Oil for VHPD

Gareth · Post by **Gareth** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 8:55 pm

I was recommended Castrol Edge 0w 30 but could only find 5w30.
Anyway, bought this and dropped it off at Ricky Gaulds for the Caterham tonight but I'm now a little concerned it's not really suitable.

Any of the techys on here reckon I should buy different stuff before Rickys changes the oil?

robin · Post by **robin** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 9:37 pm

0W30 and 5W30 differ only in their cold performance; both have the same viscosity once hot, so provided you warm the engine up before caning it, there won't be much difference between the two.

TBH I am surprised at such a low viscosity and if you're in any doubt I would be looking at calling Caterham and asking them what oil they recommend ...

Cheers,
Robin

Gareth · Post by **Gareth** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 9:42 pm

Should I be going for 5w40?

steve_weegie · Post by **steve_weegie** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 9:42 pm

The 5W30 oil will be fine, although slightly thicker at low temperatures. At operating temperature, they will both flow the same. IIRC 5W oils low viscosity rating is measured at -25C and i suspect the car will be tucked up nice and warm in that kind of weather!

Either that or you've got some demon weather gear for it

Oh, PS... I believe that lotus reccomend a 5W50 oil for the elise VHPDs - dont know why caterham have gone for the thinner stuff....

jj · Post by jj » Mon Aug 13, 2007 9:49 pm

As I said today after much reading of exiges.com I went for 15w50. Not sure why but thats what was recommended.

Gareth · Post by **Gareth** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 9:56 pm

/50 is like a race oil isn't it?

jj · Post by jj » Mon Aug 13, 2007 9:59 pm

My in-depth knowledge of it is that in a VHPD engine the oil gets hot. Very hot. 50 is you know, good at being very hot.

/end of knowledge.

steve_weegie · Post by **steve_weegie** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 10:04 pm

Gareth wrote:/50 is like a race oil isn't it?

Not so much a race oil, but a thicker oil that's easier to pump at high temperatures.

If you go for a lower number, the oil is thinner and more difficult for the pump to maintain pressure but you will see a few extra ponies...

Gareth · Post by **Gareth** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 10:07 pm

OK Steve, ditch the 5w/30 or keep it?
The choice is yours.

Stu160 · Post by **Stu160** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 10:19 pm

Perhaps because your car has a dry sump fitted,and a better oil cooler than an Elise install

Thats what I would guess.

Best bet is call Caterham,that way ,you get the correct advice from the manufacturer..

Stu

steve_weegie · Post by **steve_weegie** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 10:29 pm

lol no pressure then

I would be tempted to say that a 5w30 oil is too thin for a K and go for somthing a bit heavier. However, picking the right oil is down to a number of factors, not least what the oil temperature usualy gets to when worked hard...

I've had a hunt on the web and minister power reccomend either a 5w50 or a 15w50 oil in the r400. Now.... As the spread between the numbers increases, so does the polymer content in the oil. Unless you're going to be running the car in sub zero temperatures, i'd go for the 15w50 oil which is what i use in the elise.

Personally, i'd say to ditch the 5w30 and get some silkolene pro r 15w50. Unfortunatly i dont know where to get it from except on mail order. If you really need to do the oil tomorrow, go to halfords for some mobil 1 at a similar viscosity.

HTH

Cheers,

Steve

fd · Post by fd » Mon Aug 13, 2007 10:37 pm

Elise oil temps are usually very high due to lack of any real way to cool the oil apart from through the water jacket . . . there's precious little airflow in the engine bay, hence usually I use 15/50 in the elise - I don't do stop and start driving and hence most of the time run at hot settings . . . so the cold performance is not something I worry about to much . . .

The caterham has much more cooling plus the DS system does 2 things - prevents oil heating through windage and because the DS tank is built into the bell housing it gives the oil a huge big heat sink to get rid of heat energy . . .

I run 15/50 in my caterham also, but it never gets used at less than rev limiter revs when fully warmed up . . . and I value some oil pressure when it's being treated like that . . . for a road car, you can probably go thinner, I'm sure there will be 10000 opinions on blatchat . . .

I've never seen anybody recommend less than a 40 for K's . . . as you track it . . . I'd probably go with a 50 . . .

I also use the silkolene pro oils, they come in 5 litre packs instead of 4 for less if you mail order . . . free and fast delivery from the opei oils people . . .

Fd

Fd

Fd

Stu160 · Post by **Stu160** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:14 pm

I think I can supply Silkoline,will get a price in the morning for you.

Stu

woody · Post by **woody** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:16 pm

I've been using Castrol RS edge 10w60 as per the 160 supplementary manual, think the other oil listed is mobil1 10w40 which always seemed strange.

Anyway, i ordered from opie oils on ebay about 10 days ago. All of their oil seems to have an 'or best offer', so I stuck in a cheeky £32 pounds for their castrol above - prices were from £38 to £44 for 4 litres - and it was accepted with free delivery straight away. They must have a minimum offer amount set.

Gareth · Post by **Gareth** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 7:57 am

OK, thanks for the replies guys.
I'll call Ricky later.

G

P.S.
He has a RS200 in the garage atm