Oil buff wants to hear from you!

[Paxton]

Originally Posted by F6 FOON

Thats exactly what mine does, on start up and normal running for less than 30 mins the gauge is almost off the gauge up the top but once its warm it almost drops off the gauge at the bottom end at idle for both of them, Im going to get a oil temp gauge so I can get a bit of a correlation between the 2.

I can help here, too.

My Falcon seems to be running slightly hotter with this Penrite than with the Castrol that was put in it at service.

Not that I'll ever pay money for Castrol unless it was put in the car by a mechanic.

[FreddyDUZ747]

Many of you guys run ULX-110?

[irish2]

I use Nulon 20w-50 in two old and high milage engines. No oil use and no noise.

[CPOCSM]

I have an L series Soob that has the annoying lash adjuster tap tap tap...tried all the oils but was recommended the Caterpillar oil "CAT" - no idea on the specs but I bought some and I have driven 9000km so far and not a single tap and motor is running like new...

The EB XR has a 20W50 Penrite but going to try the Magnatec for a clean out...then going to go the Valvoline Synth

[bowershed]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

Well what do you want to know.. PENRITE HPR 30 in the old school clevo and it get's bounced off the limiter and never looked like blowing up.. And i don't go by klm's for changes i go by discolouration.. Starts getting a bit off colour out it comes.. CASTROL EDGE 0-40 in the BA GT what it's had since new.. And it get's bounced off the limiter and has never looked like blowing up either.. So after bouncing both car's off the limiter's for so many year's and not blowing anything up.. I'll stick to what i'm using.. How's that for a testimonial, Johnny Law's would be proud of me.. :

do you run a solid flat tappet in your car or is penrite ok for this does it have enough zinc

[Francis]

I just like the fact Penrite has more Zinc than all the other majors now, and I know their extra 10 marketing might though a few off but for many years they have argued that the ultra low viscosity ratings are due to EPA pressure and fuel consumption ratings, not with the best interest of long engine life. This is just their latest way of saying their oils are a little heaver that the oil that was listed in the hand book. I don’t believe in going well over scale but yes I like the fact that there HPR5 is a 5w when cold and littler heaver as a 40w when hot compared to a thin 5.w30.
I personally would like to use Amsoil, Redline, RP, but with most engines now needing 7L that’s two 5L bottles at around $100 each, and I change my oil every 5000kms or sooner if it goes to dark.
Mobil 1 - Personally I just have a few worries about it. Years ago I was lucky enough to speak with someone deep within a V8 Supercar engine team. While no names were ever given, I can recall a leading V8 supercar team using it and chewing up Camshafts, while another same manufacture team was using an old fashioned Mineral racing oil and his camshafts were coming out like brand new. I know since then they have changed the formula and so on, but this was still around a time when they marking it to be the best wearing ultra protecting oil and so on, so I just have a little reserve about it. There were also a few Holden dealers saying that it did not help there VY glazing the bore issues when that was all going on. Also, I think there was word a few years ago about it changing what type of synthetic it was, from a PAO to a Group 3, I don’t know where they are at with it now, but this is just from what I can recall.
I’m suspired to see that Penrite here has mixed reactions though, I wonder though if anyone has had a bad experience on it or this is just market perception.

[Francis]

Originally Posted by Paxton

I used to swear by Penrite, but the problem I found with it was, it made the Tappets and Timing Chain in my EF noisy. I'm just waiting until the weekend before it comes out for the last time, and I replace it with either a Mobil One 15-50, or a Nulon 20w-50. New Filter as well.

Thats going to be really interesting to see if it fix's your noise. Normaly it's heavy weight would help with noisy lifters.

Please let us know if the oil change is the fix.

[Whitey Ford]

I'd use Penrite but the reps drive PT Cruisers. Sorry, there's no excuse for that.

I just use whatever the manufacturer recommends. I am not foolish enough to think that my knowledge on lubrication exceeds that of the engineers working for car and oil companies.

[Francis]

Originally Posted by F6 FOON

I wonder if that has anything to do with the pressure drop Im experiencing when it gets hot, the Penrite that is

This is also odd! I have always found better high temp pressure from Penrite when compared to other oils in the same weight.

Are we saying that it's heavy right up to a point then it drops pressure quickly?

I'd be really keen to see if once you change the oil to another brand if you notice a big difference in high temp pressure straight away. Keep us posted if you can.

[cosmo20btt]

Originally Posted by ea90gl

Apparently using Castrol leaves a red grime build up through engine internals? Not quite sure. One thing I do know is changing your oil frequently is one of the best things you can do for your engine. I usually change oils no more than 5000km even for my work bangers. Other than that I havnt really delved into the specifics/experience enough to know the finer details and differences

This is true, I have seen many a motor serviced on Castrol over the years & engine sludge or grime is or was a standard problem with Castrol as they added very little cleaners to their oils. Dont get me wrong, I think Castrol is a good lubricant as their motors did not seem to wear out as so much as clog up the engines & make their seals leak. My choice would be a BP oil as they are not too heavy with acid cleaners or too many additives, if I cant get it then I go for a penrite.

[Francis]

YES, I have heard much of the same about Castrol being known for sludge issue, and Yep BP are (were) great oils, I really liked them, but since Castrol and BP merged they stoped making BP oil. Visco 5000 gone! Corse Plus gone! What a shame, they were very very good products.

[Wolfinsheepsclothing]

Has anyone tried using castrol edge 10w/60 in your boss motors,i was thinking of using it on my next oil change,i have fuch's titan 15w/40 in it at the moment,cheers

[Francis]

Thats a good question, both the oils you mentioned I have though about using.

[FreddyDUZ747]

10w60 Castrol Edge is killa.This is what Steve from Mainlube reccomends if his items are not for you.

Interesting to hear the results from Penrite above.My car runs penrite and im going to hook up a gauge and drive around with it connected for a few days,hot in Adelaide too at the moment.In the same breath i dump my oil every 5000kms and every time it looks like it could go another 2000kms+.

[Mr Hardware]

Penrite, but the problem I found with it was, it made the Tappets and Timing Chain in my EF noisy.

Yep, my brother had this in his commodore.

I'd use Penrite but the reps drive PT Cruisers. Sorry, there's no excuse for that.

ahaha too right mate.

[Wolfinsheepsclothing]

Originally Posted by gilmore

10w60 Castrol Edge is killa.This is what Steve from Mainlube reccomends if his items are not for you.

Interesting to hear the results from Penrite above.My car runs penrite and im going to hook up a gauge and drive around with it connected for a few days,hot in Adelaide too at the moment.In the same breath i dump my oil every 5000kms and every time it looks like it could go another 2000kms+.

Yeah mate i read that thread i was just looking for a second opinion as the edge oil is quite exspensive ($90nz for 4 litres)-would use Steve's product(mainlube) but it's close to twice the price of the castrol equivalent(correct me if i am wrong Steve)must be real quaility stuff :

[Francis]

Would like to compare Motul and ELF oils to Castrol Edge 10w 60.

Also, anyone still hear of any issue using full syn oils?

[spandex]

Originally Posted by Francis

Would like to compare Motul and ELF oils to Castrol Edge 10w 60.

Also, anyone still hear of any issue using full syn oils?

I wouldn't use motul for anything, has cost me customers $1000's in rebuilds from that crap.I stay as far away as I can from it, I mostly use pinrite or RP on the race motors

[dom_105]

I use Mobil Super XHP in my AU since i've had it, and the engine has never skipped a beat in almost 300,000kms. And it's had a bloody hard life as well. Don't know what I'm going to do when I have to let it go, that thing is as loyal as my dog, never given me any troubles.

[Paxton]

Originally Posted by Francis

Thats going to be really interesting to see if it fix's your noise. Normaly it's heavy weight would help with noisy lifters.

Please let us know if the oil change is the fix.

I got the Nulon 20-50, and I can't stop smiling. I don't want to rave about it yet, but it's got ~500 Kms on it, and the engine has quietened up, I can't hear the Timing Chain, Lifters or anything, except the injectors, and a squeaky idler pulley.

I will never buy Penrite oil again.

[robbyg]

where my 351 clevo was rebuilt they told me penzoil was the only oil to put in, the problem with that is you cannot buy the 2ow 50 any more around where i live so i ended up going penrite, so many oils around these days who knows. the old block done i reckon 2 or 3 hundred thousand miles on gtx2 and really did not need rebuilding, only pulled it out to paint in the engine bay and freshened up the old donk

[zdcol71]

potterybeige had a fairly commonsense approach a few threads ago. I work at an oil refinery and am fairly conversant with brand tagging ie you would be fairly surprised just how many oils are produced by so few refiners. Castrol has been around for a long time for example, but how many of us associate it with BP?(punters at the bowser, I am talking about)
Beware the marketing dept. but obviously a good indication of the state of your oil is a visual check. If it looks similar to when you put it in, the oil, per se, is ok;(not withstanding that oils really ain't oils,I wouldn't be buying from the local recycler) if it looks or smells "burnt" I guess it should have been replaced by now.

[irish2]

Originally Posted by zdcol71

but obviously a good indication of the state of your oil is a visual check. If it looks similar to when you put it in, the oil, per se, is ok;(not withstanding that oils really ain't oils,I wouldn't be buying from the local recycler) if it looks or smells "burnt" I guess it should have been replaced by now.

Oils looking good means sweet FA. Only a proper oil analysis will tell you if the oil is reducing wear compared to a preceding oil. If you have an older motor you will get more combustion products entering the oil through higher piston ring to bore tolerances which will result in a darker oil. That can mean the detergents are doing a good job of suspending foreign matter. Looking at an oil is like looking at the cover of a book to tell how good it is.

[Swordsman88]

Originally Posted by Paxton

I got the Nulon 20-50, and I can't stop smiling. I don't want to rave about it yet, but it's got ~500 Kms on it, and the engine has quietened up, I can't hear the Timing Chain, Lifters or anything, except the injectors, and a squeaky idler pulley.

I will never buy Penrite oil again.

Hmm time to do my EF XR oil as well Andrew. Maybe i will try this nulon then. My EF is quite noisy on start up when the oil is cold....previous owner said it always has done it particualry when the oil is not brand new. This was even after he did a rebuild. It seems a habbit of the EF-EL I6s....more so than the AUonwards design. My old man uses penrite in his AU....not a problem though that is a highway car and has pretty rugular oil changes....

I saw Supercrap flogging 5.5 litres of 15w/40 the other day for a cheap price...it was castrol GTX i think. I used to know some guys that worked in this oil business and while the general consensus was that castrol had some of the best base oils he told me their 'additive package' was quite outdated, especially on the non-you beuat, maganatec/edge etc. lines. In other words, base GTX is very much base..... That and it is true about the red/maroon sludge...i've seen it at the wreckers on dismantled engines complete with the Castrol oil sticker/service note proudly displayed on the windscreen....

[Paxton]

Originally Posted by Swordsman88

Hmm time to do my EF XR oil as well Andrew. Maybe i will try this nulon then. My EF is quite noisy on start up when the oil is cold....previous owner said it always has done it particualry when the oil is not brand new. This was even after he did a rebuild. It seems a habbit of the EF-EL I6s....more so than the AUonwards design. My old man uses penrite in his AU....not a problem though that is a highway car and has pretty rugular oil changes....

I saw Supercrap flogging 5.5 litres of 15w/40 the other day for a cheap price...it was castrol GTX i think. I used to know some guys that worked in this oil business and while the general consensus was that castrol had some of the best base oils he told me their 'additive package' was quite outdated, especially on the non-you beuat, maganatec/edge etc. lines. In other words, base GTX is very much base..... That and it is true about the red/maroon sludge...i've seen it at the wreckers on dismantled engines complete with the Castrol oil sticker/service note proudly displayed on the windscreen....

I'll cross the 200,000 mark this month, so I went for the Nulon High Kilometer 20w-50. Just with a plain jane Ryco Filter, but so far so good.

We will know at 207,500 how good this oil actually is.

[blownba]

I am a massive oil buff too.
I run my own workshop and have spent many years using different products. I used Castrol for 8 years in a workshop I ran but always used Penrite in my own cars.
When it came time to run my own shop I spent alot of time with different suppliers but only one came to the top on all counts...... Penrite.

I keep Penrite products and probably pay a fair bit more for my stock oils than any other mechanic I know but the results speak for themselves.
I have had customers Ring me and ask what I have done to their car to make it so quiet all the sudden, especially Boss and Barra engines.

The Penrite Sin range is AWESOME value for money. I buy Sin 0 in bulk.
I buy a massive amount of Sin gear oils, 75 for 6 cyl diffs, Sin 80 for V8 diffs.
The sin gear oils are one of the few gear oils that shut up the LSD's and whines in Ford Dana centres. I have actually fixed alot of whines and chatter in diffs with just this oil.

Another AWESOME oil is the Man Gear oil 70. Its a synthetic gear oil replacement for the 6 speed manuals in Fords and Holdens. As most owners would know they are a clunkey, notchey, Rattley hunk of junk at times, especially in heat.
I replace it with the Penrite oil (it is especially blended to run in the 6 speeds) and EVERYTIME, they become a totally different box. Customers will always comment on how crazy their gearbox works now, smooth shifts, no baulking when cold, hot rattles disappear and you can give them massive stick with confidence knowing you don't have s crap auto trans oil in there that will break down when things get tough and not protect you gears. the Penrite will.

The load carrying or shear capacity of Penrite oils is always superior than nearly all other oils in all tests I have seen. There is only one oil that will do better and thats the Royal Purple, but at nearly 4 times the cost its not a viable prospect for daily drivers.
The additive packs used by Penrite engineers are always the best there is and it reflects in their oils ability to cope with our harsh Aussie conditions.
For me it makes sense. Why by and oil that is blended for European or American conditions that are nothing like our. Buy Aussie made, and suited to Aussie conditions.

The choice is simple...

And it doesn't hurt that I am 400m from their main headquarters and warehouse and am personal friends with alot of the guys who work there and service most of their cars and certainly the employees there send their private cars to me as they know I only use Penrite products Exclusively.

[blownba]

Originally Posted by spandex

I wouldn't use motul for anything, has cost me customers $1000's in rebuilds from that crap.I stay as far away as I can from it, I mostly use pinrite or RP on the race motors

I agree. Shear strength of these oils is pathetic. Both of them!!
When you need them the most they just are not there and will give you metal to metal contact every time. The crapest oil in the Penrite range will carry more load then their synthetic range!!


I worked on a race team that was sponsered by Gulf western. We used to empty the gulf bottles out and pour Penrite Sin in instead to run at the track. that way the sponsers will not crack up if they saw a Penrite container.
And i have heard of ALOT of this happenening. Teams will get sponsered by oil companies and not like their products so it gets poured out and Penrite products placed in the containers instead, especially alot of well known race teams and a well know engine builder i know.

[Wolfinsheepsclothing]

Hi has anyone tried caltex halvolene 5w-40 fully synthitic-i can get this stuff for half the price of castrol's ow-40 edge or fuch's 5w-40,cheers

[Fireblade]

I use Penrite Sin 15 Blownba in both my 6's is this what you recommend, my best mates a mechanic/tuner and he swears by penrite also.

[GK351]

On my 98 Au falcon i use whatever i see thats under 30 bucks for 5 litres done over 500,000km's never opened up does not blow smoke tow a heavy trailer and it goes through alot. never had to top up ever.

My wifes TDI golf needs the speacial oil that VW recommend about $100 for 5 litres
I think its castrol vw 000507 Purchased it brand new done a lil over 20,000km's in just over two years and burns about 1 litre every 6500km's.

On my volvo trucks i use Volvo diesel oil changed every 15-20K i have seen engines go well beyond 1 million km's even before they have been opened up.
Roughly 90 to 110 gold ones for 20 litres depending on how the guy behind the counter feels.
Pulling well beyong 25t's day in day out i have never had to top it up before its due service.

Oil is oil, stick to the factory spec and you wont have dramas, i cant talk for race engines though they go through the extremes like nothing else.

Might buy some cheap penrite to spread all over the concrete in the truck yard and do some circle work in the au one of these days.
End of year is here after all.

I dont like their marketing at all. (penrite)