ALFAGTV6.COM

[Fernando]

For what's it worth to others out there I thought I would relate my little oil saga...

For those who don't know I have a GTV6 3,5 12V done by Glenwood Motors.The engine has now done about 7500kms.For the bedding in process Dawie told me to stick to running Shell Helix 20W60,no that's not a misprint here it's called CITY.Anyway once Barry had done the Gotech and other goodies for me I switched to running it on Shell Helix Ultra 5W40 Full Synthetic.This oil costs R350 for 5 litres and R42-40 per 500ml for top ups.Trust me this hurts the wallet. Current exchange rate is R6-40 to a US Dollar and about R11 to a British Pound.

My oil consumption would require two top ups a week on the Helix Ultra,so I spoke to Barry and he advised switching to a thicker grade and my problem would be solved.Bear in mind Dawie has just checked my engine and confirmed it is in excellent health.

As I am somewhat paranoid about the quality of oil in my engine,considering that I do Track Days and I drive the thing like it was intended I don't stick rubbish in their.

I opted for Castrol RS 10W60 and am now very happy to report that 1 track day,some very quick highway driving ,200 to 230km/h for lengthy stretches ,and stop start driving to work ,my oil consumption has been nil.I am happy again.Castrol RS does not come in 500ml top ups,requiring me to buy two 5 litre containers which was a small bill approaching R900... I would think 100 times before spending that kind of money on myself but for the love of my life no hassle,I know I must be nuts,but Alfa's tend to do that to a person.

Anyway this car is such fun I almost think it's illegal to have so much fun.

Anyone else think I might be going overboard on the oil thing ?

[Zamani]

I used regular 10w40 Mobil for my rebuilt 75 3.0 with Total Seal rings and JE pistons. Consumption was 2 quarts per 3000 miles.

I then switched to 5w50 Castrol Syntec. So far after a track event and about a 1000 miles later. No oil used.

I only change the oil every 6 months or so as the car only gets used twice every week or so. So maybe about 2-3K miles a year.


Also for my wife's 164QV, I just changed to Castrol High Mileage 20w50. After a 500 mile trip, almost no oil usage as well. Before this it had 10w40 Valvoline Max Life and it was using 1 quart every 800 miles. With the castrol I expected the car to use about 1/2 Quart after 500 miles, but so far it looks good, but I'll check again after another 500 miles to see if it has used anymore oil. It has an old engine though so I expect it to consume some oil.

In summary, it seems 20w50 is the minimum to use. I can get 10w60 from BMW dealers (for the E46 M3) but it costs 4X more than the regular castrol high mileage oil.

[Dennis]

I also use the Castrol RS 10W60. It costs a shitload of money but IMO it is worth it. The engine runs way smoother, I have better oil pressure when warm and oil consumption is down a lot! Still have a bit of consumption, but you don't hear me complaining. And it still has that typical castrol smell when you stick your nose in the exhaust
The engine was using a lot of Agip sint2000 and allthough the Castrol is more expensive per liter, it costs me less in the end.

[Luis]

Mobil1 5w50.

But i´m going to use something like 10w60 (Agip, castrol RS...) next time.

What about 1.8 turbo engines?

[Mats]

I have used Mobil1 5w-50 Rally in my 75t only because it is a decent oil and it was pretty good value for money until recently (new version of the oil out now). What I don't like about mobil1 is the fact that it feels thin, the engine is noisy, smoke at start-up and so on.

I'll try Selenia Racing 10w-60 next time, it did the trick on my Delta, engine ran much more quiet on that then on previous oil (don't know what that was).

I stay the hell away from Shell Helix oils, have had that oil split/separate twice in the 75t.
I have heard the same thing happen to other 75t owners. Maybe I should give Scuderia Ferrari a call and ask how they manage on that oil...

[Fernando]

Mats I remember reading about the split you experienced on Helix.I would be curious to know why Ferrari don't have any hassles with it.I have always been loyal to Shell because of their support of Ferrari.

I also failed to mention that on the Helix Ultra I was also getting smoking on start up and sometimes after sitting in heavy traffic it would smoke when I accelerated a bit hard,but not so with the Castrol RS.

I spoke to Barry this afternoon and he asked me to just clarify that he advised me to switch to a mineral based oil not another synthetic.Sorry Barry must be my hearing thats going down the toilet from to much indulging in listening to the wonderfull induction noise the V6 makes.

Thanks for the comments guys.

P.S Mats do you know who the mysterious MR.X is who does the driving in those Getaway in Stockholm films ? Was thinking it would be fun if he opted to use a tricked out Glenwood Twin turbo GTV6 for his next one...

[Luis]

Mr.X, haha.

The next film seems to be about the "it´s Fun" car.

Crazy people, and a lot of money...

[Mats]

I stopped watching after no.2, stupid stuff going on there... Let's drop that topic and talk oil.

Now, can anyone give me any reason at all as to why anyone would break in an engine using mineral oil?
Please provide solid arguments and not just write "because everybody says it's the only way" or "we always do that and it works great".
The only valid argument I can think of is that it is a very cheap oil and therefore you can change it twice in 20 minutes without feeling silly...

[Mezevenf]

I've always used Mobil1 15W50 on my 2.5, and chances are I'm going to use it on my 3.5 from Dawie. Anyone else use this oil?

[Zamani]

I used to use it. Now I'm using Castrol Syntec 5w50. The Mobil 1 somehow tends to disappear quicker than the castrol.

[SamW]

Zamani,

I am currently having the dissapearing oil problem with Mobil 1 15w50, how much longer is the Castrol hanging around?

[MD]

Hi Mats

I don't think you got a reply about your use of mineral oils to run in a new engine (if that is your question).

We use a mono grade basic oil to assist with bedding in the new rings and bore. Once that is done, we switch to a multigrade -mineral or otherwise.

The use of very slippery oils in the bedding in process causes the bore to "glaze up" and the engine becomes an oil burner after which obviously is not desirable. It has nothing to do with the cost of the materials but everything to do with the nature of the susbtances.

Sorry if this has been said before, I just caught the end of this thread..

[Mats]

So you're telling me a mineral oil just sucks so much it will make the wear great enough to bed in the rings?
How about all those engines running just fine for plenty of miles on mineral oil, wouldn't they wear down the rings in a year if the mineral oil caused this type of accelerated wear?

The whole thing is fishy...

Just about everybody recommend the use of mineral oil for breaking in but no-one can say what mechanism is making synthetic oil a bad choise.
Funny how the car manufacturers seem to think it works to run in an engine on regular oil as they always deliver their cars with the same type oil that they recommend in their users manual, they even make you drive around with that oil for a very long time before the first change.

Hmm, I think I need to open up my investigation again...

[Luis]

Mineral oil for breaking, it´s cheaper.

About this:

"Funny how the car manufacturers seem to think it works to run in an engine on regular oil as they always deliver their cars with the same type oil that they recommend in their users manual, they even make you drive around with that oil for a very long time before the first change."

Now the car manufacturers want to sell a lot of cars, and a car who lasts 20 years is not a good option... thats why every 4-5 years a new car or reestyling comes around.

[SamW]

You should read the Mobil 1 website, they say the same thing you just said, it is just a myth that you should not "bed in" an engine on Mobil 1, but I used regular oil on bed in, because I ran the engine for 20 minutes, then changed the oil, then ran regular oil for 1,200 miles and changed it, then ran it for 3,000 and changed it again, so cheaper oil made sense. What is really funny, is my mom always had her oil changed every 3,000 miles and used regular oil, I replaced the valve covers gaskets @ 100k miles on the car, the inside of the engine was very clean, just as clean as my Alfa engine with expensive motor oil. I also use a semi synthetic oil in my motorcycles due to wet clutches, and even with 80k miles on one of them, the inside of the engine is perfectly clean, I think as long as you use a good oil and keep it changed on a regular basis, you motor will live a long and happy life!