for the oil viscosity expert, t/y as I didnt understand those numbers although of course Ive noticed that these days the dearer the fancy pack of oil in Supercheap its also always an 'exotic" grade 10w or lower, never a 20W50 Multigrade, even the basic Valvoline XLD I think has gone down from 20-50 to 15w-40..

You might be able to answer a question about the role of oil and maybe grade in an engine failure and servicing another type of car, not a Ford, a 1998 2.0 Daewoo Leganza...which runs an engine which is a GMH sourced motor, basically its a JE Camira type bottom 3/4, with a souped 16valve head on it....so apparently those engines shared an unusual trait even with the Camiras theyre based on.
The car used to give an intermittent oil pressure warning light, which might stay on or flicker for a few minutes, then disappear. Once when it was more persistant the bloke went to a fairly well established workshop in Doveton Vic, the bloke put a flush through it changed oil, no warning light, said there appeared nothing still wrong with it.

A short few weeks later the oil warning came on again, the bloke slowed down and nurses it a bit thinking the whole thing is most likely an electronic fault false alarm that there is probably no lubrication crisis with the engine itself...a minute from his home, CRUNCH...ground to a halt.
He didnt know it at the time but when I came and inspected it it had an impact bulging crack in the alloy sump and starting engine was clear had thrown a rod.
Now what happens as the bloke and Dandy Rebores exlains is that oil pickup strainer is so small it gets blocked intermittantly very easily , eventually there is insufficient oil flow to save the engine
at all,at least one BE fails, and bingo, one runaway rod in flight...break through the side block rendering that useless, bounce into the alu sump with enough force to almost go through that.
On removing the strainer tube it is a bizarre looking thing with a smaller head even than most 1200 cc engines have let alone a mid-sized 4 like this one.The tragedy is that it would have been easy to fix in time if only we knw the nature of the issue when it was flashing warnings, the strainer tubes dont cost much and it is easy to remove the sump with engine in place, as it often is on FWDs..
so he paid $2000 for an import engine.if it ever gives warnings again we will of course know and be able to intervene easily clean or replace the intake pipe, but Ive told him in the meantime Now the car had regular oil changes but suually with 2oW50 such as Valvoline. I suggested to him to do one or both things, lower the oil grade to a more modern thinner grade even 15W40 which we have been using, and maybe even do as I do in my LPG hilux, and use Diesel oil as the extra detergents may help with cleaning the engine narrow passages such as the strainer gauze...he keeps doing as he did last weekend and sneaking up to me with some 20W50 again, because of course it is cheaper..he's thick in the skull and though you can explain your strategy to him, it goes in one ear and out the other, and he turns up with the heavier cheaper oil wanting me to put it in.


Anyway, what do you think of the whole general technical issue and oil types and grades as a factor?
of course it ais also an imbecilic local GMH design fault, the part doesnt even look right when you look at it. The oil pickup looks like a large circumcised penis or a bit of toilet door graffiti..maybe the designer at Holden was gay with a dirty mind.

AMSOIL 0w - 30

its suppose to last 30,000 or 1 year - which ever comes first

Hi all. Have been reading all these posts about oils and i have a few questions. I have a 94 ef fairmont sedan and a 97 el fairmont wagon both over 350000 km's, both family cars so they need to be running right etc (oil changes every 3 months). I have been getting my oil from the local ford dealer (15w-40) but last oil change they gave me a different grade oil (was told it was similar to the oil i have been getting) as apparently ford dont have the 15w-40 anymore. Have been told that i can go to 20w-50 but reading posts seems like it is best to stay with 15w-40. Also have noticed with wagon during summer with a/c on and idling at lights oil pressure guage drops and light comes on and warning beep as well, would that suggest going to a thicker grade of oil. Oil sender unit was changed 18 months ago. Also is it best to stay with a mineral oil that have been using since i have had the cars or can i use a synthetic oil and which brands of oil should i use and which ones should i steer clear of. Thanks

Higher mileage engines have more wear, so the gaps are wider and oil pressure tends to be lower. Going one step up in oil weight should help this, especially in hot weather. I have run both 15W40 and 20W50 in my EF XR6 with no problems.

A good synthetic oil will give better protection and produce slightly lower friction and heat than a good mineral oil. Royal Purple, Amsoil, Nulon, and Valvoline Durablend (semi-synthetic - but excellent performance per $) all test well. Mobil 1 doesn't seem to do as well. Be aware that a good synthetic usually has LOTS of detergents, so the first time you run it, the oil can look black (but still perform fine) in a couple hundred kms, as it cleans out all the sludge and varnish accumulated over the years. Some premium synthetics advertise extended oil change intervals (and testing seems to support this), so it doesn't actually cost more per km.

A good oil filter changed regularly is just as important as the oil. Maximum 10,000kms between filter changes - less in severe duty or dusty conditions. Typical oil filters are 40-50 micron (absolute efficiency, not nominal efficiency) - even some well-known and trusted brands. A human hair is about 70 microns. A 30 micron filter will reduce engine wear by over 50% compared to a 50 micron. Ryco are usually 30 micron - among the best of the common filter brands and a cost-effective choice. For a bit more money, you can get 15 micron (Amsoil), 20 micron (Ford Racing Performance), 22 micron (Donaldson High Efficiency), 25 micron (Royal Purple), and other premium oil filters for the Falcon six. Below 25 micron, the differences in wear are barely measurable. But the smaller the particle it traps, the faster it fills with dirt, so oil filter change intervals cannot be extended.

I'm running Royal Purple synthetic oil, Ford Racing Performance oil filters, and Filter Mags (yep, a bit OTT) at about 10,000 km change intervals in both my XR6s.

Okay guys, I need some advice.

My girlfriend's car was given to her by her mother, and as I didn't know the state of the oil it had a fluid change to HPR5 (5W40) - it seemed okay, however I was worried if the W rating was thick enough. The next one up is HPR10, which is 10W50.

Our car is an AU series 1 with the non-VCT i6 engine with 260,000km's on the clock.

So, after 5,000km's we put in HPR10... it's okay when cold, but after driving around for a 1/2 hour I can hear a slight knocking sound coming from the engine (sticking my head in the wheel arch - can't notice it with the bonnet open and actually looking at the engine).

The only other thing we did differently at this service was replace the Motorcraft filter with a PureOne filter... I don't know if this has anything to do with it.

I swear it didn't make that noise HPR5 - but it might have, I may have not noticed it as I don't drive it much. I think I will switch it back to HPR5 to play it safe... however, I thought slightly thicker oil would protect the engine a bit more?

So apart from all that, I've now found that Penrite have an "Everyday" fully synth 10W40 oil which sounds perfect - not too thin or thick, and even though it's not HPR and there's no big "Full Zinc" logo on the front, according to Penrite's website it's got the same Zinc content as HPR10...

No idea what the real difference between their Everyday 10W40 and the HPR5/10 if they both are fully-synth and have the same zinc content... so has anyone used their 10W40 oil?

im running the hpr10 in my au engine and have been for 3 years now its fine, nice and clean internally the engine has only 140'000km.

the hpr5,10 and 15 is now fully synthetic and afaik has replaced the everyday synthetic..

but i run valvoline durablend 10/w 40 in my mrs au with 217.000km and it seems to be a good oil aswell.

i stayed using the penrite hpr10 in my engine because being turbo it cops huge amounts of abuse compared the mrs au..

just to add, i have never used engine flush in any engines, if they seem dirty internally ill just increase oil changes intervals..

Yeah there may be an underlying issue - funnily enough that slight knocking sound I'm starting to randomly hear (it's not there all the time, it comes and goes but it only does it when it's warm) is exactly that same sound I get in my Commodore's engine (ecotech 3.8). The commy's been doing it for 100,000km's or so now with no issues though.

It might not even be the oil, it might be because I've been driving the AU hard when I do drive it, possibly it's not coping. I figured HPR10 would be safer with my driving style which is one of the reasons I put it in.

If it's an engine problem I'm still not going to worry that much, I'll keep the engine till it does then just swap it for a lower km's 2nd hand one.

However I haven't heard it before in the Ford so I *think* (hope) it's just the oil and switching to something else might fix it...

I'll check out the durablend 10W40 then, it'll probably be that or the penrite everyday 10W40 fully-synth.

Commodore Noise would likely be the balance shaft, cos it's a commodore haha

sorry to bring an old post up. but i thought its best to post here
the old boy has a bf fairmont n/a 6 stock
He drives pretty ordinary and doesnt push it like us petrol heads and motor seems like in good condition.. so i think?
car has done about 130,000 . Just wondering what oil u guys recommend.
Hes running semi synthetic penrite HPR 10 which is 10-50 atm. however i was thinking of going full synthetic hpr 5 40. Mainly uses it for short trips.. But over all what do u guys recommend. I honoustly read through the first pages. but being this is an old topic, the kms were all pretty low, that i saw
thanks in advance guys

That engine is meant to use 10W30 or 5W30. 130 000km is no reason to use thicker oil.

thanks for your reply tickford_6.

Hmmm so that would mean penrite HPR5 which is 5-40 wont be suitable right.. sorry the very first post has got me all major confused. lol

Direct quote from the first post.



Use 10w30 or 5w30 If it has good oil pressure and doesn't foul the plugs with oil there is no reason to use a thicker oil. period.

Just out of curiosity, why would you want to lower just the winter rating? And also, this seems to be the right place to ask....
Where do I find an oil filter magnet?

Filtermags are here: http://www.filtermag.net.au/index.html

Effectively, the 'W' rating tells you how the oil behaves - how thick it is - when it's cold. Normally, oil gets thinner as it gets hotter. The wider the range between the hot and cold viscosities, the more consistent it is across the temperature range. The hot rating is the really important one, as that is what the engine sees at normal operating conditions. A 10W50 may have the same W rating as a 10W30, but would be way thicker at normal temps.

Because it promotes faster flow at start up. That's the only reason multi grade oils were invented.
The faster you get full to every component the better.