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Note 1115.0              Alternatives to Mineral Oils ?                2 replies
PEKING::GERRYT                                       11 lines  14-JUN-1990 12:58
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    I remember seeing something on telly...or was it hearing it on the
    radio about a lubricant which is used a lot in Eastern European
    countries as an alternative to normal engine oil eg GTX, which supposed
    to have far better longevity and engine protection characteristics
    than mineral oils.
    
    Does anyone know what it is, and whether it's available in the Uk,
    ..or has one of the big oil companies bought the patent and refused
    to market it in the West ? !
      
    Tim

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Note 1115.1              Alternatives to Mineral Oils ?                   1 of 2
SHAPES::STREATFIELDC "VW Beetle.. IOSG::AIR_COOLED"   6 lines  18-JUN-1990 13:10
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    Try any one of the Synthetic oils,  Castrol "Syntron X" springs to mind
    as a name, but there are plenty more, .....be warned though, they cost
    about #4.50 a litre, (about 20 quid a gallon!)
    
    Carl
    

    
    MOBIL 1 100% synthetic.. ratio 5-50W.. ASDA 14.50 for 4 litres

    
    	A question for the nomads... What is the French equivalent
    of Shell Gemini (UK), or Shell TMO (Germany)...? I need LOTS of it
    for my Sud as it is the only oil that is not consumed at the same
    rate as fuel... and I have an oil change coming up this week.
    
    	Rat

can anyone give me the cheapest price in Reading for 4litres of Mobil 1 oil
please, I really need it today (oil in my car looks very bad)?

thanks...

...art

    
    About a month ago, I was told that ASDA in Lower Early was the
    cheapest, don't know how much, though, sorry
    
    Elaine

    yep.. definately ASDA.. about 14-15 beer vouchers..

thanks both, ASDA it was @14.99 (a mobil petrol station wanted 19quid for it!)

got my oil changed by Kwik-Fit in caversham

cost 9.95 inc vat inc filter (inc their oil-Mobil supergrade I think)

worked out at 1.50 for the actual cost of the change
since the filter costs 7.50 (which was delivered by renault within 5 minutes
of the phone call being made)

quite impressed


...arton senna		:-)

    I can see that both mobil 1 and Castrol Syntron X are mentioned at
    versions points but my buring questions is "which on is considered to
    be the best"?????

    I've changed to synthetic now so heres my thinking. Having discussed
    what oil with the BMW dealer who I got the service kit off, they use
    castrol oil but won't put syntron X in because of the price, some
    customers find it too expensive. He recommended a 20/50 for a normal
    oil and stay away from gtx. So which synthetic?? Mobil 1 is I think
    a 5/40 or 50  and syntron x is a 10/60 and syntron is about �4 dearer
    that mobil 1. I in the end went for the syntron x, why ?? It's a
    heavier oil and will I hope that it will give a bit better alround
    protection that the thinner Mobil 1 .
    
    I think, although I can't swear to it, that the engine is a bit smoother
    with the syntron in it.
    
    Garry

    I would go along with that , running a dry sump I can see why you are
    using mobil 1 . I have the jolly old wet sump so arguably I can afford 
    a more viscous oil. Anyway we could argue that pros and cons of what
    oil till the cow some home. If Mobil 1 and Castrol syntron x are good
    enough for racing then they must be good enough for me. 
    
    What oil were you using before Mobil 1 ?? and did you notice any
    difference in the engine after changing???. Incidently I use
    Shell gemini s for racing ( 2 stroke ) , beats the pants off 
    Castrol R or Shell R. It mixes and does seperate out like castrol r 
    but more importantly it oils the parts that other oils forget about.
    
    	Garry

    
    One place that the Gemini oil won't be used is the Landy, it seems to
    leak out quicker! ( I use to re-cycle the 23's old oil, but found that
    I could only do about 150 miles to the half gallon!) Now what I need is
    some really thick sticky stuff........ :-)  

    Hey , How about crude?????
    
    
    	That must cover every thing, its definatly thick, must be sticky,
    	will take a fair while before it seeps out of a small hole and if
    	you get the engine hot enough it might be possible to syphon off
    	the petrol vapour into the tank or if your diesel ,that. 
    
    
    		Get better more out of your engine.
    
    
    
    	Garry

I use Syntron because at 5/50 it's lighter for cold starting (something I'm
paranoid about as I don't like getting my hands dirty re-conning engines these
days), but it's nice and thick at high temperatures.

I love it. It's so expensive I could drink the stuff.

Mmmmmm, at least it doesn't come from Irag...

    Castrol R,
    
    Could that be the same Castrol R, thats been around for a while,
    ie; the "R" meaning Rebuild if you use it, as it will not mix with
    normal engine oils??
    

    Yeh that's the one, Castrol R30 or R40. Its  vegetable based and they 
    recommend that the engine is rebuild before changing to or from vegetable 
    based oil. I've heard more bad things about it when used in a 2 stroke 
    engine that good.
    
    
    	R for rebuild and
    	
    	30 for the number of times you rebuild the engine before changing 
    	your oil for a synthetic
    
    
    	Garry
    

    Smells nice though.....

    
    All those who enjoy a good sniff should visit one of the grass track
    meetings (eg in Grazeley, 3m from Death Park).
    
    Methanol, Castrol R, burning rubber................ 
    
    Ah, the smells of the '50's live on.
    
    Colin Osborne (who has still got some cans of R40 left over from his
    karting days). 
                                                       

    
    I haven't had any experience in Mobil 1 but from my colleague's
    feedback, he reckons that it causes oil leaks in the engine! Could it
    be due to the cleansing effects of the oil - cleans out the dirt
    between the oil seals!
    
    I always stick to Castrol GTX2 - 10w/40.
    
    Mike

    
    I was told that for "old" cars, they need a 20w/50 instead of a 15w/40
    which would be thin enough for the oil to slip thru' the piston rings
    and burns more. 
    
    What are the plusses for using a semi-synthetic gear oil like Motul vs
    the normal mineral stuff like Castrol Hypoid 90 EP. I was also told
    that the resistance due to the gears amount to almost 20% of the
    engine's output - using a synthetic gear oil would help to reduce that.
    Is it true?
    
    Mike

    Has anyone experienced with Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil, 15W50? How
    good is it?
    
    I'm planning to switch my Alfa to this oil from mineral Agip... What do
    you say?
    
    How about Motul?
    
    Any feedback?
    
    ->TTH

�    Has anyone experienced with Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil, 15W50? How
�    good is it?
    
    Difficult question for anyone to answer really.
    I mean, you will only know if an oil is 'not good' (when it's too late)
    so until then, any oil could be 'good enough'.
    
    Seriously though, I have used this oil in modded engines as it has
    been recommended by various parties.  No complaints, apart from the price.
    
    J.R.

    I have use both the Agip (15W40) (�9 for 4 litre) and Mobil 1 (5W50)
    (�16 ) and now _always_ use Mobil 1.
    
    	Rik
    
    PS The engine ``seems'' to run free-er from cold - all subjective I know.

I'm in the US and always run Mobil 1 15W50 in my BMW 325i.


My mechanic says that the oil out of my car is always "beautiful".  How oil is
beautiful, I don't know, but I've never had any problems with it.  I drive the
car fairly hard and am not afraid to bring it close to red-line.

It is expensive, but not as expensive as most engine work...


-Al

Re: .59

> I'm in the US and always run Mobil 1 15W50 in my BMW 325i.

>								I drive the
> car fairly hard and am not afraid to bring it close to red-line.

Never get out of 2nd then ?

I resemble that remark... 8^)


Actually on most highways these days, the speed limit is 65MPH which is only 5
lower than the UK's.  You can usually go 75 though, without much bother.

-Al


You're no far off, BTW.  I believe that I could go 55 in second if I really
wanted to.

Re: .63

why Derek, don't you think the BMW can be driven "hard" then ?

:-)

�BMWs can be driven hard... but it doesnt get you anywhere!
    
    Except back to the dealers sooner
    
    J.R.

You're missing the point...


ITS FUN!


The BMW also has a little more power than my MG Midget.  That's fun, too but in
a putting around sort of way.

-Al

Oh yeah, driving it hard gets you back to the tyre/tire dealer quicker, too 8^).

    Hi,
    
    Has anyone experienced on using synthetic engine oil like Motul or
    Mobil 1? I'm about to send my Alfa 33 for servicing and oil change and
    would like to try Mobil 1 but dunno how good it is. I would like to
    hear your comments...
    
    Things like how good, how bad, what brands are good for what can be
    discussed...
    
    	TTH

    ref .70
    
    Yes, I did only after posting this note somewhere else... I think the
    moderator must have put my note back to the relevant topic.
    
    However, didn't hear much from Alfa owners about mobil 1 or Motul!
    
    

    ASDA is in Reading, yes?
    
    Can I have the address please? I need some Mobil 1 for the Rover and
    the Subie?
    
    	- Jez

	Adsa is off of Rushy Way in Lower Early.

	Easiest way to get to it, is go past Shire Hall away from Reading,
	and take the road signposted to Lower Early and Reading.

	At about a mile take a left at the first rounderbout, then
	right at the next.  Come to a brow of a hill, and turn left and 
	ASDA is the next right.

	Okay Mr Lamma man?

	Steve

    If I'm coming out of Readink on the A33, past Death Pk, do I go left at
    the M4 roundabout and then follow your directions? Is the turn off to
    Lower Early to the left?
    
    As I don't know where Shire Hall is (although I've seen a sign post for
    it on the M4/A33 junction) makes it a little difficult.
    
    Llama has TWO "l"'s in it thankyou Steve...
    
    	Ralph the Wonder Llama

Turning left at the M4 roundabout will take you past Shire Hall (on your left).

Then right at the first mini r'bout, left at the next.  Then pick up Steve's
instructions from "about a mile take a left..."

Scott

I have read all the replies in this note and none of them answered the
question "is Mobil 1 suitable for a turbo diesel engine?"

I am currently using ELF turbo diesel 15/40 in my Renault Espace and as I
have aquired a large quantity (9 X 4L cans) I wish to use it.

Some people take the view that diesel oil contains different additives over
the normal type of multigrade. Also the 5/50 grade is too thin for a diesel
engine.

Any comments/advice?

Dave

Diesel engine oil contains special detergents.

I really don't know if Mobil 1 would cope,  it probably would,  however could I 
suggest that you sell it to me and then buy some real diesel oil?

I use loads of the stuff in numerous cars,  and a bulk supply would be most welcome.

_Richard