ARTICLE: Synthetic oil vs Mineral oil

[guptavis]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Not just new cars. Mine is a 2009 Alto and for that also the drain interval is one year / 10k km

My Alto 2007 also has a 12month/ 10000KM oil change shedule specified in the manual and followed by me. So its not a new development.
I also know that Linea diesel has a 15k KM oil change interval.(not sure about the time limit)

PS: my alto's service is coming up, it needs 2.8L of oil. i got a 3L quartz 5000 15W40 for it. i also have half a litre of Total Quartz 7000 10W40 remaining. So can i put half litre of 10W40 and 2.3 L of 15W40 ?

[Gansan]

^^Why? Just use the full 3 litre pack for the oil change. If you wait long enough for the old oil to drain out and the oil filter is also changed, a full 3 lite pack will result in only a slight overfill above the upper mark in the dip stick, which will be fine. Never mix different grades of oil.

[guptavis]

Originally Posted by Gansan

^^Why? Just use the full 3 litre pack for the oil change. If you wait long enough for the old oil to drain out and the oil filter is also changed, a full 3 lite pack will result in only a slight overfill above the upper mark in the dip stick, which will be fine. Never mix different grades of oil.

thanks gansan,
i will change the filter too but ive read that one should not overfill, it can be just as bad as underfilling. So will fill 2.8L and keep the rest, will top up in a day or two if the level is below the upper mark.

I was only thinking of mixing so ill only have to store one container instead of two. I read a post here (i think by sgiitk) that all oils after API SG can be mixed. But if its not advised then no major hassles, ill use only 15W40 and keep the small quantities of both with me.

[sgiitk]

Well folks. As long as the oil level is between the high and low marks (preferably nearer the high) I will leave it at that and not bother about topping off.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by guptavis

thanks gansan,
i will change the filter too but ive read that one should not overfill, it can be just as bad as underfilling. So will fill 2.8L and keep the rest, will top up in a day or two if the level is below the upper mark.

Trust me, a slight over fill of a couple of mm does not matter. That is how I change the oil for my Alto for the past three years, with absolutely no issues. If you fill exactly 2.8 litres, it will actually show a little below the upper mark in the dip stick, which is also fine. Because the new filter will take in about 200 ml of oil!

The level showing slightly below or above the upper mark does not matter. It matters only when it is way above the upper or dangerously close to the lower marks.

Different brand oils of same grade / viscosity can be mixed in an emergency top-up. For instance any two API SL, 20W40 oils. But why do it deliberately?

[Chitta Pradhan]

Hi All

My car ( Verna Fluidic 1.6 CRDI- 11 months old ) is approaching 19k & is due for 3rd service. This time I wish to go for synthetic oil to see if it helps in any manner. Engine oil specification as per manual is " API service CH-4, ACEA B4 ( without DPF), ACEA C3 ( with DPF ) or above. Which synthetic oil should I go for which should meet the above specifications. Service station has their own stock, but no synthetic oil is available with them. Again will there be a warranty issue if I go for oil from purchased from outside stores.

Thanks

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by Chitta Pradhan

Hi All

My car ( Verna Fluidic 1.6 CRDI- 11 months old ) is approaching 19k & is due for 3rd service. This time I wish to go for synthetic oil to see if it helps in any manner. Engine oil specification as per manual is " API service CH-4, ACEA B4 ( without DPF), ACEA C3 ( with DPF ) or above. Which synthetic oil should I go for which should meet the above specifications. Service station has their own stock, but no synthetic oil is available with them. Again will there be a warranty issue if I go for oil from purchased from outside stores.

Thanks

Mobil Delvac 1. But, I'm not sure it's available freely in the market.

[shekaran]

My Nano had the 10,000kms service and changed to Mobil1 synthetic oil 0w-40. earlier the car would not drive below 50kmph speeds in 4th gear(without lugging). now the same nano putters around town in 40kmph speeds - is this a good effect ?

also for the same throttle position - earlier the nano would cruise @ 80kmph speeds. now for the same throttle position, it reaches 90kmph - can this be expected ?

the engine feels butter smooth and less noisy, but i also feel the engine revving smoothly and quickly to the redline in half throttle in each gear. earlier it need to be pedal to the metal - big day and night difference for such a small engine.

[blackfire_9]

It's great to know that you are feeling the benefits out of using the Mobil 1 0W40, however, I am using it in Maruti's K12M motor & somehow just find the motor running a lot rougher. While it's cold, it's alright but as soon as the temperatures build up, the oil feels like it's not even there.

Drive safe.

Originally Posted by shekaran

My Nano had the 10,000kms service and changed to Mobil1 synthetic oil 0w-40. earlier the car would not drive below 50kmph speeds in 4th gear(without lugging). now the same nano putters around town in 40kmph speeds - is this a good effect ?

also for the same throttle position - earlier the nano would cruise @ 80kmph speeds. now for the same throttle position, it reaches 90kmph - can this be expected ?

the engine feels butter smooth and less noisy, but i also feel the engine revving smoothly and quickly to the redline in half throttle in each gear. earlier it need to be pedal to the metal - big day and night difference for such a small engine.

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Well folks. As long as the oil level is between the high and low marks (preferably nearer the high) I will leave it at that and not bother about topping off.

There are a couple of issues worth considering before we believe that any level between the min and max are fine. One is that lower volume of oil in the engine means lower heat transfer and hence higher temperatures (as oil also acts as HT agent in IC engines). In a liquid cooled engine, it may not matter much, but in an air cooled engine, it would matter. Even in liquid cooled engines, it may mean somewhat more work for the cooling system.

Another issue is that lower volume of oil means less detergency, lesser amount of other additives. So in short, if you going to utilize the oil for say 10,000 km or so, you could possibly be protecting the engine more and keeping it cleaner with the oil close to the upper mark rather than the lower; as quite simply lesser oil will be doing the required "work" when its closer to the min. level.

[swarnava.m]

Originally Posted by shekaran

My Nano had the 10,000kms service and changed to Mobil1 synthetic oil 0w-40. earlier the car would not drive below 50kmph speeds in 4th gear(without lugging). now the same nano putters around town in 40kmph speeds - is this a good effect ?

also for the same throttle position - earlier the nano would cruise @ 80kmph speeds. now for the same throttle position, it reaches 90kmph - can this be expected ?

the engine feels butter smooth and less noisy, but i also feel the engine revving smoothly and quickly to the redline in half throttle in each gear. earlier it need to be pedal to the metal - big day and night difference for such a small engine.

Are you sure that this improvement in performance is due to the oil change only and not due to overall servicing procedures?

As per my experience, I had observed characteristics very similar to what you have mentioned above, when I changed the oil from mineral to synth in my Alto, but I had also performed engine decarb and throttle body cleaning at the same time. I believe that the improvements in performance which I had observed were due to these procedures.

[shekaran]

yes, the airfilter and engine flush also had been done with the 10k oil service. apart from that, nothing extra done. yes, can feel the differences after changing to synthetic oil, sure on this aspect.

mileage or performance difference is quiet noticeable, but needs to be monitored over the next 10k kms. also my dealer says tata recommends 15k for oil change and i can safely go till 20k, with a topup/check @ 10k interval.

[M124]

It's great to know that you are feeling the benefits out of using the Mobil 1 0W40, however, I am using it in Maruti's K12M motor & somehow just find the motor running a lot rougher. While it's cold, it's alright but as soon as the temperatures build up, the oil feels like it's not even there.

Drive safe.


^^^^ I am facing the same problems with my sx4.
Manual recommends 5W30. First i used 5W50 MOBIL1 then bought SHELL HELIX ULTRA 5w40 and still using the same. For my next oil change i will go with castrol magnatec 5w30 since all other options are mineral .There is no synthetic available in 5W30 or is it ?

[zoombiee]

Originally Posted by M124

For my next oil change i will go with castrol magnatec 5w30 since all other options are mineral .There is no synthetic available in 5W30 or is it ?

I dont think Magnatec is available in the 5W30 grade. For 5W30 you could use Castrol GTX for modern cars or Shell HX5-AZ. As far as I know 5w30 is not a synthetic grade.

[M124]

Originally Posted by zoombiee

I dont think Magnatec is available in the 5W30 grade. For 5W30 you could use Castrol GTX for modern cars or Shell HX5-AZ. As far as I know 5w30 is not a synthetic grade.

I have personally seen both gtx and mangatec in 5W30 grade cans. Also listed on castrol website. Even TOTAL is available in 5w30. magnatec 5w30 cost is 1600rs. for 4 litres.