Best Motor Oil to use on an R50

[Timmons]

I dind't see a pinned topic on this question so I thought I would throw this out. What do you recommend is the best oil to use for an R50 that has over 100K miles?

 

Would like to get this pinned after everyone here has a chance to speak out.

 

Thanks,

 

Tim

[adamzan]

If it's running fine, (not burning or leaking) I would run what the factory recommends which I believe is 5w30. You don't need this "high mileage" oil.

Edited November 13, 2010 by adamzan

[MY1PATH]

ZDDP!!!

its good for your lifters and bearings.

Opinoins on oil vary but you should have ZDDP in your oil. 2qts of royal purple or a bottle of schneider formula 3 should do you well as far as zddp levels.

[Precise1]

I put Mobile 1 5w30 with the Mobile 1 filter in/on the wife's 1999.0 Pathy and change it every 5000 miles.

 

B

[Timmons]

I have heard from two different sources on the following:

 

1. Mobile One Synthetic 10W30 for High Mileage in temp over 0 Deg F. (This was provided by two different auto shops)I live in El Paso, TX so it never ever gets below 20 here.

 

2. Valvoline Synthetic 5W30 - Recommended by a German Mechanic guy I know.

 

Maybe someone can advise on this.

[Northernpathy]

I use generic brand 5W30 synthetic in mine and it runs well. I have over 160K miles.

 

Don't bother with the super expensive brand name synthetic brands. The cheapo Walmart/whatever synthetic brand will do great. There is very little difference between synthetic brands except for the price. And any synthetic is better than the most expensive dinosaur oil.

Edited November 13, 2010 by Northernpathy

[m0nkeyprince]

yea, like precise1, i just run mobil1 5w-30, and mobil1 oil filter, dont use any fram crap. change it every 5000 miles and it shouldnt matter which synthetic you use. Also, if you have been running conventional and suddenly switch over at such high milege, i think theres a problem with that, but check it.

[Timmons]

yea, like precise1, i just run mobil1 5w-30, and mobil1 oil filter, dont use any fram crap. change it every 5000 miles and it shouldnt matter which synthetic you use. Also, if you have been running conventional and suddenly switch over at such high milege, i think theres a problem with that, but check it.

 

Good thing I started using synthetic when I only had 3,000 miles on my first oil change then. (I have heard of the same issue on switching from conventional to synthetic when a car has a lot of miles, apparently it releases a lot of sludge which will cause problems).

Owned the vehicle since it had 2 miles on it. I have always used Mobile one 5w30 synthetic and mobile one filter forwever until I reached 100K when I was advised to use 10w30. Funny how opinions vary on what weight of oil to use.

[m0nkeyprince]

10w-30 isnt bad, its supposedly "thicker", that way, it wont leak as bad through old seals? anyway, i travel through -4 degrees C sometimes during long trips, so 5w-30 is ideal for me all round, i need it to flow. Funny, i bet -4c is like a summer day for the canadian members here jk,jk, you know i love the great white north

Edited November 14, 2010 by m0nkeyprince

[DanAK]

I use 20W-50 non-synthetic, change every 3,000k. Using it for at least 110,000k and I don't burn oil unless I go over 3000k.

[nismothunder]

Delo 15-40...

[esy]

I use generic brand 5W30 synthetic in mine and it runs well. I have over 160K miles.

 

Don't bother with the super expensive brand name synthetic brands. The cheapo Walmart/whatever synthetic brand will do great. There is very little difference between synthetic brands except for the price. And any synthetic is better than the most expensive dinosaur oil.

 

2nd.

 

if you (the OP) had access to oil analyses, you'll little differences between generic/walmart synthetic and the mobil1, pennzoil, quaker synthetics. the only time you'll start seeing a bigger difference is when you start using Royal Purple, Amsoil, etc.

 

make sure you're getting a good filter as well, and i've yet to find a better filter than the Purolator brand filters.

[tekazgtr1984]

I've been running Motul 8100 X-cess 5W-40 for the last 10,000km and it's treated my rig quite well. I check the dipstick every two weeks and after 8,000km, the colour's still lighter than when I was running Castrol Syntec 5W-30 at 5,000km intervals.

[WOT]

I use 4 liters of Mobil 1 non-synthetic 5w-30 and .75 liters (give or take) of Lucas oil additive.

 

I buy enough for the year when both go on sale at the same time for almost half price lol

 

Been doing it since 60k miles (120k now) every 4k miles or so, not a hiccup yet

[WPGQX4]

Amsoil 0w30 Signature Series oil and an Amsoil Absolute Efficiancy oil filter. Gotta go with the best.

[vg33qx4]

i use to use valvoline but ever since switching to penzoil i notice the oil works alot more

 

when i change the penzoil out its black as night vs the valvoline looking like brand new when changed. this indicates that the oil is removing contaminants.

 

 

penzoil high mileage as with most high mileage oils are synthetic with additivies to prevent burn off

 

10w30 in winter

10w40 in summer

[smoke]

I use 10W30 castro full synthetic all year round....change ever 5000 or 10 weeks what ever is first....then i seafoam the truck twice a year... i have almost 245K miles....still running stronger than ever.....god i love a nissan

[FUELER]

castrol GTX 10w30

[BowTied]

If you ask 10 people what oil to run in (insert engine, vehicle here) you will get at least 10 opinions, likley more.

 

They key thing is to buy something with a quality name behind it.

Even more important is to buy a good filter. I really like K&N filters as they have the integrated nut that lets you use a standard socket to remove it instead of messing around with filter wrenches. Second to that is likely an OEM filter. Also highly rated are WIX. I have heard purolater are good, but not tried them myself.

 

DINO vs Synthetic: Hands down synthetic is better oil. The science is out there. However, it is uncommon to hear of engines failing now-a-days like was the case 30+ years ago. In the 60s 100k miles was "good" as the oil and machining tolerances was poor. In recent years 200k miles is common even 250k miles is not unheard of.

 

I run the Dino oil and have no problems, have for a couple of decades now, regularily with engines pushing 200k miles - invariably the rest of the vehicle has issues causing me to get rid of it before the engine fails. To me the cheif dawback of the Dino oil is more frequent oil changes. I however enjoy changing my oil. Others may find this a pita and so synthetic is a great choice. Personally I think Shell makes great oil. But since one can find many different opinions on what is best, I think the differences are measurable, but practically speaking are not that huge. Maybe a big deal if you intend to shoot for mileage much higher than common...

One last thing, if buying discount oil, especially dino oil at walmart, check the back of the bottle. In the past Walmart has sold oil with lesser and/or older certifications than the same brand has elsewhere. This is how they can get their price down. I don;t know if they still do this, I won't shop at Walmart, the store pisses me off.

 

Of interest, the W in 5W30 etc. refers to Winter. Mulitgrade oils have the first number as a reference to cold viscosity and the second to hot giving indication of how it might behave in your engine in the winter and summer. Check you owner's manual for grade based on the climate/temperature you live in. Should be a difference bewteen Arizona and Alaska.

 

Someone mentioned ZDDP. THe gov't has been really backing down on the zinc for several years now. I have been reading a little bit on this since it is an issue for those trying to break in a new camshaft in older cars (muscle cars) that need this. The zinc content is needed at the tappet/cam interface to reduce wear during break-in. I have found that this is not as much of an issue for modern vehicles which tend to have roller cams/valvetrain. In any case, it is getting harder to find oils with usefull amounts of ZDDP, I think the desired level is 1200-1400ppm for the older engines. You may find this more often in oils meant for diesels like Rotella T 15w-40.

Edited December 9, 2010 by BowTied

[piste]

I dind't see a pinned topic on this question so I thought I would throw this out. What do you recommend is the best oil to use for an R50 that has over 100K miles?

 

Would like to get this pinned after everyone here has a chance to speak out.

 

Thanks,

 

Tim

 

Define "best"....you've asked a question that can only be answered very subjectively.

 

My best advise is change it more often than not...and that's much more important than which oil you use.

[Timmons]

Define "best"....you've asked a question that can only be answered very subjectively.

 

My best advise is change it more often than not...and that's much more important than which oil you use.

 

 

Looks like we got many recommendations on what oil people prefer to use. Checking out the specs on these oils so I can make a selection. Right now I'm using Mobil 1 synthetic 10W30 and changing it every 3K miles. What oil are you using Piste?

[ModiFinder]

BowTied. nice summary.

[BowTied]

Thanks ModiFinder (btw, I can relate a little to your "about me" profile note)

 

 

One thing I might add to my post above: my perspective was only from that of normally aspirated engines. Adding squeeze, boost or juice makes the oil much more critical.

[tempo]

I use Valvoline 5W30 non-sintetic every 3000 and every 6000 i add BP additives for hi-milage engine

my father in law mechanic so he sad that for himilage engine non-sintetic oil is better, i dont know why, but it somthing about density of oil and worn detail of engine

[piste]

Looks like we got many recommendations on what oil people prefer to use. Checking out the specs on these oils so I can make a selection. Right now I'm using Mobil 1 synthetic 10W30 and changing it every 3K miles. What oil are you using Piste?

 

I have 97 SE OR..about 150K miles....am original owner....until early this year used dino oil or semi synth Castrol changing every 3K ...4K max....am transitioning to Mobil 1 Synth which is what will go in next oil change...just put Mobil 1 synthetic in both diffs, Tcase, and manual tranny..THAT wasn't cheap!!

 

Edit to add...my engine doesn't burn a single bit of oil which I atrribute to keeping up with frequent changes over the past 13 years...much more so than what went into it.

Edited December 10, 2010 by piste