Best oil for tuned E16SE?

[amggsi]

I'm getting conflicting advice on what oil to use on my E16SE.

Engine spec is:
Polished and ported big valve head
Solid lifters
Kent AST17 cam
Twin 45's
4 branch and group A exhaust.

I have been told to use a good quality mineral engine oil in it by one person, but another tells me to use 10w/50 race oil which is a fully synthetic.
Anyone know what the best type to use is? I would have thought fully synthetic would be to "thin" for an old tech engine like this, but that is only my own opinion and I don't know a lot!

[philip]

iv used 10/40semi gm oil in 250+ 20xe's so id say it would be fine on your build tbh.

friend also uses same il in his grasser 14se, tbs, solid lifters, big valve etc with no problems.

[meritlover]

what is an 'old tech' engine? the fundamental moving parts have remained unchanged for about 100 years.

[Stuart]

Anything from 10/40 to 10/60 semi or fully synth..... Halfords had a deal on for oil a while back...

[mowgli]

wasn't the factory oil 15w40 or 15w50?? use that.

[Andy]

crisp n dry

[Southie]

I've always used GM 10/40 for all the early engines for a nova right through to the c/x16xes I had... Even our Focus at the minute has it in lol

The only time I changed oils was when I upgraded my old 1.4 SR with bike carbs that had 2k of work on it, I used Valvoline 10/30 at the time.

[meritlover]

i find i difficult to masturbate to these threads.

[Andy]

i find i difficult to masturbate to these threads.
me too.
Although these are much more arousing than the 18+ threads.
£10 a year? pfft.save ya cash and buy a proper jazz mag like fiesta or escort

[meritlover]

10/w40 semi is the best lube. does it EVERY TIME for me.

[Andy]

I prefer a bit of assembly meself but hey,each to his own!

[Novasport]

I use Gulf Racing 10W40 as recommended by Opie Oils, Sport seems to run nice on it. Was running on Castrol RS or TWS Motorsport 10W60 before that but it was getting too expensive when I wasn't getting it for free from BMW anymore lol

[marc69]

I bought synthetic racing iol in my 1.4 last years, never again, after every session the tappets were noisey due to the oil being too thin under extreme driving and the oil pressure dropped a lot under hard driving. I have gone back to the recommended mineral oil for these engines as standard and it is far better for track use.

[amggsi]

I bought synthetic racing iol in my 1.4 last years, never again, after every session the tappets were noisey due to the oil being too thin under extreme driving and the oil pressure dropped a lot under hard driving. I have gone back to the recommended mineral oil for these engines as standard and it is far better for track use.


Guy that built the engine insisted on mineral oil for it as well, so kept to his advice and ended up with Vavoline VR1 20w/50 for the run in period anyway, so see how that goes.

[meritlover]

i have never had a good explanation of why you would use an oil which contains less lubrication than a semi or synthetic oil during a period when your engine needs it most.

Marc, iam surpriesd you had the issues you describe with synthetic as the whole point is that the oil is more stable under stress and temperature, but i cant argue with your experience with it.

[Novasport]

Get some Castrol R in it, love the smell of that stuff :)

[Novasport]

Had a bad experience with Castrol Magnatec, my X16XE ran terrible on it. Changed back to GM 10w40 and it was fine

[meritlover]

Had a bad experience with Castrol Magnatec, my X16XE ran terrible on it. Changed back to GM 10w40 and it was fine

the importance of OE fluids is important and often overlooked.

i always use GM air in my tyres.

[Novasport]

As you say, 'I can't argue with your experince of it'.
Castrol Magnatec was crap, GM oil was fine. I am sure other oils would have worked OK too but my engine just didnt seem to like Magnatec

[mowgli]

i had loads of trouble with the tappets on 15w40 oil back in the olden days in my 1.2+1.3=1.4 mk1 engine. in the end, i used duckhams and it was perfect. then i just bought gm 15w50.. my current 1.6 engine is running 15w40 hd grade lorry engine oil & its fine, its spec is way above most car oils & is a semi synthetic with all the long service period stuff... and it costs £2 a litre

[amggsi]

my current 1.6 engine is running 15w40 hd grade lorry engine oil & its fine, its spec is way above most car oils & is a semi synthetic with all the long service period stuff... and it costs £2 a litre

I use the same stuff on everything else here, never had any of them complain. Have spent a bit of money on this engine so want to make sure it's right!