Engine Oil

bigjap · April 23, 2013

i was going to change oil,was going to use 5w 30,fully synphetic some places always seem to mention

10 40 wnen you put in make of car,i usually like Castrol no real reason,iv used magnetec in past now there is edge, just asking what you knowledgable people on here use, thanks

cruisermark · April 23, 2013

I used Castrol edge 0w-30 in my mark 4 for 2 years without any problems - couldn't tell you wether there was any significant difference in performance compared to bulk standard oils.

Similar topic also discussed here:

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/81271-will-5w30-oil-be-okay/

steve2006 · April 23, 2013

The owner's manual recommends using 5W-30 but Castrol suggest using 10W-40 on higher mileage engines.

Malc · April 23, 2013

and is it to be Fully Synthetic or ?

I did read on here somewhere, don't remember where, that Semi is correct for these older cars.

Malc

steve2006 · April 23, 2013

I stick with fully synthetic ( Castrol Magnatec) as I buy in advance when Halfords have it on offer but semi is fine also.

Stevie 79 · April 23, 2013

I have used this for many years now nothing but praise for it http://www.lucasoil.co.uk/products.php?page=products&subpage=product&product=50

GEN · April 23, 2013

I have used Edge fully synthetic. Then last year my car was with Lexus for timing belt, etc.,. The oil change was due so I decided to let them do it and then had a discussion about synthetic versus semi. Their mechanic maintained that the fully synthetic was not suitable for the older cars. When going overseas I decided to buy a litre of oil to have it in the car just in case so I went to the local Toyota to buy this oil. The parts guy at Toyota asked me for the car registration and then sold the oil - a litre of fully synthetic which he assured me was what was recommended. This was Toyota branded and under £10. When I went back to Lexus this year I had the conversation again and while they did not dispute the story I was told by Toyota the explained that they only did semi-synthetic!? I suspect that as long as it is meeting the required specs and changed as per book it should be OK but I would love to have an authoritative and definitive answer if someone can provide it...

Dave76 · April 24, 2013

I use Asda fully synth 5-30, £20. Just a note on supermarket 'cheap' oils, opinion (& common sence) has it that these supermarket oils are made by the big oil companies anyway, they give the oil companies a place at both ends of the commercial market, forcourt & other high end outlets = higher profits from fewer unit sales, low end supermarkets = more sales for lower proffits per unit.

brendangeorge · April 24, 2013

Hi

5 W 30 is the spec and if you changing the oil you could use semi synthetic or synthetic - if you are topping up you must be consistent. There is no reason to go to 10 W 40. The first number 5W is the cold (0C) viscosity and the second number is hight temp (100C) viscosity. You should use the manufacturer spec rather than your intuition. Why would you want thicker oil when it is cold? Also there are possible complications with the extra additives needed to make 40 weight oil perform at high temp. Have a read here for a resonable technical explanation - http://www.upmpg.com/tech_articles/motoroil_viscosity/

I use fully synthetic 5W30 the Lexus spec and backed up by the explanation in the link.

Good luck

Bren

bigjap · April 24, 2013

thank you all for the advice ,i will go with the 5w 30 fully synthectic,it just shows its a minefield out there,even with a simple thing like oil,i read the technical explanation from amsoil, thanks ,good company that ,i bought some additive from them recently to stop the diff whinning on my grand chereoke and it worked,im going to use the Castrol oil

Martin Hughes · April 24, 2013

I read a long time ago (in Fast Lane magazine!) that Mobil One was so good it could actually reverse engine wear, or something along those lines. Back then it was only available as 0W-40. Has anyone put that in an LS engine?

Tinonline · December 4, 2015

Alas Mobil 1 is not the be all and end all. It seems to be thinner of late and fails to protect on cold start-up. Jags don't like it at all.

WarwickT · December 4, 2015

I have used Fuchs Titan GT1 proflex 5w30 fully synthetic oil and Shell Helix Ultra Professional AG 5w30 fully synthetic oil alternatively. Been quite satisfied with them.

Has anyone had any experience with Millers XF longlife ECO 5w30 or EE Longlife 5w30 fully synthetic oils?

Tarun

PCM · December 5, 2015

Shell Helix Ultra Professional AG 5w30 fully synthetic for me!

keybasher2 · December 11, 2015

5w/30 Mobil 1 esp. Seems to take longer to warm up after changing oil !!

brendangeorge · December 11, 2015

I read a long time ago (in Fast Lane magazine!) that Mobil One was so good it could actually reverse engine wear, or something along those lines. Back then it was only available as 0W-40. Has anyone put that in an LS engine?

I love to see how oil reverses engine wear - there's a Nobel prize for physics in that and a million dollars :) - I'm serious but they take ages to pay.

Bren

Tinonline · December 13, 2015

Always a great topic.

I remember reading a long tome on a US Lexus site from an individual who stated he had been on the design team on the LS for Toyota and how carefully they had designed the engine with the absolute oils as a critical component. You had to have it from Lexus...

All gas. I mentioned in a previous post of mine that Toyota do not make their own oil as we all know. At the moment they use Shell Helix semi-synthetic.

Bear in mind that fully synthetic is a more advanced formula and is "better" than multi-grade and semi-synthetic - BUT - the others are of a very high quality and are extremely good and perfect for your car. I doubt we would be able to tell the difference.

5W-30 seems to be the fave. Maybe Lexus recommend this as they tend to service younger vehicles? The temperature chart would go to the 10W-40 in any case. But formulas have a wider spread and capability anyway nowadays and some of the oils available today were not around ten years ago. On the mileage front...100,000 is not much for a Lexus and tolerances are probably pretty good. I think you would experience higher oil consumption if there was a problem. I'd like to hear what Lexus themselves recommend from their technical department.

I don't use Mobil 1 from personal experience - poor cold start-up in some engines. Mobil seem to have changed the formula - this is a common experience I gather. Magnatec seems good to me and that would have been a choice if I could get the right grade where I live - seems to be out.

This morning I replaced oil (Shell Helix Fully synthetic - has all the right numbers and codes) and genuine filter on my 400. I could'nt get the semi - I would have been as happy with that. I bought 6 litres from OPIE on offer for approx £32 including delivery. Bargain.

The engine took 5.6ltrs and all was well on the dipstick.

It does get confusing.