Hi All, I hear all sorts of stories about engine oil and effects on the Turbo's. What is the best grade engine oil for use with the 300 Z twin turbo. A mate who is an excellent builder of turbo rotaries tells me that he sees a lot of rotors with damaged Turbos due to the incorrect lower viscosity oil. Then someone tells me to use a higher viscosity with a high Zinc content to prolong Turbo life. So now I am confused. Thoughts please. Thanks and cheers, Chris.
I use 10w - 40 and never had a problem. Just remember to change oil regularly at around 5000 ks tops in a turbo car. Everyone has a different take on oils. You don't need to spend a fortune on oil just don't buy cheap no name oil. And remember to change the oil filter. Check your air filter at the same time. Cheers Dave
G'Day Dave, Thanks for the reply. Yes I change oil on all the vehicles at 5000 plus filter. I was advised by a Penrite bloke here in Adelaide to use a 20W -50 high zinc oil. I now also have issues with what I believe to be the oil pressure sender and will replace that with the VDO OPS and whilst now only about 1200 ks with this oils, shall change that at the same time to 10W- 40. I am being urged to use Nulon I think it is but I have never had issues with Penrite over the years. All the best. Cheers, Chris.
Rotaries are a pretty special use case for oils, thin oil and poor cooling will always toast an engine though and the oem turbos rely a lot more on the oil than modern ball bearing units do. A VG30 will run happily on 20W60 and you can be certain it wont thin out before your coolant starts to boil but it'll cost you a hp or two and you need to keep the revs and load down when cold. Many people in the states run as low 0W40 but I wouldn't recommend that in Australia without an oil cooler upgrade. The only thing that really noticeably changes in the vg with oils is lifter noise but as far as I've seen it's not directly related to viscosity, just some oil changes it gets louder or quieter.
Try cleaning out the reference hole in the OPS with a small drill bit. I can't remember what size but my gauge has displayed sensible readings since.
check the factory service manual it tells you what oil to use dependant on outside temperature. I used 5w40 for a year with no problems I live in cairns qld. temperature is usually around 30degrees Celsius on a normal day.. I recently just changed to a 10w40 because or a engine rattle but it didn't clear anything up.. also in a different zed I used to run 10w30 for 2 years with no problems.. but then again I change my oil every 2000ks
"check the factory service manual it tells you what oil to use dependant on outside temperature." This is very good advice! " I used 5w40 for a year with no problems I live in cairns qld. temperature is usually around 30degrees Celsius on a normal day." Why would you use 5W40, 10W30 or 10W40 in your location? If you refer to: "check the factory service manual it tells you what oil to use dependant on outside temperature." You may notice 20W40 & 20W50 are mentioned for use in temperatures above 10 degrees Celcius. The coldest temperature recorded in Cairns is 12.4 degrees Celcius on 01/10/1946. Why would you change the engine oil at 2,000 kilometre intervals? The recommended oil change interval is 10,000 kilometres.
Nothing wrong with using a quality 40 weight oil in our engines. The manual only says 30 weight is not recommend for turbo engines (unless very cold climates). Remember the number before the W is the cold start up viscosity. 5W40 or above is fine as long as it's a decent oil. Agree every 2000kms for a street driven car is a bit extreme. Every 5000 or 6mths is a good change rate.
The W stands for Winter. Not cold start up viscosity. An oil viscosity of 5W30 oil is recommended, where the ambient temperature range is from a maximum of 16 degrees Celcius to below -29 degrees Celcius exists. If your vehicle is operating in these temperatures, 5W30 is fine. If it's operating an environment above these temperatures there are better choices. Define a decent oil........... Why is 5,000 or 6 months a good change rate? Nissan engineers determined 10,000 was a good change rate 28 years ago. The API specification 28 years ago was SG. SG is now obsolete, as oil technology has advanced, the latest specification is SN. As oil technology has advanced oil change intervals have been extended not reduced. If you are purchasing a 'decent' motor oil, then you are wasting your money if you are changing it at 5,000 kilometres.
lol, firstly there is no be all and end all answer to engine oils, only arguments. For someone who likes to change their engine oil more regularly, 5000kms is generally OK. 2000 is pretty extreme. Personally, I run Castrol Edge 5W40 SN in the racecar. End of conversation
the FSM i have in part 1 of 2 page MA-11 says 10w30, 10w40,10w50 from -20 degrees to +40 degrees onwards and i change my oil so often just for my peice of mind knowing there is always fresh oil
Yippeee!!! Another oil thread! This is a thread type that should be banned along with "Whats best, crimp or solder" wiring!!!! Change oil every 2000K's?. Sheesh. Thats extreme but wont hurt anything except possibly wear out the sump plug threads and eventually strip..... Even the very best oil in the world wont stop that!!!!
I'm in cairns too but I use 15w-50 and the car runs like a dream but I change my oil every 5000klms as I drive it 2-3 times a week mostly.
