Hi,
David Hardcastle discusses oil viscosities for the Rover V8 engine in at
least one of his two Rover V8 books ("The Rover V8 Engine" and "Tuning the
Rover V8"), and he describes the oiling system in this engine as a "volume"
system rather than a "pressure" system. Providing the oil in sufficient
volume tends to require sufficient (read higher) oil viscosity, and
therefore the lightweight oils such as the 5W50 are very much discouraged
(let's ignore the newest Rover engine variant!). I like to use the Mobil-1
15W50 in my Triumph TR8, and I have 105,000 miles on the basically
"un-opened" engine (OK, so I did a camshaft and timing gear...)
Just my opinion and experience!
David Huddleson david.huddleson@ccra-adrc.gc.ca
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
-----Original Message-----
From: Eirik Aarebrot [mailto:eirik@ark.museum.no]
Sent: February 16, 2000 2:39 AM
To: buick-rover-v8@autox.team.net
Subject: Motor oil
Hi folks!
I wonder what the best engine oil for my Rover 3,5 litre V8-engine from
1978 will be?
The Buick/Olds 215 dates back from 1961 when synthetic engine oil (like for
example "Mobil 1" 5W-50) did not exist (at least not to my knowledge). It
was designet to run (depending on outside temperature and climate) on
"ordinary" mineral oil like 20W-50 , 15W-40 or 10W-30.
However, today synthetic engine oil like "Mobil 1" 5W-50 is recomended and
used already from the Rover factory in England for the new Rover V8-engines
installed in the new Range- and Land-Rovers.
The new synthetic oils is claimed to have some benefits like easier
starting in cold climates (because the oil is much thinner when it is
cold), lower friction and consequently improved fuel economy, better
lubrication under certain surcumstances because this thin oil will faster
and easier reach the bearings in the engine. It is also claimed you can
drive longer between oil changes because the molecule structure is more
robust in these oils, so the oil lasts longer.
In the classic car press there are warnings about using these new oils in
old type engines (even reconditioned ones) because these old engines were
not designed to run on these oils.
I understand that for example crankshaft bearing material and tolerances
has something to do with wether an engine is suited to run on synthetic oil
or not. Probably the oil pressure is important too. I guess that this must
be different on the new Rover V8-engines compared to the older ones?
What oil do the people on <buick-rover-v8-owner@autox.team.net> recommend
and use for their Rover-V8 engines, and why?
Is there a specific production year you can say that engines produced
before this year should be run on "old fashion oils", and engines produced
after this year should be run on the new synthetic oils?
GOOD answers are most welcome!
Eirik
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