Engine oil

[mikey093]

Im going to be doing an oil change pretty soon, nova is a standard 14nv.
Just wondering what brand of oil people prefer to use. I know its all the same stuff and does what it is supposed to do but is they a noticable differance in it to go for the better/more expensive brand?

Thanks
Mike.

[novalovingned]

I've personally have never noticed any differance in any of the brands I've put into the nova or the astra van. Aslong as the thickness is correct for that engine neither will you imo :)

[millworm]

I've used cheapo stuff and expensive stuff and there is no difference the only difference is the price, the only cars that need good stuff are some diesels with particulate filters witch require high grade stuff (but that obviously doesn't apply to you).

[conza123]

i use the quantum 10w40 as i get it for free at work lol

[Southie]

Vauxhall 10/40 is what I'd use.

[mikey093]

So tesco's brand oil it is :p

[Novasport]

There is a difference. You cannot beat Vauxhall's own 10-40 for value especially if you can get it trade club.
I know somebody that works at an oil testing facility and Mobil usually comes out tops with Castrol being the worst of the quality brands.
I once used Castrol Magnatec on my Corsa 1.6 16v and it did not run right on it. Swapped back to GM stuff and it was fine.
Vauxhall oil is supposedly refined by Fuchs, another good brand

[BRoadGhost]

Yeah it's down to how often you change it; go too thin and you'll notice it rev quicker at the cost of your seals.

[John]

As above gm 10/40 ftw

[meritlover]

I've personally have never noticed any differance in any of the brands

what 'difference' did you expect to notice exactly? there are clear differences between oils, some have more lubricant than others which use more bulk agents, some use more detergents, some use re-refined (recycled) oil some use virgin...

you are likely to notice nothing significant if you do a few 1000 miles a year in an aleady 130k mile engine butwhatever you use, the best thing you can do for your engine is to change it regularly.

Pouring in £20 a litre fully synthetic is not going to magically undo years of neglect and magically rebuild worn bores and replace white-metal. Pouring in B&Qs finest 'multigrade' lawn mower oil in a a highly strung engine isnt going to be the best for it either, so be sensible.

stick to a brand name 10/40 mineral or semi synthetic for a daily drive and it will treat you well.

[conza123]

is there much of a difference between quantum 10w40 (volkwagen stuff) and the gm stuff

[meritlover]

about £7

[conza123]

about £7

i ment quality wise

[meritlover]

Probably not. Vauxhall nor VW want to put in any oil which will cause premature wear before 100k miles when changed as per recommended intervals.

[conza123]

Probably not. Vauxhall nor VW want to put in any oil which will cause premature wear before 100k miles when changed as per recommended intervals.

what would be better in mine as autodata lists 10w40 and 20w50

[John]

Stick with the 10/40.

[mikey093]

Vauxhalls own oil seems to be the best bet. Cheers guys

[Steve]

Personally as the engine will have done a few miles by now i'd go for 15/40, thats what I use as its a bit thicker and a little bit cheaper than GM, unless of course you get it at trade price.

[conza123]

Personally as the engine will have done a few miles by now i'd go for 15/40, thats what I use as its a bit thicker and a little bit cheaper than GM, unless of course you get it at trade price.

Or free lol

[meritlover]

Personally as the engine will have done a few miles by now i'd go for 15/40, thats what I use as its a bit thicker and a little bit cheaper than GM, unless of course you get it at trade price.

surely only if it smokes and/or looses oil pressure (which i presume you would have measured before hand)

[turbojolt]

i dont run any oil in my cars, its a myth you need it started by the oil companys

[Steve]

surely only if it smokes and/or looses oil pressure (which i presume you would have measured before hand)
Pretty much all old vauxhall engines then! lol

[marc69]

I just put in expensive race oil and the only difference is it leaks more.

[nova_niek]

Here is a little knowledge I was told by someone who has worked for HRC (Honda Racing) at the time when Freddy Spencer was winning championships. This person is also multiple supersport 400 champion and owns his own tuning shop if that is anything to go by.

This is what he told me: years ago, BMW had loads of trouble with their M-series engines. Lots of them seized running oil as recommended by BMW, except for the ones naughty enough use Castrol fully synthetic instead of BMW-approved oil. BMW noticed this and has since labelled Castrol synthetic as the only oil to use in M-engines.

Not only that. Over the years, I've serviced loads of Kawasaki ZL900/ZL1000 Eliminators. These bikes are prone to rod #3 failure. This is partially down to rubbish build tolerances on Kawasaki's behalf, but mostly to running crap oil. All bikes I've serviced got - you've guessed it - fresh Castrol fully synthetic. Yes it's expensive. But any of these bikes has yet to throw rod #3 so that tells me something.

The tuning chap mentioned above has a customer running a Honda CBR1000F with a staggering 1,3 million km (that's 800,000 miles - no typing error!) and that has only seen one rebuild at 550,000 miles. This bike has been run on Castrol synth from day 1. This should tell you something.


There is a difference. You cannot beat Vauxhall's own 10-40 for value especially if you can get it trade club.
I know somebody that works at an oil testing facility and Mobil usually comes out tops with Castrol being the worst of the quality brands.
I once used Castrol Magnatec on my Corsa 1.6 16v and it did not run right on it. Swapped back to GM stuff and it was fine.
Vauxhall oil is supposedly refined by Fuchs, another good brand

Novasport, reading your comment amazes me considering my excellent experiences with Castrol oils. AFAIK Castrol is owned by Mobil, but that doesn't have to mean anything.

This (see pic below) happened to the freshly rebuild (2,000 miles) throttle bodied X16XE in my Red Shed, about 3 days after an oil change - to Vauxhall synthetic... Could have been oil issues, bearing shell trouble or an oil pump failure, I've never found out.

http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff333/nova_niek/nova/pp-22-kr/Mydeadengine2-1.jpg

After this happened, I had a word with Steve at SBD and he told me to use nothing but Castrol synth. So after I had another engine built, I only used Castrol and never looked back. So far, it's done 40,000 miles without bother.

On another note: expensive oil does indeed not undo damage, wear and tear done by cheap oils. My daily (Citroën BX 1.4) burns quite a bit of oil, and changing to Castrol fully synth has not improved it. It does however run noticably smoother, but at £££ per litre it's proven to be a pointless exercise...

[phunkynova]

I use Castrol Magnatec part synthetic in the rally car with no problems and plan to keep on using it.

[chris862]

Castrol GTX for the last twenty odd years, 180,000 miles later no problems :) put wilko oil in it once,never again! could smell it when going along and I went up a steep hill and it starting knocking! so back to castrol :thumb:

[BRoadGhost]

Niek; at what revs did it throw the rod may I ask?

What oil was used for the first 2000 miles?