Thread: Mineral or synthetic oil Tdi 200 ?

Im a fan of the nulon range but I still like the penrite as well, as my local supplier lets me have the nulon for slightly cheaper and in quantities nearer to what I need for oil changes (and nulon supplies bulk if wanted)

In townsville I exclusively used penrite HPR15 in all my vehicles but Big red which gets the nulon synthetic stuff

I dont like synthetic oils in the old school diesels especially if they are worn, it sems to run the pressure a little low and so far with the shorter oil change requirements since I can use the cheaper non synthetics I do.

at the end of the day if your not sure what its doing in the engine everytime you change the oil cut open the filter and eyeball it with a microscope.

I only use Penrite throughout the whole car. HPR15 in the engine (V8).

I use Castol RX Super, I have the Isuzu and the oil is made for truck engines, and I get it in 20lt drums at a pretty good price. Holds good oil pressure throughout the temp range and seems to be a bit quieter.
I thought this was always a popular oil with diesel 4x4's. Dose no one run this?

Cheers

I used to years ago, but the Castrol pricing structure got out of hand and I didn't like the rep

I use Pennzoil Longlife 15w40 MA in V8's and Tdi's, and Pennzoil 5w40 Synthetic in Td5's (and the odd WRX we get to work on...)

I use the 15w40 Longlife MA in my Isuzu engine, and the gearbox and transfer also.(LT95)

5000km oil changes for my 4BD1 turbo engine, (except touring, when 10 to 12K due to the long distances and constant running) as it has almost 550k on the clock now. Still uses almost no oil between changes!

JC

Penrite HPR diesel in the TD5.
Castrol RX Super in the Tdi 300.
Change every 5000kms.
Oil & filters every 10,000kms.
Cheap insurance and it showed when I had to delve into the motor for an inspection a short time back. No noticeable wear and no gunk build up anywhere.

There's a school of thought which says that good quality mineral based oils for older engines with flat tappet technology (as distinct from roller tappets) are prefereable to synthetics because the latter are "tooo slippery" and do not promote the rotation of tappets and push rods to maintain even wear, as well as the mineral based oils do.

I don't have a diesel, but I do use a mix of 50% Magnatec 10-40W 50% Magnatec 15-40W (diesel formulation) in my P38 petrol engine...the cleanliness is amazing!

Re.10,000km oill changes...an industrial chemist friend advised that such changes are for absolutely optimal conditions...minimal stop/start and 50+ km journeys so that the oil reaches proper temp and distills off the water and other stuff which otherwise accumulates in the sump from short & stop/start trips. He also reckons that there is a use-by issue with the stability of modern oils and that they should be changed after 6 months /5-7000 kms under normal city stop/start conditions...

here endeth lecture

Originally Posted by martinozcmax

Hi,

I have just done my second oil and filter change at 5,000 clicks on my rebuilt (about twelve months ago) motor Tdi.

I looked at the synthetic oils and got some advice from guys here on which one to go for. I have been advised that you can go 10,000 between synthetic oil changes however it seems uneconomic at approx 4 x the cost.

It's only a half hour job to change the oil and filter however I wondered if anyone on this forum could advise what they do and why ?

I had my old 94 Disco for ten years and only ever changed the oil and filter every 10,000 without any probs. Is it different for the diesel motor ?

I appreciate any input.


Regards

Martin

G'day,
I have recently purchased a series 2 TD5 and this is the first time on the site and so I appologise, I can't even find your orriginal question to get your name. Anyway, the previous owner of my TD5 was using Penrite, semi synthetic I think. I have been advised be a local landrover mechanic that a full synthetic is essential if you want to avoid problems such as a piston nipping up on a side wall in times of high workload/high temperatures. Having chatted to this local bloke a few times he certainly knows his stuff and I understand his reputation is second to none. I also believe that oil is critically important and running mobil-1 is only costing me about $30 extra per change, cheap in comparison to a rebuild. I am however towing a 2 tonne boat. I hope this helps and while I have got you can you explain to me where I go on the site to post a question?
Kind regards
Greg

Always used Mobil 1 in petrol and Caltex RPM Delo in diesels.

In the V8 now as its getting looser like a Kings Cross hooker, I have used the Penrite Syn10 synthetic. Great oil, but its shedding all the carbon cake in it from the previous owner, something the Mobil 1 never did!
Did a sump clean about 12 months ago on it and got gobs of crap out of it. Even got up into the block and scraped everything off the crank, rods and block walls.
Did 2 oil changes and there is more back in the sump again!!