Oil advice and Recommendation

[oilman]

If you would like any oil advice or a recommendation for your car please feel free to ask here and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

To help us to give the most accurate advice possible we do need some information about your car. e.g:

Make:
Model:
Year:
Engine type:
Performance modifications:
Driving style: (road / off-road / track etc)
Any other information that may be relevant: e.g. approx BHP if modified, oil temps if known
What recommendation are you looking for? Engine, Gearbox, Diff etc.

Any oil we recommend is available to buy from us (if you would like to) for delivery throughout the UK and many destinations in Europe. We offer a really extensive range of oils and lubricants from 11 major oil manufacturers at prices much lower than the high street and main dealers. We stock oils and fluids that meet pretty much all manufacturers and international specifications. Our brands include, Silkolene, Fuchs, Gulf, Castrol, Motul, Mobil, Millers Oils, Shell, Valvoline, Amsoil and Redline.

The good news is, now the Club is a member of our club discount scheme you can discounts of at least 10% across our entire range.

To redeem your 10% club discount simply use the following club discount code at the checkout.

406OC

Once the code is added at the checkout you will then receive your extra 10% club discount. However this discount code cannot be used in conjunction with other offer codes, BUT the code can be used in conjunction with any of our offers on this page HERE that do not require offer codes.

Any questions please ask here or contact us via email at [email protected]

Finally, if there are any products we don't stock and you have difficulty getting hold of elsewhere, let us know and we'll see if we can stock them.

We look forward to being of help!

Cheers
Guy, Opie Oils

You can also contact us by phone on +44 1209 202944
(All oils recommended are available to buy online at my web site)

[nick]

See http://406oc.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=22452

Pre-Approved by the Admin Team.

Thanks,

Nick

[rwb]

Hi & welcome,

Just bought 6l of Total Quartz Ineo ECS 5W-30 (fully synth) with the intention of putting it in this weekend so you'll have to wait a couple of months
The handbook recommends either this, Total Quartz 7000 semi-synth 10W-40, or Total Quartz 9000 synth 5W-40.
It's going in a 407 2.2 HDi (DW12BTED4)

So: two questions:
(1) since you don't stock Total oils what do you recommend instead, and
(2) how to choose between these three rather different alternatives.

In the mean time, this engine oil test kit sounds interesting, especially since I could do a before-and-after EGR blanking.

[oilman]

Hi,

French are pretty good at looking after each other, so the only reason the car is recommended Total is because they are French. In your handbook it will give you a spec that the oil needs to meet, on a modern diesel this could look a little something like ACEA C2.

If you have a modern diesel then you will need to check if you have a diesel particulate filter fitted as this will make a difference to the spec of oil required.

Brand wise, as long as you stick to a reputable major brand and the oil meets or exceeds the correct spec and you use the correct viscosity you cannot go wrong.

If you look up your model here http://www.opieoils.co.uk/vehicle-lookup.aspx You should find a selection of suitable and approved oils.

Cheers

Guy

[rwb]

Well here's the oil test. Actual size of the spot is about the size of a 5p coin.
I think the conclusion is that it's mucky and needs changing, which is a bit surprising since the interval is 20k and this has done 8k.

[rwb]

here

[KozmoNaut]

Diesel engines turn the motor oil black extremely quickly (within a couple of hundred miles), due to soot. It's nothing to worry about, since it's mostly just suspended carbon particles. Carbon is quite soft and graphite is a very common dry lubricant for locks and other mechanical objects with tight tolerances. It just tends to rather effectively colour everything black.

Stick to the normal intervals or change yearly. Modern motor oil holds up for much longer than most people think.

[oilman]

Hi Folks,

If you are having trouble finding out which Engine Oil is right for your car, please use our lookup guide.



If you need help finding your car, or it is modified in any way, you can call us Monday - Friday 8:30am to 5:30pm on 01209 202944, email us at [email protected], or just ask here.

Cheers
Oilman

[Captain Jack]

Hi Guy,

Is there a difference, in real world use, between different types of oil brands? For example, for my 407 2.2L HDI, your site recommends 5W-30 oil with variable prices. The Gulf Formula 6L comes in at £38 while the likes of Shell are coming in at over £60 for what is, essentially, the same(?) oil.

Can you explain? Am I paying for the badge/label or the quality of oil?

I do a mixed sort of driving, short distances between home and gym (:oops:) as well as fairly long motorway ones.

Thanks
CJ

[oilman]

Hi CJ

Oils can vary a lot, even though they say similar things on the label.

For example, there are three different types of synthetic basestocks, so there can be a big difference between the basic make up of oils, even though the labels essentially say the same thing.

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/pdfs/tech-art ... ptions.pdf

As you can see from that, oils labelled as synthetic can be mineral oil derived, proper genuine synthetics or ester based synthetics, all of which affect the price. Shell have thrown a spanner in the works with that classification as they now use a different method to produce the group 3 oils, which uses gas as the raw material and reduces the level of impurities in the finished product, so in theory the Shell group 3 basestock is pretty good stuff.

Another way of affecting the price of an oil is to alter the additive package.

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/pdfs/tech-art ... ackage.pdf

The additive pack is a very important part of the oil and can greatly affect the oils properties, but it can be reduced in quality or quantity to reduce the production costs. That can mean that the oil will not last as long or work as well.

Quality control affects the price and quality, the more samples are tested during production, the more it costs, but the more likely it is to be what it says on the label. Some cheap oils have been found to be well out of grade (one of the worst I've heard of was something that was supposed to be a 5w-40 was actually a 20w-40).

Paying for the name is one way of looking at it, the other way is reassurance due to a trusted brand. Yes, Castrol, Shell and Mobil can be expensive, but everyone knows those brands and very few people have ever had problems with them. Some of the smaller brands are less well known and people don't know how good their products will be.

Actual manufacturer approvals can cost a lot of money and that adds to the price of an oil, so a lot of manufacturers sell oils as 'meets the requirements of XXXX' or 'Can be used where XXXX is specified'. You then have to trust the oil manufacturer that the oil is actually suitable for the application, rather than the oil being approved. Don't risk that with cars under warranty, pretty much all manufacturers will void a warranty if the wrong oil is used. Some dealerships are testing the oil before they look at engine issues now, as if the oil is incorrect, they may be able to get out of doing the work.

Pretty much all of the above can be ignored with Gulf, I've put it there as an example of why oils can be cheaper. They are not cheap oils (although they aren't high priced ones either), it's more that we kept hassling them about the price and eventually they gave in and we got a good deal. We've then passed the discount along to customers.

Cheers

Tim

[Captain Jack]

Brilliant - thanks for the explanation!

[jasper5]

I'm afraid in a lot of cases you are paying for a label.

I buy my oil from either the Peugeot dealers trade club, Renault dealers, or Vauxhall trade club ...whoever has the best deal on offer...and pay around £9 per 5 litres even for low ash oil.
You can't say the dealer won't cover warranty if this oil is used as they are selling it for their vehicles!
Buying expensive oil is not the only way to buy oil.

[oilman]

Yes, you can get dealership oils at good prices sometimes, but like with pretty much everything, own brand is the basic option. They are made to hit a certain specification for the lowest price possible, but they are not aimed at exceeding the basic requirements. For example, a lot of people buy the GM Dexos 2 own brand oil as it's usually fairly cheap and there are various things going around about it meeting lots of specs, but when you compare it to the latest VW, Merc, Renault, BMW etc specs, it falls short. This is a link to a tool that gives a visual representation of a lot of specifications.

http://origin-qps.onstreammedia.com/ori ... index.html

If you then compare the specs an own brand oil meets (where it is only aimed at meeting one spec) to something like the Castrol Edge 5w-30 (which meets a lot of specs), you will see that because the Edge is meeting other specs, it's exceeding the minimum requirements for others.

Cheers

Tim

[NinoB]

I just service my car(EW10) ..fully change the engine oil to (total quartz 5000), change the filter too..after doing that successfully, then try to set the reminder..when I set it , it shows me 20000 for the next service I was like what went wrong? Is supposed to be 12000, but why mine is high ? Any ideas on how tow bring it low as 12000 or less ?

[NinoB]

And I dunno wether the 20000 is in miles or kilometer?