn't sure if it was of much benefit.

[CJ]

Colin, use a semi or fully synth oil, 10W/40 (semi) or 5W/40 (full) should do the trick, have a seacrh of the forums, thjis partular topic has been discuused on a few occasions, heres some examples:

http://www.fto-ireland.com/forum/phpBB2 ... php?t=2704
http://www.fto-ireland.com/forum/phpBB2 ... php?t=2129

Flushing the engine can be beneficial, especialy if you're changing from mineral oil to synthetic oil. The last time I used engine flush, it opened up a leak on one o the cam seals, this may or may not have been coincidental.

CJ

[kevinod]

Shell Helix seems to be a popular choice, its what I've been using in mine. I had 10/40W (semi synth) and went to 5/40W (fully synth) over Christmas. I ran Wynn's engine flush through it too to give it a cleaning out.

The engine seems quieter with the fully synthetic oil, but maybe that was just going from old oil to new oil...

I haven't noticed any problems with my cam seals but I haven't done much driving since putting the new oil in there.

[dave100]

CJ that aint a coincidence. Iv heard of that sort of thing happening before with flushing oil. I think its to be avoided in a 10 year old engine

[CJ]

CJ that aint a coincidence. Iv heard of that sort of thing happening before with flushing oil. I think its to be avoided in a 10 year old engine

Agreed, I've heard of this problem myself in the past, gunked up seals end up nice and clean which can be a bad thing is some ways. I've had a cam seal leak for a year and a half now and its fine as long as you keep an eye on the oil levels. The only issues are oil marks on the driveway and the NCT inspector, I got under the car and cleaned off any oil from around the engine before the last test to be on the safe side. I know of at least one FTO that has failed the NCT due to a cam seal leak, you're talking a couple of hundred quid to it fixed. Its a common enough problem on GPXs.

CJ

[deepseadcs]

I've had a cam seal leak for a year and a half now and its fine as long as you keep an eye on the oil levels. The only issues are oil marks on the driveway and the NCT inspector, I got under the car and cleaned off any oil from around the engine before the last test to be on the safe side. I know of at least one FTO that has failed the NCT due to a cam seal leak, you're talking a couple of hundred quid to it fixed. Its a common enough problem on GPXs.

CJ

I have the same problem too so I regularly check the engine oil, thought it was a big issue so need to replaced almost all the gasket but as you have said it's a lot of money to get it fixed.... i was thingking of putting engine plush that stop the leak, will this do the job for a moment?


deepsea

[CJ]

i was thingking of putting engine plush that stop the leak, will this do the job for a moment?

Engine plush?! Typo I'm assuming. The seal in question here is liquid based, no gaskets need to be replaced when the cam seals need redoing, the engine needs to be stripped down which incurs a hefty labour bill.

CJ

[MAC 1]

I've been advised not to use engine flush by several mechanics over the years. I also believe the old adage 'if it isn't broken don't try to fix it!'. You would be better off spending a few Euro's on buying a magnetic sump bolt to trap any metal particles that are floating around inside the engine.

Semi synth won't last as long as fully synth oil but I read on Shell's website that fully synth doesn't actually offer any more protection, it just lasts longer and is only really suited to newer engines.
I would recommend changing the oil at 6 months or 5,000 miles anyway on an FTO. For two reasons, the engines are high revving and they're getting old!