ARTICLE: Synthetic oil vs Mineral oil

[Sudipto-S-Team]

Hi GPA
To be honest, unless one uses all the brands one cannot pass a judgement on which is better and which is worse. I am using Mobil 1 because it is heavily recommended everywhere by everyone. And I am quite happy with it. But if you ask me I cannot prove that it's better or worse than X, Y or Z. So go ahead with Mobil 5W50. After all it's a globally very big name. You can't really go drastically wrong with it. The other big names that are available in India are Motul, Valvoline. Shell etc. Of course Castrol is also big.
Sudipto

[prats]

Hi all!!
Just remembered, while at the service station, the service engineer showed me a can of Wynn's engine oil additive that had a price of Rs350/-. Was not sure and hence skipped it. Can anybody throw some light on this pls. Are additives good? What are the brands recommended

Originally Posted by Raccoon

Sigh... your oil will be severly stressed! If you use mineral, you might be better off changing every 6 months at the very max., or even earlier!

Hi gpa,
I had got the dealer details from Just dial sometime back and there is one who is near jalahalli cross on the Ayappa temple road, next to dena bank. Check it out if the distance is not a problem for u. Call up just dial and ask for the Mobil dealer near jalahalli, they will give u the phone number of the dealer that i'am talking about.
5W50 is what they have for pertol even though the recommended is 20w40 for a swift. Pls check ur car manual for the recommended oil grade. 5W50 is safe and i agree with Sudipto, it is used the world over, it cant be bad

Originally Posted by gpa

Where to buy synthetic oil in Bangalore?

Hi All,

Like, lohit, I too have the similar query. Where can I buy synthetic oil in Bangalore. Have wandered around some shops in JC Road, but was not too sure of the quality.

Also, which would be the best synthetic oil for a Maruti Alto. I would like to change to a synthetic oil at my next service, so your inputs on these two queries would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

gpa

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[cyneverdie]

S_S_Team ; dont forget OWS engine oil - I would only use mobil 1 or OWS man.
Shell's better formula's are abroad

[gpa]

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

Hi GPA
To be honest, unless one uses all the brands one cannot pass a judgement on which is better and which is worse. I am using Mobil 1 because it is heavily recommended everywhere by everyone. And I am quite happy with it. But if you ask me I cannot prove that it's better or worse than X, Y or Z. So go ahead with Mobil 5W50. Sudipto

Thanks for your inputs Sudipto.

So for the Alto, you recommed the 5W 50? I am planning to switch to Mobil 1 at my 10,000 KMS oil change.

Also, as I have been using a synthetic oil for the first 10,000 KMS, will I have to flush my engine before the switch to Mobil 1?

I have heard from a few threads on this website of something known as "engine flushing" when changing from mineral oils to synthetic.

Looking forward to your inputs on the same.

Thanks,

Pritish

[gpa]

Originally Posted by prats

Hi gpa,
I had got the dealer details from Just dial sometime back and there is one who is near jalahalli cross on the Ayappa temple road, next to dena bank. Check it out if the distance is not a problem for u. Call up just dial and ask for the Mobil dealer near jalahalli, they will give u the phone number of the dealer that i'am talking about.
5W50 is what they have for pertol even though the recommended is 20w40 for a swift. Pls check ur car manual for the recommended oil grade. 5W50 is safe and i agree with Sudipto, it is used the world over, it cant be bad

Hi prats,

Thanks for the info. As a matter of fact, I do happen to stay close to Jalahalli Cross (about 5 kms) so checking out that place won't be a problem.

I will call up just dial and ask them about the exact address. If you do happen to have the address and contacts, it would be great if you could pass them on.

Based on Sudipto's & your inputs I checked the manual of my Alto and it reads that the recommended engine oil is SF 20W 40.

Would the oil that you recommeded suit the Alto? Any inputs prats and Sudipto??

Thanks in advance,

gpa

[archat68]

5W50 is better than 20W40 and is suited for colder temperature. For Bangalore weather 5W50 will be overkill IMO. 20W40 will be good enough.

[gpa]

Originally Posted by archat68

5W50 is better than 20W40 and is suited for colder temperature. For Bangalore weather 5W50 will be overkill IMO. 20W40 will be good enough.

Hi archat68,

Thanks for your input. Does Mobil 1 have an oil thats 20W 40? If they dont, I will have to go in for the 5W 50 I think.

Will there be any problems if I switch to the 5W 50 instead of the 20W 40?

Appreciate your inputs on this.

Thanks,

gpa

[archat68]

Try this page:
Results for '+country:India, +mobil +1, +umobil'

[pulsarmaniac]

do you guys think one should go for these costly synthetic oils or the regular castrol shell or gulf oils for indian bikes.do you need synthetica oil for our pulsars and zmas which mostly run in reserved oil in the tank.doesnt look like an idea which will influence the masses

[greenhorn]

Ok,as far as the engine goes, I'm pretty fine running mineral oils and a 5000k oil change interval.

But recently i read elsewhere ( indica user group IIRC) that synthetic is better for the turbo, prevents coking or something like that.

Any Opinions ?

[Sudipto-S-Team]

Originally Posted by gpa

Hi archat68,

Thanks for your input. Does Mobil 1 have an oil thats 20W 40? If they dont, I will have to go in for the 5W 50 I think.

Will there be any problems if I switch to the 5W 50 instead of the 20W 40?

Appreciate your inputs on this.

Thanks,

gpa

Hi GPA
Sorry that I was away for a few days and didn't see your questions. Mobil 1 is available only in 5w50 in India. 5w50 is a kind of all encompassing grade and sort of one size fits all approach by Mobil. It is way superior to 20w40 in terms of ability to retain its viscosity at high and low temperatures. So yes you could go for it in your Alto.
Just ensure that your mechanic waits for the last drop of the oil to drain out before adding the new oil. They generally tend to get very restless and not wait that long. You have to be very firm.
Sudipto

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Ok,as far as the engine goes, I'm pretty fine running mineral oils and a 5000k oil change interval.

But recently i read elsewhere ( indica user group IIRC) that synthetic is better for the turbo, prevents coking or something like that.

Any Opinions ?

Go for a higher spec oil for example Castrol GTX diesel API-CI4, much higher grade than the API-CF4 required by indica, and change every 6K kms or so, your engine will last 1.5L kms easily.

[Sudipto-S-Team]

I wanted to understand if there was a similar difference (and debate) between mineral based and fully synthetic brake fluid. Can the gurus share the knowledge about brake fluids?
What is the recommendation?

[DieselFan]

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

I wanted to understand if there was a similar difference (and debate) between mineral based and fully synthetic brake fluid. Can the gurus share the knowledge about brake fluids?
What is the recommendation?

Breke and Gear Box oils do not reach high tempratures as engine oil does. Also Engine runs at a much higher RPM and needs better lubrication. So using manufacturer recommended Brake or Gear Box oil would be fine and anything over and above that would be an overkill. I believe even for engine oil Mineral oils with regular changes are just fine. Synthetics are just hyped up.

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by DieselFan

Breke and Gear Box oils do not reach high tempratures as engine oil does. Also Engine runs at a much higher RPM and needs better lubrication. So using manufacturer recommended Brake or Gear Box oil would be fine and anything over and above that would be an overkill. I believe even for engine oil Mineral oils with regular changes are just fine. Synthetics are just hyped up.

Don't quite agree with that. Transmission lubrication is no mean task! Just use your best engine oil for the transmission and see what happens, if you have any doubts! Gear oil is very differently formulated, with extreme pressure additives, etc and has to withstand very high shearing forces. Synthetics can do a much better job here too... but admittedly, if made to choose between the two, it is perhaps the engine which will benefit the most from a longer life, if a synth is used there!