Changing Engine Oil Type?

4ndy89

4ndy89

4ndy89

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28 Feb 2006
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497
Is it ok to move from fully synthetic oil back to the basic stuff?, reason being that last year when I serviced my car I got hold of some top notch stuff for free from a friend, as money is a bit tight at the moment i'm wondering if I will encounter any problems changing down the oil grade.

Hope that made sense :p

Thanks!
Andy
 
what do you mean by basic stuff?

1) what does the car need?
2) what did you put in there?
3) what are you planning on putting in there now?
 
Cheers for the reply Matt,

Im just planning on putting the standard oil in there (whatever the manual says, Haynes suggests 10W/30 to 15W/50).

I can't remember the exact designation but I used some Total (the garage) Fully Synthetic Oil.

I am just worrying a bit before I do it, because I got told by some old codger that you can't really go back to using standard oil once you have used Fully Synthetic.

Thanks
Andy
 
Only use what the manufacturer recommends for that engine. It's been designed and toleranced to suit a certain grade of oil and if you use anything else it will affect it adversely be it rough running or premature wear and tear.

Example: too thick oil and the hydraulic tappets don't pump down which causes excess wear when you start the engine and it'll sound all clattery, too thin and the bearings don't get the protection they need, put synthetic in an old engine all the gaskets spring leaks and the nuts and bolts that come in contact with the oil come undone.
 
i wouldnt worry about changing back at all.

mineral oil is plain basic engine oil. semi synth is mineral oil with a whole bunch of synthetic additives. fully synthetic oil when the oil is nearly entirely constituted of synthetic components and the bare minimum level of mineral base. (very very rare to find an oil that is man made from top to bottom)

therefore, if you had fully synth in there and go back to semi synth, the tiny bit of fully synth left over between the changes will just add a little more synthetic properties to the semi synth oil.

get a 10/30 semi synth and itll be fine. german swedish and french sell fuchs oil pretty damn cheap at the minute. failing that, get along to makro, they have carlube stuff for about £10
 
Jonny69 said:
Only use what the manufacturer recommends for that engine. It's been designed and toleranced to suit a certain grade of oil and if you use anything else it will affect it adversely be it rough running or premature wear and tear.

Example: too thick oil and the hydraulic tappets don't pump down which causes excess wear when you start the engine and it'll sound all clattery, too thin and the bearings don't get the protection they need, put synthetic in an old engine all the gaskets spring leaks and the nuts and bolts that come in contact with the oil come undone.
Click to expand...

gaskets will leak if the engine is so damn old that the gaskets were not designed to be in contact with synthetic oil and it perishes them on that basis.

not heard the one about nuts coming loose though.
 
halfords own semi-synth will be fine and its cheap (got mine for a tenner for 5L) but the fully synth is on offer at the mo for 17 quid which is a bargain. Its good quality oil too.
 
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