Much to my surprise, the local Jaguar dealership performed an oil change ~7 months before I bought the car and used Castrol GTX. I thought for sure, this motor would specify a diesel oil, such as Rotella 15W40, after learning these motors have tappet valves. Lots of folks with the tappet valve equipped Land Rovers are running Rotella 15W40. I want to change the oil now. I can't remember the last time I ran Castrol GTX in any vehicle. I'm currently running it in an old push-mower. IMHO, Castrol is similar to bottom shelf liquor, but as you know, opinions are like something else everyone has.

I run Mobil Delvac 15W40, Schaeffer 15W40 / 5W40 synthetic or Rotella 15W40 / 5W40 in our diesel trucks depending on the season. Winter time is fully synthetic to alleviate cold starts (put a bottle of fully synthetic and a bottle of dino in your freezer overnight and pour them the following morning), summer time is dino or synthetic blend. I ran Mobil 1 synthetic in my '69 Mercedes 220D. Mobil must be quite proud of their oil for what they charge. I was going to switch to Rotella, but sold the car. Rotella seems to cover a vast range of preferred oil within engines.

This car has been dealership maintained throughout its life. I prefer to maintain and service my vehicles. Would you recommend staying away from synthetic since it's run on dino thus far? Will there be any adverse effects switching to 15W40 dino? Should I make the jump and go to a synthetic blend?


Jason

 

Jaguar did not specify synthetic oil. The dealers used regular 5w-30 oil. My 2002 came with the maintenance -- so that is all it got for the first part of its life.

I use synthetic currently because it normally stays in more than a year.

Don't use 15w-40 -- use the correct weight and change at the indicated interval.


We run our fleet vehicles on regular oil and the engines run forever.

 

I thought synthetic or not, if the oil is in there a year, you should still change it.

The hard copy manual I have specifies:

-25*F-15*F: 0W-30
15*F-50*F: 5W-30
50*F-80*F: 0W-40
80*F-122*F: 5W-40

I'm not sure how accurate those temp ranges are as there are no dividing lines for the oils themselves on the chart. Is there any overlap in those oils?

Where I live can get into the low 100s during the summer.

 

Jaguar has always recommended Castrol products, even on the old E-types. All the dealers I have worked at use standard 5w-30. There is no recommendation of using synthetic on engine before the 5.0L. The old 4.2 XK engines used 20w-50 as recommended by Jaguar. Castrol GTX is still just regular oil. The synthetic is Castrol Edge (formerly Castrol Syntec). I would only use the 15w-40 if it has the certification for spark ignition engines. But then again, i wouldn't use it in a Jag.

 

Is 5W40 preferred for hot, dry / desert climates?

 

...that I should ALWAYS used Castrol GTX 5w/30 in all of the 6 Jags I've had, unless I wanted to change the oil myself.

I did persuade him to allow High Mileage GTX in my >100k milers, with much grumbling.

I think the only words he had for Synthetics were "NOT NATURAL."

Ha!

 

Seems like most here are on the EC. It's HOT and dry in the summer where I live. I don't mind staying with Castrol GTX oil, I'm just surprised it's the oil of choice for these motors.

 

well i will share my thoughts and experience, up until this last oil change I used rotella T 5W40 only cus i have always been a fan and used it in euro cars. I always added a bottle of restore as per brutals suggestion being I have a nikilsil block. An no i am acually happy i have a good one mine sat for the many years tht sulfur was a prob i got it with less that 30k on it. It passed the leakage test with flying colors and runs and starts like a dream, not to mention a proper nikisil motor creates less friction, seals better, weighs less and lasts longer than a lined motor its been proven many times.

Anyway as i said I have used the rotella religiously and its a great oil but i also would get a lil bit of oil out the breather hole into the intake tube not alot very lil but annoying none the less. I saw a conversation on here where a guy claimed that our cars love duroblends and he noticed almost no oil in his tube after switching from syn to a blend. So what the heck i went with the new quaker state DEFY 5w30 blend and have driven on it over a 1000 miles an ill be damned not one drop in my tube and not burning any either weirdest thing ever. I used the same 1 can of restore as I always do with every oil change and so i am a believer.