[zeng]

Originally Posted by RshE19

Hello fellow team bhpians,

I have been using my dad's 2010 SX4 zxi vvt for a few years now. It has clocked 60k km on the odometer and has been running on mineral oil always. I am thinking of switching to synthetic oil with the next oil change but my mechanic suggested that there will not be much difference since the car has been serviced regularly. I still think synthetic would give smoother engine performance. Can someone please advise me on this? Also, which synthetic oil should I go for if I plan to go synthetic this time?

Thanks a lot in advance.

What's your oil change interval thus far with mineral oil(brand and grade?) ?

Your mechanic could be likely right as he knows the (mineral) oil performance and its conditon after used oil in relation to change intervals.

For similar interval of oil change as practised (which I'm ignorant of), I wouldn't consider an ACEA spec'ed semi-synthetic for anything less than say, 8000 km let alone considering a fully synthetic.

By the way, what oil viscosity grade and API/ACEA performance level is factory recommending?

[RshE19]

Originally Posted by zeng

What's your oil change interval thus far with mineral oil(brand and grade?) ?

Your mechanic could be likely right as he knows the (mineral) oil performance and its conditon after used oil in relation to change intervals.

For similar interval of oil change as practised (which I'm ignorant of), I wouldn't consider an ACEA spec'ed semi-synthetic for anything less than say, 8000 km let alone considering a fully synthetic.

By the way, what oil viscosity grade and API/ACEA performance level is factory recommending?

I can't say the exact oil change interval because the car was mostly looked after by my father who would ask of his company drivers to take the car for servicing at the nearest MASS. All I can say is that the car was regularly serviced at MASS. I too took the car to MASS for one or two services once I'd started using it but I wasn't really satisfied with the service for the cost they were charging.

So I started taking the car to a local mechanic near me. He has only done one oil change service till now after 7.5k km and he only charged me ₹2000 for it so I am pretty sure he used the oil from one of the drums.

The recommended oil grade as per the manual is 5W30. My concern is would switching from mineral to synthetic cause any issues since the car has already clocked 60k km on mineral oil always? And should I use liqui molY engine flush if I am planning to switch to synthetic or could that cause some issues?

Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Highly recommend getting Amsoil's Signature 5w30 oil for your SX4.

Thanks for your input.
How about doing an engine flush with liqui moly engine flush before the oil change? Would the fact that the car has been running on mineral since day one and I am now switching to synthetic with 60k km on odo be a cause of concern?

Thanks in advance.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by RshE19

Thanks for your input.
How about doing an engine flush with liqui moly engine flush before the oil change? Would the fact that the car has been running on mineral since day one and I am now switching to synthetic with 60k km on odo be a cause of concern?

Thanks in advance.

Strictly avoid any chemical flushes. Best you can do is let the old oil flow completely.

60k isn't much of a mileage and I expect no downside while shifting to synthetic. Go ahead.

Regards,
Shashi

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by chiranjitp

A friend of mine has a 2018 Maruti WagonR, which went for its 28k km service few days back. The service was done in a dealer run service center. They used 5W40 grade engine oil, whereas the manual recommends to use 0W20 engine oil. My friend did ask for an explanation. The SA told him that for BS6 norms, Maruti has changed the engine oil grade :

They do the opposite too. My 2009 Alto owners' manual specifies 20W40 as recommended oil, but in the workshop they will fill 5W30 or lower, and say that is what Maruti recommends nowadays. They will fill the same oil whatever generation car you take for service. I always hand over my own 10W 40 0r 5W40 oil during service and tell them to fill it. If I am allowing them to fill their own oil, I will allow only Mobil 1 0W40, because that is the only 40 grade oil they have nowadays.

To all those raising queries about whether a particular grade can be filled for their car. Spend some time and go through your owners' manual. It will usually list two or three grades which can be used under certain conditions, and one "one size fits all" oil to be used in general. This oil will hold good wherever you take your car in India.

So long as the different grade oil than the usual one usual finds a place in your manual, there is no worry about filling it, though it may not as ideal as the most recommended grade. If a particular grade does not appear in the manual, avoid it at all costs.

[zeng]

Originally Posted by RshE19

The recommended oil grade as per the manual is 5W30. My concern is would switching from mineral to synthetic cause any issues since the car has already clocked 60k km on mineral oil always? And should I use liqui molY engine flush if I am planning to switch to synthetic or could that cause some issues?

I don't think switching from mineral oil to synthetic oil at 60k odo is a problem.

FYI, I encountered no problem switching from mineral to synthetic at around 200k kms in my Avanza.

Agree with Leo that engine flush is not a good idea imho.

[mindful]

Hello BHPers,

So happy to be here.

Been through the oil threads and just wondering the oil and coolant you'd recommend for a 2008 Swift ZXi Petrol.

At XL Auto (Authorised MGP Distributor) Chennai, they suggest either of the below oils and the coolant in the photo.

Are these good enough or should I get Shell Helix HX5 5W-30 Premium Mineral Engine Oil.

Thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Tia!

or something like Shell Helix HX8 5W-30 SN Plus Fully Synthetic?

[Jaggu]

How much has the vehicle run? The OE lubricants as long as are spec mentioned as recommended in the owners manual are ok to be used. 2008 Swift am not sure if that is the right spec oil not sure but do check.

[mindful]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

How much has the vehicle run? The OE lubricants as long as are spec mentioned as recommended in the owners manual are ok to be used. 2008 Swift am not sure if that is the right spec oil not sure but do check.

Thanks for writing, Jaggu.

The car has 71k kms on it. This is what I see on the manual:

[Ashtoncastelino]

Originally Posted by mindful

This is what I see on the manual:

I think the photo you uploaded is of a different generation swift. I have a 2006 Swift with the G13B engine and since yours is a 2008 model it would be having the G13B. ( K12M Engine was plonked into the swift first generation from 2010-2011).

Attaching a photo of the Owners manual oil grade for the G13B engine below.



Regards
Ashton Castelino

[mindful]

That helps, Ashton. Thanks for writing!

Picked up the images from the Internet and so, obviously not reliable. Will try to find my manual.

Originally Posted by Ashtoncastelino

I think the photo you uploaded is of a different generation swift. I have a 2006 Swift with the G13B engine and since yours is a 2008 model it would be having the G13B. ( K12M Engine was plonked into the swift first generation from 2010-2011).

Attaching a photo of the Owners manual oil grade for the G13B engine below.

Attachment 2279729

Regards
Ashton Castelino

[Sridhar K]

I did oil changes on two of the Marutis at home - Father's Aug 2017 Celerio VXI and wife's 2021 Ignis Petrol AMT.

Ignis went for its 3rd service (10k or 1 year) and SA at mass was planning to fill a 5w30 but got him to fill Mobil MGO 0W20 based on feedback in this thread. The car was smooth and no drop in mileage.

When we bought the Celerio from a family friend , it had 5w40 mobil even though the manual recommended 0w20. My dad drove it for close to 7k kms over an year. The engine was smooth, mileage and pick up were good. This time, I tried to get the vehicle serviced at Ignite garage but he had a huge backlog of cars. I then gave the vehicle to Bagavathy Agencies (MyTVS franchise) for service and asked them to stick to 0W20. The owner Vijay said that he would still recommend 5W40 stating that he fills in many new Marutis and customers are extremely happy with them. His view was that MSIL is pushing for thinner oils to get better mileage in BS6 regimes and this may have impact on the engine in the longer run. He changed the oil to OW20 on my insistence but he recommended Castrol.

After the service, saw an immediate drop in mileage and the engine was coarse. My dad was furious with me and was asking me to revert back to 5W40.

Was trying to get Mobil 0W20 but was unavailable at many places. Could have tried MASS but they would want to do a full service only. Bagavathy Auto works and Ignite (Raghav) said that Mobil 0W20 is unavailable for them and 5W40 should work for Chennai conditions. Was a bit disappointed with both Vijay and Raghav as both were giving goli of how SAE40/SAE 20 hardly make a difference in Chennai weather as it indicates a basic lack of understanding of the oil grade classification of 0W20 or 5W40. Both are passionate enthusiast, genuine people and they service many cars while I am just a key board warrior. Did not have much time to source 0W20 through online as my dad had to take the vehicle back to Kumbakonam. Finally went with Shell Synthetic 5W30 at the shell station. The engine is back to being smooth with a slight improvement in mileage.

A few learnings from this exercise
1) Castrol isn't as good as shell or Mobil.
2) Vijay's second garage is now a franchise of Castrol and hence he went with Castrol
3) Many SA/Mechanics/MASS don't have a clue on the right oil and they go with whatever suits them.
4) Own experience is that SAE30/40 oil on K Series (with OW20) recommendation is not bad on the short term and in line with the recommendations of many mechanic that SAE30/40 oils are better. However, not sure about the long term implications of their usage.
5) If you are a common customers, ignorance is bliss and they hardly notice a difference unless they run into a problem with the engine.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by Sridhar K

1) Castrol isn't as good as shell or Mobil.

True, this is something I can confirm as well. In MGO, Shell is the best followed by Idemitsu, Mobil etc. Servo and Castrol are the worse they supply in MGO.

Have experienced this first hand in my 800, and XL6 as well. In order to escape from logics like "All are same Saar", I have pasted OE "Suzuki Recommends Shell" sticker on both my cars, which they used to give in export model Marutis.

In a particular grade, in MGO, MRP of oil will be same. Shell carries the least margin, and Servo/Castrol have the highest margin. This explains why you won't see Shell in stock at many places.

Regards,
Shashi

[mindful]

Originally Posted by Ashtoncastelino

I think the photo you uploaded is of a different generation swift. I have a 2006 Swift with the G13B engine and since yours is a 2008 model it would be having the G13B. ( K12M Engine was plonked into the swift first generation from 2010-2011).

Attaching a photo of the Owners manual oil grade for the G13B engine below.

Attachment 2279729

Regards
Ashton Castelino

So based on your image, which one would you suggest, Ashton?

5w30? Fully Synthetic? Would greatly appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

[mindful]

Spoke to a mechanic who suggested 20W50 since the car has 75k kms on it and could use a more viscous oil..

[stallmaster]

Originally Posted by mindful

Spoke to a mechanic who suggested 20W50 since the car has 75k kms on it and could use a more viscous oil

Well he's not wrong in the specific context(higher mileage engines can have more clearance between seals and moving parts due to wear and other heating/cooling-cycle induced warping). Thinner oils can leak in older engines.

But the problem is you don't get 20W50 oils manufactured to the latest API standards in India. Refer to the image I attached.

Imo you can use Shell Helix HX5 15W40 - API SL(gasolene engine oil only). Rule of thumb is, in xxWyy oils, it is not harmful to go down one grade of xx and go one grade up the grade of yy. Plus HX5 is qualitatively a better oil.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKdhgKUZhPA

Edit: Just saw your car is type 2 Swift; in that case go for Shell 5W30 only.