Oil recommendations and questions here - The Definitive S2 Oil thread

[oilman]

It depends on modifications and if the car gets any track use. In a standard or fairly standard car, with little or no track use, the oil will last about 16000km.

Cheers

Tim

[A80Avant]

Yes, uprated pistons,rods, turbo, stock head and cams

[Billman]

Yes, uprated pistons,rods, turbo, stock head and cams

almost stock pistons (material ect) so stock clearances.

[A80Avant]

yes, that is true.

i must say that on idle ever since i changed the oil pump 4 years ago, and used lower thermal sensors, i never got the oil pressure lower than 2.2-2.5bar on idle, on warm engine, which on my engine is the 80-83C. When the engine reached 85C and above, where the ventilators are working frequently, only then did the pressure go to 2bar on idle.

Could that have anything to do with it?

[oilman]

Yes, uprated pistons,rods, turbo, stock head and cams

Any idea how hot the oil was getting? I would have thought that it's going to have been running a bit warmer, so a 10w-50 would be appropriate.

Cheers

Tim

[A80Avant]

the oil NEVER went above 80C as i have a bigger oil cooler as well.

for the last 3 years i used 10W50 (titan fuchs) while on the 1st year post rebuild i used castrol 10W60

my question is whether the oil being thicker (even the 10W50) could have anything to do with the cylinder wear as the engine is not getting warm enough for the oil to have less viscosity and better lubrication.

rod bearings and crank bearings are in good shape by the way.

[oilman]

Using an oil that is too thick can cause problems like you said, but it's not very likely to be that severe. When you get the car back on the road, I'd suggest going with a 5w-40 or take the bigger oil cooler off if you want to run with anything thicker.

Cheers

Tim

[A80Avant]

I was thinking of something the same, but since i have heard others with newly built engines having issues with as low as 5W... oils getting oil consumptions, i was wondering if the best way to go is somewhere in the middle, such as a good 10W40 oil.

what would you recommend there, as i know there are a lot of 10W40 options!

thanks

Vasilis

[oilman]

Hi Vasilis

If it needs running in first, go for the Millers CRO

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-60229-mi...ng-in-oil.aspx

When it's run in, a 5w-40 should be fine, the only problem is that if the tolerances are large, you may get some piston slap when the engine is cold. If you get the piston slap, a 10w-40 should cover that up. With those grades, the best ones to consider are the Redline, Millers CFS, Redline, Gulf Competition or Fuchs Pro S.

Cheers

Tim

[Thuppu]

Vasilis, you have something wrong with the thermostat in the oilcooler line. It shouldn't even open before 110C. If you oil is always max. 80C the condens water etc. don't evaporate from it fast enough.

[A80Avant]

Correction,

thermostat has not been checked BUT previously on an uphill and the smaller cooler it was going nicely up to 130! along with the engine getting warmer, when i was in Crete in the summer.

now the cooler sits at the line above the initial one, BUT i dont drive the car hard enough to get it higher, and i believe that along with the fact that the whole engine is running cooler, + the larger oil cooler, the temps just dont go any higher.

ill have it checked though just to be sure!

[rst]

Correction,

thermostat has not been checked BUT previously on an uphill and the smaller cooler it was going nicely up to 130! along with the engine getting warmer, when i was in Crete in the summer.

now the cooler sits at the line above the initial one, BUT i dont drive the car hard enough to get it higher, and i believe that along with the fact that the whole engine is running cooler, + the larger oil cooler, the temps just dont go any higher.

ill have it checked though just to be sure!

I would suggest that the oil thermostat is dead on your car.
I have driven with Castrol Edge 10w60 for 10k km for now. I have installed larger oil cooler 20x25x5cm. After very modest driving for 15-20 min oil temp goes to 110C and stays there. I have only once seen the oil temp went up to 130C but that was after 10 runs on the airfield, when i was tuning the car. Then i drive about 2km and the temp was again 110C.
If the oil temp is on your car 80C all the time, what's the oil pressure on idle then?
My baby has about 1.7-2.0 bar at idle and 110C. Thats with Castrol EDGE 10w60 and with X1-R oil additive. I have used TWS and EDGE. I would say that they are almost identical oils except for the price.
After done only some runs on the airfield the temp never goes over 120C so i think it is safe to use 5w40 or something like that also when you have big oil cooler.

EDIT:
As i know on UrS4/S6 markings are the following:
50C or 60C (i dont remember anymore)
first stripe 110C
130C
secont stripe 150C
170C
http://bild.quantitec.com/LED-B8.5D-10R_0.jpg

[A80Avant]

my oil pressure on idle as i have posted above is 2.5bar when the oil is 80-90C
i can never tell where is the 110 mark on the oil gauge. Mine just sits on the first line above the 50C mark. If i remember correctly between the 50 and the 130 mark there are 2 lines. Mine sits on the first line of the 2 and practically never moves, even after a few hard runs, but that is on an outside temperature from 10-25C as in the UK its always colder.

If the 110C mark is the second line of the 2, then my question is how come my oil temperature always moves above the 50C mark and stays up, doesnt go any further down when cruising on the highway? If the oil cooler was always stuck open, i would assume that the cold air would cool the oil in the same manner the coolant temperature drops to 70C when cruising at normal speeds for hours. However mine seems to stay put at the first line as i say, which i assume is around 80-90C.

is there any table that shows what the 2 lines represent in the oil temperature gauge between the 50 and 130C mark?

[newsh]

The oil thermostat may be not broken as such but just opening earlier? There's also the accuracy of the gauge and the oil temp sensor to check.
My avant had glazed bores and had to be honed and have new rings, this car runs cold in winter and I have a new water thermostat ready to fit, I've not really looked at oil temp as a possible cause of the glazing but I know of a few cars which have had the same problem, I believe my car was driven a lot of short journeys in traffic before I owned it. I'm running valvoline 20-50 racing (mineral) in it at the moment as there was a suspicion that the glazing was caused by the fully synth. Whether there is any truth in this I don't know but there's a couple of us giving it a try..

[Billman]

That would be the truth if the synthetic was used during running in or at the start.