Hey,
I was wondering what people use in the x100's? I know Jaguar suggested castrol. But I have been thinking about Moble1. I want to put fully synthetic in since its a high performance engine. But does anyone have any thoughts?
Thanks,
Mike

 

Any name brand synthetic would be fine. I use both Castrol Edge and Mobil 1, whichever is on sale.

 

No need for synthetics- factory fill was standard dino oil. No benefits either if you're going to change it at factory recommended intervals or sooner.

Choose the viscosity recommended in your owner's manual.

 

Have you noticed any difference between the two? After both have been used for the same amount of time? Does one look more clean when it comes out?

 

I have had three Jaguars I bought new, the 06 XKR , the 05 XJ8 and a 96 XJ6 that I sold a few years ago. I have always used synthetic in the new ones and run it for 10,000miles. I have a 96 XJ6 that I bought new and used conventional oil in it, changed every 10,000 miles as per the manufacturer. This engine had heavy reddish residue coating all the internal parts from scorched friction modifiers and the engine was filthy inside. The two cars with synthetic show clean metal and look new,even with 80,000 miles. It is sure proof to me, synthetic oil is superior and more temperature stable. I can't understand the reluctance of some people to use this proven superior product. I always guessed that they just can't handle change or something. I will say that when draining the oil, the synthetic looks just as black as the conventional oil, but if you look in the engine, there is a different story.

 

I said friction modifiers, I meant viscosity index modifiers.

 

What blend are you using? In my manual it says to use 5W-30..

 

Actually, the color of the oil means that it is taking the carbon and so forth out of the engine. In other words, the darker the oil after a set number of miles means that it is removing more harmful things from the oil. Darker oil from one type than another type after the same number of miles means that it is cleaning the engine more than the other one.

 

I've heard 'just use dino' from my own Jag-certified mechanic as well, but not necessarily so he can change it more often (not worth my time, the mess, and recycling hassle from home). But I've always run synthetic in all my other cars religiously, Mobil1. Tempted to do so on the next interval, but I believe it's had nothing but dino all its life here at 126k miles. That same mechanic for the last 2-3 owners as well. Next interval is later this year, will revisit all this then.

 

I'll throw in my 2 cents. In my spare time, but linked to my day job at a major engine OEM, around 30 years ago I started tracking differences in durability and reliability between regular and synthetic oils. The vast majority of cars end up in the scrapyard for reasons unrelated to engine failure/wear and tear linked to lubrication issues. There's no evidence that synthetics make engines last longer.

Owners might be impressed by the technology behind synthetics, but it seems that the engines couldn't care less.

Unless said owners opt for an extended change interval, which most enthusiasts refuse to entertain (speaking of 'can't handle change'), synthetics usually have the disadvantage of increased operating costs.

The mantra of this website is 'use what make you the happiest'. Makes sense to me.

 

Synthetic oil sometimes has a significant downside. In older vehicles with seals and gaskets that have been through hundreds of thousands of heat cycles, synthetic oil can weep or leak through those old seals and gaskets. If you switch an older vehicle that has run conventional oil during its entire lifespan to synthetic oil, you may begin to find oil spots on your driveway or garage floor that were never there before....

I've always stuck with conventional. It's less costly, it's never leaked from any of our three current vehicles, and I change it often enough (6,000 miles) to never have to worry about it....

Disclaimer: Synthetic oil does not CAUSE leaks. It simply gets by older seals and gaskets that are still able to hold conventional oil back....

 

Any brand name dino oil is fine as long as it is changed at recommended intervals. Get whats on sale. The filter is the most important component don't cheap out there.

 

I have used both synthetic and dino oils over the years and the engines with synthetic oils do stay much cleaner with no sludge build up than the
engines with dino oil. Also, the synthetic oils flows much better when the engine is cold. 5w-30 dino oil at -10F is about the same as honey. As most engine wear is at start up, I would seem that synthetic oils will circulate much faster when it is cold and reduce the bearing and camshaft wear.

That said, I've had one engine failure attributed to dino oil, a 2001 VW Passat 1.8T that had a severe sludge issue. VW replaced the engine for free and told me to use only synthetic oil.
The bigger problem for me is not the synthetic/dino comparison both work for most people, but the severe reduction in the amount of ZDDP in the latest API spec, all in the name of extending the life of the catalytic converter. Hence the appearance of "off road" engine oils. For the moment CD rated oils such as Mobil Delvac 1 or Shell Rotella T6 still have a reasonable ZDDP levels, but that is due to be reduced as well.

 

Not really, if exhaust gets in to engine, it will darken the oil. That is a misnomer, lots of things can darken the oil, so you cannot go by color, the only real way to tell is to have your oil analyzed and that is an imperfect science.
Best protection for your internals is a good filter, oil does not matter much for a DD, now a race car would be a different story.

I use advance auto parts oil in my 95 Volvo 850 T5R and it has 350k miles and still going, engine has never been cracked.

Look at Castrol oils commercial, in the real world who even runs there car at full throttle for more than a minute or 2, there is a reason ad agency's make these commercials and that is people are gulliable.

 

difference between regular oil and synthetic is not longevity and never has been, it is that synthetic reduces friction.

 

True- but high ZDDP levels are not required in our engines- it's older stuff with flat tappets that are at risk. Current API spec SM is more than acceptable for our engines.

 

Hi all,
My two bobs worth, much said already, most correct in my opinion
I have owned a Triumph Trident 1970's three cylinder motor bike for 35 years. These bikes owned the race tracks in their day but were often far from reliable on the road. One major problem was valve guide wear due to marginal valve / rocker geometry. Changing to Mobil 1 15 years ago has has hugely diminished this problem. Obviously in this situation there is a known problem with higher loading s and temps than should normally be expected in good engineering practice allowing whatever improved properties synthetics process to come to the fore. Whether this is required in lower performance / better designed engines is a moot point. (Of course, statistically this is a sample of one so you would be justified in taking it with a grain of salt.
However, our cars have very expensive and complex engines with a design which is under a cloud, to point Nikosil bore problems, cam tensioner problems etc, all which you would to expect in a car worth one tenth as much. I therefore have one problem putting the best synthetics and changing more regularly than recommended. I may be draining money out of the drain plug but I can live with that.
Of course colour of drained oil is a measure of how much it's dispersant properties are removing rubbish. It would be folly to think if one oil drains cleaner it is a superior oil.
Regularity of changes and the minimisation of short runs and gentle warm ups are far more I portent to engine life than the actual oil going into the motor
Just my thoughts
Alan
.

 

Further to previous ramble,
Typo in the above message
It should read 'I have no problem using synthetic oil'
Regards
Al

 

You clearly misunderstood what I said and what I intended. I was responding to one of the posters who seemed to say that since one type of oil was not as dark as the other, then the lighter oil must be better.

Let me clarify it for you. All things being equal, or being driven the same number of miles, if one particular oil is darker than another, then the darker oil is removing more carbon and other contaminates from the engine and cleaning it better, and that is why it is darker.

YES, we ALL KNOW that the "darkness" of the oil is not the correct way to judge its true condition.

Some of you people get into such a hissy about oil that these threads often have to be shut down.

Just put the recommended oil in your car and change it in the recommended time or mileage period and you are very unlikely to have an engine problem related to improper lubrication.

 

By regularity do you mean as regular as the manufacturer proscribes or some other period.
I used to race a Trident sidecar, it probably only went 50 miles or less between oil changes, still ran the big ends.