Question about oil.

saitrix · 5 Jan 2007 at 17:06

Hi,

A mate is just at the minimum/just below with his oil. The car tasts 5w30 and that is what is in it, now the question is. What would be better to do to tide him over, Castrol GTX Magnetec 10w40 or a cheap 5w30? Bearing in mind he will only be topping up the oil.

It needs to last 2.5 months.

Enfield · 5 Jan 2007 at 17:08

Cheap oil, as it makes more sense...simply because it's cheaper.

Stonedofmoo · 5 Jan 2007 at 17:08

well considering he is simply topping up old 5w30 oil i'd stick with the cheaper 5w30 and swap to something better when he does a change...

...but then an oil change takes 20-30 minutes and costs about £20. You know it makes sense.

Faithless · 5 Jan 2007 at 17:50

Send him to a main dealer. They will put 2 litres in for £40 if you are lucky

saitrix · 5 Jan 2007 at 18:24

Stonedofmoo said:
well considering he is simply topping up old 5w30 oil i'd stick with the cheaper 5w30 and swap to something better when he does a change...

...but then an oil change takes 20-30 minutes and costs about £20. You know it makes sense.

Will get new oil change for free in 2.5 months.

My mate already has the GTX oil you see, does 10w40 mix ok with 5w30?

Liverpool-Lad · 5 Jan 2007 at 18:27

Is it semi or fully synthetic?

saitrix · 5 Jan 2007 at 18:28

Liverpool-Lad said:
Is it semi or fully synthetic?

No idea, it is whatever Ford put into his 1.4 Focus.

Liverpool-Lad · 5 Jan 2007 at 18:29

Well, youd have to refer to the handbook then for the specification.

[TW]Fox · 5 Jan 2007 at 18:31

DO NOT put anything other than 5w30 into a Zetec engine.

Ford will sell you 5 litres of the stuff for just 15 quid - a litre is even less.

Simon · 5 Jan 2007 at 18:34

Any 5w30 will do, to get this grade you need to use decent stuff anyway

saitrix · 5 Jan 2007 at 18:37

Thanks guys, I thought it would be best to stick to the same grade fuel but just wanted to make sure.

Noticed a litre of GTX is only £9.80 at Halfords so a motor factor should be cheaper.

saitrix · 5 Jan 2007 at 18:38

[TW]Fox said:
DO NOT put anything other than 5w30 into a Zetec engine.

Ford will sell you 5 litres of the stuff for just 15 quid - a litre is even less.

Oh dear, bad news. Just text him. Apparently when he was at Uni his Dad topped up his engine with oil with some 10w40. :eek:

Any ideas/advice? Would only be a little bit but still...

Edit - This was back in october.

Edit 2 - What happens if you do use the wrong oil? What to look out for?

Simon · 5 Jan 2007 at 18:42

saitrix said:
Oh dear, bad news. Just text him. Apparently when he was at Uni his Dad topped up his engine with oil with some 10w40. Any ideas/advice? Would only be a little bit but still...

Edit - This was back in october.

Edit 2 - What happens if you do use the wrong oil? What to look out for?

Will be fine, Zetec big ends go all the time. Probably cause the oil is too thin lol.

[TW]Fox · 5 Jan 2007 at 18:45

Simon said:
Will be fine, Zetec big ends go all the time.

They do?

During the time I frequented Mondeo circles one thing I hardly ever saw posts about was 'Help my big end blew up'. Whether thats becuase most of the members were too concerned with whether they could fit neons and TSW Venoms to their Mondeos or not I'm not entirely sure..

Simon · 5 Jan 2007 at 18:47

[TW]Fox said:
They do?

During the time I frequented Mondeo circles one thing I hardly ever saw posts about was 'Help my big end blew up'. Whether thats becuase most of the members were too concerned with whether they could fit neons and TSW Venoms to their Mondeos or not I'm not entirely sure..

Ok you know better than me. It's certainly something my brother mentioned when he was looking at Focus 1.8 engines. Around 70-80k

[TW]Fox · 5 Jan 2007 at 18:48

I'm not saying I know better, just that it isn't something I've really come across.

Exploding waterpumps on V6's and sticking valves on older Zetec's with the wrong oil, yes, but not big end faliure. And given that most forums tend to be full of people whinging about what they've broken I would have thought its quite indicative.

Scarfacé · 5 Jan 2007 at 18:56

5w30 is the recommended grade on the Zetec engines but 10w40 will be fine. I'm sure in the earlier Mondeo handbooks Ford said either was fine.

(As Fox mentioned, the earlier Zetec units had problems with the thicker oil causing sticking lifters etc, but should be ok, especially as it'll only be a very small amount, respectively).

[TW]Fox · 5 Jan 2007 at 18:57

Scarfacé said:
I'm sure in the earlier Mondeo handbooks Ford said either was fine.

They did, then they were revised following lots of sticking valve issues.

Conscript · 5 Jan 2007 at 19:17

When I got my 1.6 Focus and it was serviced, I think they put 10w40 in it.

Worth changing the oil and filter to 5w30 you reckon? Had no problems with the car so far, starts on the button, sounds fine, doesnt overheat etc.

Scarfacé · 5 Jan 2007 at 19:47

Conscript said:
When I got my 1.6 Focus and it was serviced, I think they put 10w40 in it.

Worth changing the oil and filter to 5w30 you reckon? Had no problems with the car so far, starts on the button, sounds fine, doesnt overheat etc.

When did you last do an oil change? (In terms of mileage and time).