Help me choose an oil for my m20...

[Stanley Rockefeller]

So I'm moving out west this Oct. and I'm gonna change the oil tomorrow. The car used to get a steady summer diet of M1 15w50 by the PO. When I got the car I started runing it on a diet of 5w40 Delvac (also made by Mobil) and this really seemed to awaken the engine a bit. Not only was it mroe responsive to revving, but it also smoothened out the valvtrain noise as the engine warmed up (usually the car would be noisier and then get quieter...now it goes from quieter at startup, and stays that way even as the car gets hotter).

I've never ran it in winter, so the coldest temp sthey get are in the 5C area. What oil shoudl I put in there? I'm also comfortable running it for extended intervals (hey, if the engine dies early, it just means a high performance engine earier! :D) jj

So what oil would you recommend?

thanks in advance

[Ryann]

your owner's manual should contain a chart spelling out oil choices based on average annual temperatures. use that.

[Stanley Rockefeller]

your owner's manual should contain a chart spelling out oil choices based on average annual temperatures. use that.

thanks but those recommenations are from the late 80's. motor oil has progressed a great deal from those days

[jasonsnoddy]

thanks but those recommenations are from the late 80's. motor oil has progressed a great deal from those days

but your m20 hasn't. use the chart.

[u3b3rg33k]

M1 15w-50. Good for M20s, and fits 99% of the temps your car will ever see. (i would've said 99.9%, but you live in CA)

Otherwise, Valvoline VR1 20w50.

[Danny]

I used 20w50.

Was awesome.

[SpecM]

I use 15w50 Mobil One. Best oil for an m20. The improvement you felt with the other oil was either a placebo or a coincidence.

[browntown]

20w50, thick oil so no leaks. :-)

[Adrian_Visser]

Oh yay another which oil should I use thread. This makes what 5683 R3v threads on this now?

[Reeves]

Mobile 1 15w-50 is probably one of the best off the shelf oils for our engines.

[Stanley Rockefeller]

So yesterday while at wally world I decided to take your advice and got some Castrol semi syn Hypuron 15w40 diesel motor oil. This stuff really is great in my little M20. After i fixed a vac leak that was on the underside of the intake boot, the cars idle really smoothened out! I also installed new plugs, cap and rotor too.

thanks for the help guys!

[browntown]

All that advice and you dumped diesel oil in it?

[619E30]

I use Royal Purple 10w-40

[u3b3rg33k]

So yesterday while at wally world I decided to take your advice and got some Castrol semi syn Hypuron 15w40 diesel motor oil. This stuff really is great in my little M20. After i fixed a vac leak that was on the underside of the intake boot, the cars idle really smoothened out! I also installed new plugs, cap and rotor too.

thanks for the help guys!

You don't listen very well, do you?

The reason we recommend oils like M1 15w50 and VR1 20w50 is they're still formulated for our "old fashioned" engine.

[StereoInstaller1]

Delo FTMFW.

10W40 year round for me.

Rocking Castrol 20W50 right now, gonna go back to Delo when it is time to change again.

I ran the Walmart brand "high mileage" for years, as it is especially high in Zinc, which was all but eliminated from oils in the late 90's, then cut back even more about 2002.

Delo has TONS of detergents and LOTS of Zinc, so it runs really really quiet (in an M20? HAH!) and stays nice and slippery for a long time.

BTW: Bosch filters are at O'Reilleys here. Anyone know of a auto parts chain that has Mann filters?