1600 S1 - Whats the correct engine oil?

[Yorkshire_Jon]

Hi All,

I recently went to have a look at a restored '49 80" with a view to buying it.

The car has done about 1700miles since its nut & bolt rebuild.

However, I did stumble across 1 problem. the car has had Penrite 20w-60 in it whilst it has been run in (for the last 1700miles). Now it is nicely run in the owner put 5w-30 in it so I could drive it home.

I've read that the Penrite 20w-50 is a suitable alternative and I think 5w-30 should also be ok.

What engine oil do you guys run with? Would it be a problem if it had to use 20w-60 all the time to hold in the oil?

The reason I ask...
When pootling around town the engine holds oil, on the freeway though, after an hour or so of driving at about 50mph it seems to leak oil from the back of the block somewhere. Oil was dripping onto the floor off the cross member forward of the gearbox.

Their appeared to be no leaks from the rocker cover gasket and the clutch never showed any sign of slipping when all the oil was running out.

Could this be a worn scroll on the crankshaft or something easier to fix?

It didn't burn oil and runs and drives so sweet, much sweeter than I expected.

Any thoughts please, I didn't buy the car in the end and the owner advised it didnt leak when running 20w-60, but I'm left thinking that I may have been a mistake by leaving it behind.

Thx
Jon

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[Brad110]

I use 20 50 valvoline designated for old engines

It is not expensive so I guess I can afford to change it more regularly.

These engines were designed to be robust and suffer poor fuels and long service intervals and use in the worst conditions.

I feel that as My S1 is older than me I will treat it with respect.

I am changing lubricants frequently in order to flush old residue as it has sat for an indefinite period prior to me running it.

The car seems to respond well to periodical use and some good runs including hill work and best speed. (trying to keep up with the traffc)

Good luck with it.

[Blknight.aus]

I would have reccomended a 15/40 wt oil.

[123rover50]

The scroll shouldnt leak unless going up steep hills. And they shouldnt wear as they dont actually rub on anything. That said one of mine had a mod from a PO where they put stuffing box packing in there. That buggered the scroll.
Might be the rubber seal at the rear of the oil pan. Sometimes these are left off.
I am using 15/40 in the whole fleet and change the oil more often in the 1600 to avoid mucking with the filter can.
Keith

[back_in]

Hi
Penrite have a 20/50 SAE older engine oil suitable for 1950/60 engines
I fine it is OK
cheers
Ian

[Yorkshire_Jon]

Thanks guys. Looks like the oil may need to be a bit heavier when hot.

Decisions, decisions!

Jon

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[dennisS1]

If a 1600 does not leak oil at the rear of the engine, there is no oil in it.
The academies screw and slinger are pretty good at keeping most oil in when running but when you shut off the motor a small amount will run out to stop underbody corrosion.
Dennis

[Yorkshire_Jon]

If a 1600 does not leak oil at the rear of the engine, there is no oil in it.
The academies screw and slinger are pretty good at keeping most oil in when running but when you shut off the motor a small amount will run out to stop underbody corrosion.
Dennis

Thanks Dennis,
When I set off the dipstick was right on the full mark... about 3 hours later it was half way between full and low - so plenty of underbody corrosion protection!

The first picture shows how much oil dripped out after about a minute or two of standing (with engine running) and after about 1hr of back road and then 1hr of freeway driving. Im assuming this is excessive even for a 1600 S1?

The second picture (close up) shows how much dripeed out after another hour of freeway driving, again stationary with engine running for a minute or two.

As you may expect, rear axle and inside edge of rear tyres had plenty of oil splatter on them from the oil that had been dripping out along the way!

As I said before, the pictures show 5w-30 oil running out, the oil the car had been using immediately prior to the oil change was Penrite HPR30 (20W-60) and was for older petrol engines; apparently that didnt leak out...

Jon

[harry]

You can rest easy, the grade of oil has nothing to do with the leaks.

excess quantity is one possibility,
spirited driving another,
but most likely seals and so forth,

however old fashioned engines wern't really good at keeping oil in
so it may be that it wasn't driven much or the seller cleaned it before you drove it.

[Yorkshire_Jon]

You can rest easy, the grade of oil has nothing to do with the leaks.

excess quantity is one possibility,
spirited driving another,
but most likely seals and so forth,

however old fashioned engines wern't really good at keeping oil in
so it may be that it wasn't driven much or the seller cleaned it before you drove it.

After an hour or so of back road driving, then going onto freeway, would 50mph on 650x16's on the freeway be considered spirited? It certainly didn't seem like it was having to work too hard or that it was screaming its do-dahs off.

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[russellrovers]

[QUOTE=Yorkshire_Jon;1857239]After an hour or so of back road driving, then going onto freeway, would 50mph on 650x16's on the freeway be considered spirited? It certainly didn't seem like it was having to work too hard or that it was screaming its do-dahs off.

45 mile a hour is a good speed for a early motor

[dennisS1]

As stated by Harry this problem has nothing to do with oil grade, and if coming out of the rear of the engine there is no seal so look for these possible problems.
Crankcase pressure, blocked breathers, very worn engine with lots of blow pass.
Some one left the slinger off or has tried to install a seal, silicon or the like is blocking the drain back to the sump.
The sump gasket at the rear is leaking.
You may have the wrong dip stick thus oil level to high.
I have seen all of these.
In my opinion 5W 40W is way too light, OK in a TD5 but not in an engine designed 70 + years ago, I use 20W40 Lowest spec Castrol I can buy in my S1s.
Any more than 1 to 1.5L per 1000Ks in a good engine would be a worry.
I agree this may be a bit much for corrosion proofing.
Dennis

[harry]

You can rest easy, the grade of oil has nothing to do with the leaks.

excess quantity is one possibility,
spirited driving another,
but most likely seals and so forth,

however old fashioned engines wern't really good at keeping oil in
so it may be that it wasn't driven much or the seller cleaned it before you drove it.

[harry]

so, lets ignore the spirited driving,
all that needs to be sorted is excess quantity,
or it leaks!
mine was as clean as a whistle when I bought it,
not so after a few hundred miles under its belt,
but not alarming to me, old cars and trucks do
spill a bit overboard.
crook rings and excess crankcase pressure have something
to do with this, but it is normal for these older engines to
chuck a bit out.
if you are losing a pint in 3 hundred miles, fix the engine.

[zulu Delta 534]

I run Penrite HPR Diesel oil 20/60 in all my Series engines and they all leave their marks on the road, some more than others. (2 x 2.25 and 1 x 1.6)
Since changing to this particular oil I have cut back on my oil usage considerably and find that engines are running cooler.
The above findings come mainly from a forward journey undertaken in a 2.25l engined vehicle from Bris-Corowa a couple of years back, running on Valvoline 20/50, and the return journey in the same vehicle (obviously) on the Penrite HPR 20/60 product 4 days later.
The return journey was the cheaper by far (oil-wise).
Both forward and return journeys took the same time (3 days), were within a week of each other, under similar climatic conditions, carried two people, towing a light camper trailer and both trips returned the same average fuel consumption 16.8 MPG.
I have no figures whatsoever to back up what percentage of my usage was accounted for as being burnt or leaked though unfortunately. Daisy is a bit worn so I would guess that most was burnt.
Regards
Glen

[rover-56]

My S1 has always had 20w50 in it, mostly Castrol. It is up to 290k miles now.
Oil presssure is 60psi driving, 30psi idling hot.
New bearing shells at 90k miles. Didn't need them but it was in bits anyway getting balanced.

It hasn't been babied either.

Yes there is oil on the driveway. Well it is a Landrover:D.

These engines are tough, and most modern oils are better than what was available in the '50s anyway. Stop worrying.

Terry