Oil recommendations

Daveyboy20 · November 28, 2018

I've asked on a Facebook group and was told 5/w30 but thought I'd ask here, too. 126k mile 1998 LS400. I worry 5w30 is a bit thin for an engine of this age?

Jake430 · November 28, 2018

All I can tell you I used 20/50 in my 400's, 5/30 in the 430 and 0/20 in the 600 without any problems, though I wonder if 0/20 is too thin for long distance driving.

messi · November 28, 2018

Lexus recommend 5w30. I think the manual also recommends 5w30.

cruisermark · November 29, 2018

When I had may mark 3 (for 3 years) and mark 4 (2 years) I used Castrol 0w-30 without any problems

Daveyboy20 · November 29, 2018

Fully synthetic? Or part?

Does anyone know the capacity?

Thanks again

cruisermark · November 29, 2018

I used fully synthetic- can’t rememberthe Capacity bit was roughly 6-7 litres

Daveyboy20 · November 29, 2018

9 hours ago, cruisermark said:

I used fully synthetic- can’t rememberthe Capacity bit was roughly 6-7 litres

For a 400 or a 430? Any leaks after using fully synthetic?

MLW · November 29, 2018

My 430 runs on 5-30 synthetic because that is what Lexus says it should run on.

Almost all new cars run on this. Remember the 430 was recommended to run on SJ oil. We now easily run on SN standard, so most oil is better than in 2002.

The-Acre · November 29, 2018

11 hours ago, Daveyboy20 said:

Fully synthetic? Or part?

Does anyone know the capacity?

Thanks again

Because the oil change is 6k I've always (for at least 10 years) used part synthetic in all my LS's. If the interval was longer I'd use fully, but it isn't so I don't. None have ever used a drop and it still looks clear before it's changed.

Malc · November 30, 2018

my indy has always recommended, for older cars like mine, to use semi-synthetic

Malc

plastic orange · November 30, 2018

I use Mobil 1 0-40, doesn't leak and doesn't use any oil at 174,000 miles.

Pete

MLW · November 30, 2018

Fully synthetic costs about £4-5 extra. Why not have all that extra protection? I ran my old 1992 Mercedes E Class 124 on it for 10 years even though everyone said semi was ok. When I sold it at 146,000 miles the engine was sweet as a nut.

Oil is cheap .....engines are not.

Daveyboy20 · December 2, 2018

I'd happily pay the extra for more protection, but it's more that I've read it may not be a good idea to use it in older engines and I'm just not sure what to believe. So many conflicting opinions.

Malc · December 3, 2018

22 hours ago, Daveyboy20 said:

So many conflicting opinions.

I trust my indy totally and he has given me chapter and verse on this ( which i can't remember tbh ) and we use 10 or 15/40 semi-synthetic and have done for about 100k miles and it's fine

now on 215k miles and serviced annually with the MOT

used the same oil on my previous Ls400s too and now 18 years in the running . I now use Wilko oil and it's absolutely fine, made to the usual exacting standards I believe

Malc

Newbie1 · December 4, 2018

On 11/29/2018 at 9:41 PM, Daveyboy20 said:

For a 400 or a 430? Any leaks after using fully synthetic?

I'm running fully synthetic. No leaks.

MLW · December 4, 2018

Wilko oil! ....everyone will decry this, but they don't read the spec. For years I have run cars on French Hypermarket oil, Asda oil, Tesco's oil, Euro Car parts oil, and Shell.

All are great. All meet the spec and actually exceed it. Last oil change was ASDA =£15 or Shell =£21. My heart said Shell.......looks good. Head said Asda= brilliant.

6500RPM · January 3, 2019

Ive also heard great things about Asda oil. I dont understand all the specs, but apparently it is meant to be really good O(and lets be honest, they dont make their own oil, so one of the big players must be making it for them.)

39buss · January 3, 2019

Welcome to the LOC. You'll find it very helpful and loads of knowledgeable people on here. How come you get a Tyne & Wear location as previously the Geordies were in County Durham. Things must have changed in the LOC world!!!. I'm in Washington.

cornershop · January 4, 2019

All oil recommendations should be invalid until the recommender has torn the engine apart and inspection pistons, cylinders, cams etc

Of course, no one will do that, so when I see comments like “it’s a great oil”, I think ‘how can you say that without knowing what the engine looks like internally?’

“Tell me I’m wrong!”

Texas · January 4, 2019

My thoughts ( other thoughts are available!) are that as long as the oil used is the same 'rating' ie 5w30 as the manufacturer stated when they built/released the car then you can't go far wrong as the actually 'quality' or 'specification' of the oil today ( SN or ACEA rankings) are going to be far superior to oils from 20 years ago!

What I can't really get my head around is the oils that say Halfords sell labelled as 5w30 'Ford' or 5w30 'Vauxhall' can it be that specific or is it for the ease of the end user?

Paul m.

cornershop · January 4, 2019

Just now, Texas said:

My thoughts ( other thoughts are available!) are that as long as the oil used is the same 'rating' ie 5w30 as the manufacturer stated when they built/released the car then you can't go far wrong as the actually 'quality' or 'specification' of the oil today ( SN or ACEA rankings) are going to be far superior to oils from 20 years ago!

What I can't really get my head around is the oils that say Halfords sell labelled as 5w30 'Ford' or 5w30 'Vauxhall' can it be that specific or is it for the ease of the end user?

Paul m.

Both GM and Ford have the own oil spec requirement (eg m2c913-A/B/C for ford) it just means the Halfords oil meets that spec.

Texas · January 4, 2019

So it IS for the ease of the end user, so they don't have to read through the small print on the back looking for M2C913-A to confirm its ok for their Ford, and in fact it could be Exactly the same oil in the 'Vauxhall' can! ( because it meets the Vauxhall spec also)

paul m.

6500RPM · January 4, 2019

On 1/3/2019 at 3:21 PM, 39buss said:

Welcome to the LOC. You'll find it very helpful and loads of knowledgeable people on here. How come you get a Tyne & Wear location as previously the Geordies were in County Durham. Things must have changed in the LOC world!!!. I'm in Washington.

Thanks for the welcome (but not the geordie bit 🙂 (Sunderland). I have still not got my LS430 on the road yet, having a few issues with the back door not closing, and want to get it all sorted before I start using her. She is a lovely one owner from new with 75K.

Anyway, back to oil, for anyone wanting to stock up, amazon have castrol magnatec 5w30 fully synthetic on at the moment for £17 for 4L, which is a cracking price.

ColinBarber · January 4, 2019

7 hours ago, Texas said:

What I can't really get my head around is the oils that say Halfords sell labelled as 5w30 'Ford' or 5w30 'Vauxhall' can it be that specific or is it for the ease of the end user?

Some European manufacturers have specific oil requirements to use their extended service intervals.