ARTICLE: Synthetic oil vs Mineral oil

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by baludharmarajan

My facelifted i20 diesel is due second service (10,000 kms), let me know whether I should go for the mineral oil or synthetic oil. Also please let me know the cost of both (i20 diesel requires 5.4 litres).

Unless you completely drain out all the old oil from the engine, 5.3 lts(Not 5.4 lts as you mentioned) will be over-fill. Just fill in 5 lts. More than sufficient . And yes, with 5 lts, the dip will just be showing the level @ F mark. Remember, with excess oil you risk damaging your car's turbo and intercooler over long run.

Currently, the only fully synthetic option meeting i20 specs is "Mobil Delvac 1 5W40" . And with this oil you can easily go for 15,000 kms drain interval!Last time i bought ,it costed me approx 4000 for 5Lts can

On the mineral/semi-synthetic side - you have two good options .
Mobil Delvac MX
Shell Helix HX6

Both are good and available in 5lts can. But i have heard the shell to be much better suited to Hyundai diesels in terms of engine smoothness. You cant go wrong with either of them. With the mineral oil, i would recommend change interval of 5K-7K kms

[vtestarossa]

Guys,

I am planning to buy this oil for my i20 1.2 petrol car. Please advise if it is suitable?

5w40

http://www.snapdeal.com/product/ows-...7599?pos=11;22

Thanks.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by Gansan

I picked up a can of Shell Helix HX-7 (API SM, 10W 40) oil while filling petrol at Shell pump today. Costs Rs 1325.00 for 3.5 litres, as against the Rs 1065.00 for 4 litres (HX-5) which I normally use for the Alto. Both prices are MRP and will be lesser if bought elsewhere, but I always stick to my Shell pump for reasons of trust.

The label on the can says "synthetic technology", which means semi synthetic I suppose! Price is only marginally higher than HX-5 so I thought I will give it a shot.

The oil change is still 3 months away, but I like to be prepared! The date of packing is Feb'13.

I had the oil changed today to HX-7 from HX-5. Honestly I can't tell any difference as compared to HX-5. Car behaves as it normally does after a fresh oil change!

Now a query. I suspect (but I am not sure) that a small piece of yarn from a cloth I used to clean the funnel, might have gone in to the sump. We saw a small piece of thread hanging from the funnel after the change, and threw it out.

My take is even if a piece of thread had gone inside, it will be caught by the oil filter. My SA and the foreman who oversaw the service also confirmed my view. I am inclined to forget it till the next oil change. Am I right?

[khoj]

It is suitable wherever 5W40 oil is recommended which is most new petrol engines. I have bought it too, complete with a 10% discount on the 2999. Wanted to try OWS for a long time and this was the right opportunity. The only thing to check would be the mfg/import date hope it is no more than an year old.

Originally Posted by vtestarossa

Guys,

I am planning to buy this oil for my i20 1.2 petrol car. Please advise if it is suitable?

5w40

http://www.snapdeal.com/product/ows-...7599?pos=11;22

Thanks.

[kap04]

What is the recommended grade of oil for Honda City?

Should i opt for Mobil1 0W-40 or 5W-50 ? If anyone can clarify whats the difference between these 2 types, would be helpful too.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by kap04

What is the recommended grade of oil for Honda City?

Should i opt for Mobil1 0W-40 or 5W-50 ?

Ithink Honda has 0W30 Idemitsu in their Garages. Another excellent,and cheaper oil. Most modern engines do not really need SAE40. In fact my Brio bookletl seems to be happy with even with SAE20 (as Honda specifies in the US)!

[akshay4587]

What is the recommended grade of oil for 1.0L K series engine?
i believe it is 5W30,is it ok if i use 5W40 instead of W30?
any good semi synthetic oils in this grade?

[ZMG]

My swift petrol 2012 model is due for the 3rd service soon. The problem is it is the second car, and has done only about 5k kilometres in a year. Should I change the oil at all at 5k kms?
If yes, should I go for mineral, semi synthetic or synthetic? My running is about 80 100 kms a week, and the car does not usually do short trips. It's 20 to 40 kms drive at a shot. Also what oil comes by default? Is it mandatory to use synthetic now?

[Gansan]

^^ If it is a new Swift, default oil will be MGO 10W30, semi synthetic. If the last oil change was 12 months ago, the oil and filter must be changed now, even if the running was only 5000 KM.

Even if you use a Synthetic oil, it should also be changed at the stroke of one year, regardless of running. So better stick to the MGO.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

What is the recommended grade of oil for 1.0L K series engine?
i believe it is 5W30,is it ok if i use 5W40 instead of W30?
any good semi synthetic oils in this grade?

Guys,i need to change the oil in a day or two.
Any recommendations?

[FlatOut]

A friend of mine advised against most semi-synthetics, which he suggested were best avoided. He advised that a straight mineral oil of good quality was a far better choice. Reason? - semi-synthetics were cheap mineral oils with a synthetic additive package and the big profit-earners

On the other hand, fully-synthetic oil were the dogs b%ll%cks. Provided they were the right viscosity and used in suitable engines.

Who was/is he? A chemist employed by an oil giant in the lubricant 'department'.

[sgiitk]

A semi-synth can be a bit of a joke. Reminds me of a joke. A chap was hauled up before the local beak:

Judge: Do you mix horse meat with chicken?
Defendant: Yes, my lord.
Judge; How much.
Def: 50:50
Jud: Please elaborate.
Def: One horse to one chicken.

The moral is that the amount of synth in the mix is questionable. However, if the oil has an API-SM or SN rating then it should be Ok.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

A semi-synth can be a bit of a joke. Reminds me of a joke. A chap was hauled up before the local beak:

Judge: Do you mix horse meat with chicken?
Defendant: Yes, my lord.
Judge; How much.
Def: 50:50
Jud: Please elaborate.
Def: One horse to one chicken.

The moral is that the amount of synth in the mix is questionable. However, if the oil has an API-SM or SN rating then it should be Ok.

Originally Posted by FlatOut

A friend of mine advised against most semi-synthetics, which he suggested were best avoided. He advised that a straight mineral oil of good quality was a far better choice. Reason? - semi-synthetics were cheap mineral oils with a synthetic additive package and the big profit-earners

On the other hand, fully-synthetic oil were the dogs b%ll%cks. Provided they were the right viscosity and used in suitable engines.

Who was/is he? A chemist employed by an oil giant in the lubricant 'department'.

Very true . My experience on my Pulsar with Motul 5100(Semi Synth) and Motul 3100(Mineral) says the same. There was not a substantial improvement in the engine refinement of the previous over the latter. Say 10-20% . But the cost was almost double for the semi synth. Only fully-synth(motul 300V) has made substantial difference to engine smoothness while costing three times the mineral oil and improved drain periods. But whether its worthwhile to switch over to synths, at-least in motorcycles, is debatable .

[ManuT]

Synthetics are more expensive compared to the Mineral oils, but in the long run it will make a huge difference in the amount of carbon build up and overall engine condition . It has been rightly pointed out that it is important that synthetic oils should be used after a certain number of km or running hours ( in case of some other machines) .
In the long run synthetic oils make a lot of sense . I have seen the difference between a machine operated on mineral oil and another one of the same model / type on synthetic oil . The results with synthetic oil was very good with hardly any carbon deposits compared to medium to high deposits with mineral oil under similar operating conditions .

[FlatOut]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

The moral is that the amount of synth in the mix is questionable. However, if the oil has an API-SM or SN rating then it should be Ok.

Well, a semi-synthetic is still a mineral oil, with a synthetically-made additive package from what I was told. Totally different from a synthetic oil. Very clever markerting, using the same word as for a completely different product and selling at a fraction of the price - but twice the cost of oil which is honestly named.

Does the API rating take into account how well and for how long the oil's qualities last?

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Very true . Only fully-synth(motul 300V) has made substantial difference to engine smoothness. But whether its worthwhile to switch over to synths, at-least in motorcycles, is debatable .

I agree - you need a very 'clean' engine to make it worthwhile using (fully) synthetic oil, since any contamination of the lube with combustion by-products mean it will need changing sooner rather than later, no matter how well it retains it properties.

I did a test on a highly-stressed engine a few years ago which often got very hot, found the mineral oil which lasted best and have used it ever since. (t out-performed any semi-synthetic, interestingly.) I had a very old car with white metal bearings which had some wear - the engine ran very well but there was a bit of 'lash', especially before it had heated right through. It ran without fault or deterioration for years and wasn't cosseted, using my tried and tested oil. I sold the car to a friend, he thought he knew better and rang a company which specialised in oils for vintage cars who suggested their own product - a 'straight' oil - ie a single grade. Within a year the engine packed up - which I am sure was down to the oil.