What brought me to post this, is an expereince I had the other day.All names are ommited to protect the guilty.
I was talking to someone, who was selling a Sr20DET'ed S13 and he was explaining to me, how his (reputable) shop recommends Mobil Drive clean 10w-30 for his car.
I almost fell out out my combat boots..
This reminds me that many here grew up in an era of CAFE driven half truths about oils..
Let me review what a good oil is for a SR20DET, a CA18, a KA24-T.
It has as a ACEA A3 rating on the back of the bottle, the Donut SL rating by itself doesnt cut it.The way the SL rating gets tested it allows up to 275% thickening of oil, plus you get to replenish, the ACEA testing doesnt allow that and insists on stay-in-grade.Now you say "Wait Fred! Thick oil is good, isnt that what you always say?"
Yes, but the thickness has to be inherent ,in the oil, not the result on an oxidation, that turns part of it to sludge, by destroying the base stock.
Not only did this shop recommend a 10w-30 non syn in a turbo engine it recommended it in the deep south!!!!Were it gets hot!
When you drive a tuubo car use a 40 weight oil ,as a minimum, better a 50 weight at least in summer.
Some good oils for our cars are:M1 15w-50, M1 0w-40Redline 5w-40 ValvolineSynpower 20w-50 and such.For winter castrol ow-30 ( redlabel ONLY thats an SLX import, the other 0w-30 Syntec isnt all that)
Better yet, oil to go synthetic, especially in a turbo motor.
Another thing that was shocking to me, is not just the viscosity but the oil brand that was recommended.Mobil1 drive clean.Its a fine oil in general commuting service, with a group I base stock ,that has high solvency for "gunk".But its also one of the weakest oils, for hard running applications and as a group I base stock (50's style base lube) it must simply be shredded in a turbo.Many Many better oil choices exist.
If you drive a turbo car look at the back of the bottle.It should say ACAEA A3, synthetics can usually achieve thos with a 40 weight and up ,non syns usually only with a 50 weight and up.
Do a search on NICO for "mb229.1" (or was ot 229.3) for a list of deserving oils.
Some very exceptional oils can meet ACEA A3 can do it as a 30 weight and that would be a good choice as a winter oil (castrol SLX comes to mind)
Now here is the link I promised, it shows turboed Nissans and what the oil recommendations are in Australia far away from US CAFE regs:http://www.castrol.com.au/lube_guide/index.html
Fred..
