Author Topic: Mixing oil  (Read 13143 times)

lendusaquid

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Mixing oil
« on: March 01, 2008, 12:03:53 AM »
I have some strait SAE40 oil and some SAE20 oil.Can i mix them and get SAE30 ?.I mistakenly bought the sae40 oil and want to get rid of it in the engine a bit at a time.

Doug

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Re: Mixing oil
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2008, 02:58:03 AM »
Bad choice, just use the 40 in the summer.
No one ever got in any trouble changing the oil a little more often.....
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listerdiesel

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Re: Mixing oil
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2008, 07:21:22 AM »
I'd be inclined to agree with Doug on this, you may well find that they will not mix properly.

Peter

lendusaquid

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Re: Mixing oil
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2008, 04:38:08 PM »
Thanks for the info. I was a bit worried about using such a thick oil and so switched to sae20.

Doug

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Re: Mixing oil
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2008, 09:01:12 PM »
I'd be a lot more worried about such a thin oil unless you lived some place cold like me.

Even then thats thin.....

Using detergent quid?
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lendusaquid

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Re: Mixing oil
« Reply #5 on: March 01, 2008, 10:25:06 PM »
No,just straight sae20 oil,no detergent.

rbodell

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Re: Mixing oil
« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2008, 12:25:58 AM »
I'd be a lot more worried about such a thin oil unless you lived some place cold like me.

Even then thats thin.....

Using detergent quid?

I didn't like the idea os such light wt oil either, even if it is cold, when the engine gets warmed up, the oil will be thin. I decided to have a poney engine to start it with and keep the 30 wt oil in the engine.

For what it is worth, this morning was the first morning I could hand crank it again. Summer is here.
The shear depth of my shallowness is perplexing yet morbidly interesting. Bob 2007

lendusaquid

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Re: Mixing oil
« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2008, 12:39:13 AM »
I dont like the idea of thin oil either but after trawling the forums and having a look at Stationary engine parts ltd website who recommend sae 20 i changed my oil.I also had a main bearing fail which i thought might be due to thick oil.At the moment i am trying to find the source of a knock which if it turns out to be another main bearing ,then i will be kin annoyed as it could mean i bought a new Indian bent crankshaft and wasted money on main bearings. 

Doug

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Re: Mixing oil
« Reply #8 on: March 02, 2008, 12:42:01 AM »
I also flip flop a lot on the detergent VS non detergent oil.

This week I have flopped back to detergents with with a 25 hour oil change. That way you know there are no fine particles in the oil and no acid build up.

Bent crank you say?

Hmm. I'd have it striaghtened and rebuilt at a shop end of issue
It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken

listerdiesel

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Re: Mixing oil
« Reply #9 on: March 02, 2008, 01:47:18 PM »
No,just straight sae20 oil,no detergent.

Nothing wrong with that as long as you change it more frequently, and keep an eye on deposits in the crankcase.

Having said that, the days where diesel engine oil was vastly different in additives to petrol engine oil are long gone, and both sorts are pretty close these days.

Interesting that both our Renault vans call for 5W40 Fully Synthetic, and the equivalent Vauxhall/Opel vehicle calls for 5W30.

They are both made on the same production line from the same parts and have identical spec's for the engines.

We use 5W30 Super Synthetic mostly, the newest van is still under warranty and doesn't quite make 18000 miles between services without topping up, so we have to keep a bit og the 'right stuff' around.

Cleaned out the engine tent this morning, swept out the leaves and cobwebs, the flourescent light came on straightaway, just shows how mild it it.

The dry-sump Lister CE asked about getting its head back on again, and I noticed that both injectors were new, not recon. This an ex-navy engine, probably a generator, and it has dual oil pumps for external oil tank. This had a full overheaul before we got it, but for some reason it had two block studs short....

The Lister CD generator is buried under a pile of stuff, but looks OK, the Diter ditto, and the bottom end of a Lister 3/1 was visible, this one caught fire and had an extinguisher emptied into the inlet to stop it.

Peter

lendusaquid

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Re: Mixing oil
« Reply #10 on: March 02, 2008, 06:06:15 PM »
Peter
What oil do you use in your CS engines?

listerdiesel

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Re: Mixing oil
« Reply #11 on: March 02, 2008, 06:57:16 PM »
Peter
What oil do you use in your CS engines?

Generally, whatever is used in the other vehicles, but as we have an all-diesel fleet of vans, then we only use fully synthetic oil.

I'd not want to go below a 30W oil in a CS if possible, unless it got hot enough to make a multigrade work properly and go to the higher viscosity index. For a cooler-running engine, you can get straight 30 detergent oils from Morris Lubricants at Shrewsbury, and I think that CAT has a straight 30 oil on its list of recommended lubricanys as well, ask a CAT restorer where he gets his from.

CD and CE engines, JP, FR etc all have gear oil pumps and run at higher speeds, so the lubrication isn't as hit and miss as the CS engines.

The other problem with fully synthetic oils is that they tend to cause bore glazing on lightly-loaded engines. If you only run for short bursts then probably not a problem, but an older oil may be better, as per the Morris' stuff mentioned above.

Peter
 

lendusaquid

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Re: Mixing oil
« Reply #12 on: March 02, 2008, 08:20:58 PM »
Ok i will go up to sae30 straight no detergent.Got no problem getting the oil.About 8 quid a gallon.

Doug

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Re: Mixing oil
« Reply #13 on: March 02, 2008, 08:34:49 PM »
Modern oils have additives to reduce sludge and hold dirt in suspension as well prevent scuffing on start up.....

So why use an stright mineral in a new engine if you don't need to?
Your going to change your oil often right?
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Stan

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Re: Mixing oil
« Reply #14 on: March 02, 2008, 09:44:09 PM »
Doug....Isn't that the point of using SAE 30 non detergent oil in a Lister?  You don't want to hold the dirt in suspension, you want it to settle out in the sump!  Or am I wrong again this year.  ;D
Stan