I had a stray cat follow me home recently. I have no source to tell me what type of oil the previous owner was using.

I have been running synthetic oil in my nicer cars and I was wondering: Is there a way to look at the oil that is in a crank case and tell if it synthetic v. regular motor oil?

 

I've wondered the same thing about a car I keep in another state -- I used to always use synthetic but can't remember if I did last time or not. I decided to drive it for a while longer and then change it to a known quantity!

Congrats on the stray cat!

 

Mike,

We will see what others say.

BTW, new Jag arrived today. VERY impressed - love the more "masculine" exterior and interior. The darker wood inside looks so much richer that the one in my Carnival Red.

I will be posting photos up soon.

 

Can't wait to see it -- oh wait... I've already seen it!!! Love that car!

 

Can't wait to see it -- oh wait... I've already seen it!!! Love that car!

Sorry about the duplicate reply - maybe someone could delete this one?

 

I ask the following not to be snarky: Why does it matter?

Unless you have oil leaks, bad rings, or worn valve guides, I have never heard of any reason not to switch to synthetic even if you've been using conventional oil. If you do have any of the above maladies, synthetic tends to creep more easily as far as dripping or being sucked through tiny openings and causing smoke.

I don't know of a single manufacturer of conventional or synthetic oils that doesn't state that they're completely miscible with each other. Transitioning from one to the other is not a major affair.

 

Jaguar says use dino oil no need for synthetic.

 

Oh boy, here we go again!

 

Ya think?

robertjag- there's no way of telling what's in there now without expensive chemical analysis (****-y-sis)

Don't worry about what the previous owner put in. Have a look at the owners manual for the recommended viscosity. Choose YOUR favourite brand and type (synthetic or dino) and use that. You will be happy and your car couldn't care less.

 

apropos cats and owners:

Gleaned from the signature in a received email ...

dogs have owners
cats have staff

 

You could ask the seller (Jeremy), he might've changed it.

I was just thinking about this comment -- if he did change the oil, I'm sure it would've been the cheap stuff! I can promise you that he did NOT change the oil in my XJ8 before I got it -- it was low and dark and in dire need of changing.

 

It's one of those "I just wanted to know" questions.

For instance, I asked my trusted independent Jaguar mechanic to explain transmission maintenance. He said that technically the transmission is not a routine serviceable item according to Jaguar. But he took the time to explain certain aspects of transmission fluid, etc. Why? Because I wanted to know.

Alright, now someone can run with that.

 

When in doubt, change the oil and filter. Saw something on this forum a while back that indicated Valvoline synthetic was the best choice from cost and viscosity. Been using Mobil 1 since 1975.