Oil problem possibly solved 1996 850 T5

sntee · Post by **sntee** » 30 Mar 2007, 13:37

Up until recently I was getting through a hell of a lot of oil.

No major external leaks to speak of and no white smoke, so I was struggling to understand where it was going.

I've been using synthetic oil, usually the good stuff with viscosity ratings of 5w30 or better.

However, a couple of months back, I got sick and tired of pouring expensive fluid into a seemingly bottomless pit. So I bought a gallon of relatively cheap 10W40 and chucked that in.......

Now here's the thing..... usually I'd get through half a gallon in just over a month, but I checked this morning and it's still showing Full on the dipstick after 2 months without a top up!!!!

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Does it make any logical sense?

P.S. The new stuff is still synthetic.... just a lower grade and loads cheaper

Post by **pfeener** » 30 Mar 2007, 19:03

I learned long ago that different oils behave very differently. Years ago I had a 1967 MGB that I normally ran straight Mobil 30W non-detergent (it was a long long time ago). One oil change I decided to put in a High detergent Mobil 10/30W oil. As soon as I started it up, it started to smoke. I drove it around the block and there was so much oil going past the rings it was actually dripping out the connections in the exhaust system. I immediately changed the oil back to the straight 30W and after I drove it for a 100 miles or so and all the oil burned out of the exhaust, all was back to normal.

greasefingerss · Post by **greasefingerss** » 30 Mar 2007, 19:12

Hey I had a 74 MGB and a 73 Triumph TR6. I used 20w-50 in them. Now they were really fun cars to drive but troublesome as h_ll.

Post by **pfeener** » 31 Mar 2007, 06:36

Yep fun to drive, but engineering out of the 1930's.