Hi. What engine oil is best for the 3.2 xj6 1993. And should i use original oil filter? I am from ireland. I was thinking maybe castrol 10w 40

 

Your owners manual will specify the correct viscosity to use. Brand name is irrelevant so choose what makes you happiest, your car couldn't care less.

 

Hi Darren:
Welcome to the forum! Yes, consult the owners manual; but your idea sounds about right. I don't always change my own oil because I'm horribly lazy, so I usually go with what my technician thinks is best - 10w30 these days. And any old filter that fits will do. I'm sure others will vehemently disagree with me. Folks get passionate about their fluids.

cheers!
Scott

 

Single malt, Islay for me.

 

Darren,

Call the local dealership and ask their advice on viscosity for your area. I'm in the Southern US, so I use the 20-50W for warm climates.

In regard to the filter, I have purchased a filter from the big-box auto retailers and was apprehensive to use it once I got the OEM filter off. MY reason was the capacity of the big-box filter, compared to the OEM filter. There was a considerable difference in size/capacity, and I didn't want to create flow/pressure issue and blow a gasket or force a leak in the system. I'm a risk-aversion type of guy, and hate having regrets. I found another retailer who had the same comparable size/capacity filter and installed it. Just ensure the filter you buy is not only high quality, but has same size/capacity.

I should add that the size/capacity is a personal preference of mine, others may disagree.

 

I agree with Rob. I would rather pay more and get a better quality oil that I know has better additives that will help protect the engine.I have been using Castrol 10w40 which is one of the choices in my owners manual for my climate area. The same with the filter- I want a quality filter that will do what its supposed to do.Why take a chance with the cheap stuff in this kind of engine?

 

There's little or no evidence that suggests a tie between brand name/price and engine life.

 

So a quart of walmart brand oil is the same as a quart of castrol? Somehow I think there would be some differences if both oils were sent out for analysis.Same with the filters-cut open a cheap filter and compare the element to a better filter.Let me know what you find out.

 

You're the one making assumptions. Onus is on you.

 

Since I don't have the time or equipment to measure motor oil performance, I'll provide a link to a report from a company that does. I've used Castrol Oil almost exclusively in our '93 (which rates well but not highest in most of the tests in the report). According to this test, and many others I've seen, not all motor oils perform equally.

http://www.amsoil.com/lit/g3115.pdf

For our hot Tennessee summers I use Castrol 20W-50. For fall in Indiana where our son uses the car at college, I use 10W-40, switching to 0W-40 at Christmas for the brutal January-February temps (frequently below 0F), then back to 10W-40 for spring, then 20W-50 for summer.

Regarding oil filters, I've been using Wix for years, available at O'Reilly Auto Parts and elsewhere. In the tests at the link below, Wix scored well, but not at the top in every test:

Test Pictures and Results - Oil Filtration Comparisons From the Workbench

We report, you decide.

Cheers,

Don

 

Save your keystrokes ... there is no cure for willful blindness.

 

Mikey,

Apparently you are a representative of jaguarforums.com.

Having a bad day........?

My apologies, it's easy to get drawn into faceless exchanges. I should have taken the high road. Sorry, and humble apologies to all on the forum.

 

Just a couple more thoughts:

Both Jaguar and BMW recommend Castrol, so that makes the decision easy for me. No doubt other oils will work equally well or even better.

IMHO, changing your oil regularly is cheap insurance against premature engine wear and is probably more important than the specific brand of oil you use.

Cheers,

Don

 

No apologies required- no harm no foul.

Oil, fuel and filter topics regularly get bashed to death on every motor related forum in existence. Always have, probably always will. In spite of knock down drag 'em out fights over which product is best- no one can seem to come up with unbiased, impartial results to back up the claims. I've been pointed to the Amsoil test so many times that I've almost got it memorized. Not surprisingly, all the other major manufacturers have similar promotional material suggesting that their own product is the best. Not much difference than toothpaste, soap powder etc. etc.

Oil is manufactured to a specification. It either meets the spec or it doesn't. The car OEM determines that oil of a certain spec will allow the engine to meet their design targets. There's no requirement to use an oil that exceeds the spec by a factor of X or has an extra dose of Y in it. About the only thing I read on a jug of oil other than the viscosity is the API rating category. If that meets the OEM's spec there's no reason not to use it.

Jag has a marketing agreement with Castrol to recommend their products, not much different than other OEMs have agreements with Mobil or others with Shell etc. This shouldn't be inferred to mean that one brand is better than another.

The byword here is to use whatever product makes you happy or given a choice happiest.

 

My point is not that the research is unbiased - it's all funded by the oil industry so of course it's biased. My point is that ALL of the research indicates measurable differences between brands and product lines. So it pays to do what you can to ensure you are using a quality product in your engine.

The Petroleum Quality Institute of America is yet another "independent" organization supported by the oil industry, but their website offers interesting reading, where you can compare the viscosity, additives and other properties of many brands of motor oil:

The Petroleum Quality Institute of America

This chart shows that a wide variety of oils that met standards "with no problems," yet nonetheless had significantly different properties, additives, hot and cold viscosities, acidity, etc.:

CONSOLIDATED DATA ON 5W-20s EXAM


Check out this survey in which 85% of oil distributors surveyed agreed that there is an issue with low quality and/or off-spec lubrication in the market."

CONSOLIDATED DATA ON 5W-20s EXAM


Oil refining is probably not much different from most other processing and manufacturing operations in the sense that some batches "meet" but do not "exceed" standards, and some batches are "just below" standards. In most industries, passable and sub-standard batches aren't destroyed (especially in the oil industry), they're just used in different ways. For example, if a low standard batch were private-labeled in quart bottles for a chain of gas stations, who loses? Not the oil company, and not the gas station chain, since accelerated engine wear due to insufficient oil protection is likely to take months or years to manifest. The consumer loses, but how will he ever prove the oil he's been using is sub-standard?

It couldn't happen, could it?

Well, note the news release on the home page of the PQIA website:

"PQIA has uncovered a fraudulent brand of "Motor Oil" on retail shelves in Missouri and Indiana, and likely available elsewhere throughout the Midwest, that is capable of destroying your car engine in short order. The brand is Orbit and it's manufactured by Orbit Oil in Gary, Indiana.

PQIA's analysis of the Orbit samples show the products are extremely thin, as much as 74% below the minimum viscosity requirements for their implied viscosity grade. Motor oils this thin are not able to adequately separate and lubricate moving engine parts and can lead to rapid wear and even engine seizure. In addition, the samples tested lack the critical additives needed to protect car engines from wear, sludge, rust and corrosion, and may contain abrasive contaminates. Accordingly, PQIA has issued a "DON'T BUY" for Orbit brand motor oils.

These fraudulent oils should not be added to your car engine, and if you see this brand in your area, please contact PQIA via our hotline.

Note: The labels on the products tested prominently display what a reasonable person would believe to be a viscosity grade (i.e."5-30"), implying that the oil is a 5W-30 motor oil. None of the products tested come close to the implied viscosity grades shown on their labels."


Oh, don't tell me, Orbit Oil is your favorite brand????

Cheers,

Don

 

Here's the survey of oil distributors:

http://www.jobbersworld.com/Quality%...port%20PTI.pdf

 

Never heard of them- but I wouldn't have bought it anyway since the label does not specify 1) a suitable viscosity (or any viscosity for that matter) nor 2) what API spec it complies with as it apparently doesn't comply with any. Both are mandatory- far more important than brand name

The same as there's no shortage of marketing material promoting this oil or that, there's no shortage of individuals or enterprises that 'test' these oils and rate them. Obviously, each is a little bit different and more of this or less of that but again they either meet the spec or they don't.

The problem is no two 'experts' consistently come up with the same results. Even more important- there's no correlation in the real world with vehicles using a supposedly inferior brand having any more problems that those using the high end boutique oils. The vast majority of vehicles go to their, original grave engines intact, despite what sort of neglect and misuse their owners might have inflicted upon them.

 

I think you missed the most important part of the news release. The oil bottles ARE labeled with a"suitable viscosity," just not an accurate viscosity:

"Note: The labels on the products tested prominently display what a reasonable person would believe to be a viscosity grade (i.e."5-30"), implying that the oil is a 5W-30 motor oil. None of the products tested come close to the implied viscosity grades shown on their labels."

If you can't believe the research on motor oils (any of it), then it logically follows that you can't believe the labels on motor oil bottles (any of them).

Your best bet is to stick with oil from brands that have been around for a significant time and whose reputation is at stake in every bottle bearing their name.

For the sake of the newbies among us, I would be grateful if you would not try to convince them that they can put just any motor oil in their Jaguar. To do so ignores the demonstrable fact that not all motor oils are equal and not all motor oil bottlers are honest.

Cheers,

Don

 

Thanks Don for explaining the IMPORTANCE of the quality of the oil going into the engine.I agree 100 percent!!

 

No I saw that and in fact looked up the company in question. Here's what I found as a picture of their bottles:




Sure sticks out like a sore thumb to me but, I will concede that the manufacturer is obviously trying to dupe the consumer. Shame on the retailer that sells it too.

As for advising newbies to use name brands, I suppose if that's required as a motherhood statement here, it would be required everywhere. I usually give people more credit than that and presumed that the average hobbyist would gravitate to a known brand name rather than searching out the unknown, much as they would when grocery or any other type of shopping. I took that as a given.

The point of my responses was that there's nothing magic about Castrol or any other brand that inherently makes it the only choice for our cars.

Cheers.