Lister JP4 - which oil should I use

[birdmeister]

Newbie question. The manual says Shell Rotella but that's not available in the Netherlands. Any mineral 15W40 will do?

[38ac]

Not sure where you are located but here in the states all 15w-40 oil is diesel rated. Look for CK4 or better ratings. Actually any detergent motor oil available today is superior to what was available when it was made. 
Never did understand the mineral oil deal? what else is there that one would out in an engine ?Olive oil? LOL

[birdmeister]

Thanks. There is also synthetic oil (a man-made lubricant that consists of artificially made chemical compounds). I'm based in the Netherlands (Europe).

[ajaffa1]

G`Day Birdmeister, 38ac is correct, modern engine oils are light years ahead of any oils they had back then. There has been a lot of debate about detergent in oils, basically detergent oils clean your engine and hold the dirt in suspension in the oil. The oil then gets fed through a filter to remove the dirt and abrasive particles. If your engine has not got an oil filter you need a non detergent oil that allows the dirt and abrasive particles to sediment out, I would recommend making alterations and adding an oil filter if necessary. 15W 40 should be fine, 15W 30 if you live in a very cold area.

Bob

[dax021]

Strange that Shell Rotella is not available.  Being a Dutch company!!!

[birdmeister]

An expert has adviced me two available options:
- Eurol Monograde HDS SAE 30
- Shell Rimula SAE 30

Note. Shell is no longer a Dutch-British company, it's nowadays solely British (for tax reasons likely)

[dax021]

Apologies for the hijack.  Bob, what mods would one have to do to add an oil filter to an SR2?  Thanks

[Richard Wood]

Not sure where you are located but here in the states all 15w-40 oil is diesel rated. Look for CK4 or better ratings. Actually any detergent motor oil available today is superior to what was available when it was made. 
Never did understand the mineral oil deal? what else is there that one would out in an engine ?Olive oil? LOL

Late reply I know but definitely NOT a modern detergent oil although low detergent acceptable. Reason for this is engine has no full flow oil filtration system so wear particles need to be able to fall freely to bottom of sump out of harms way to be cleaned out during oil change. Modern dispersant detergent oils encapsulate wear particles to be caught by filter. Without such they just circulate around bearing surfaces of engine   

I used Morris Golden Film SAE30 in my JP which is to the old API SD/CC low detergent spec. I'm sure there are classic motor oils in the US or Europe with similar CC suffix spec.

Richard

[Sir Petteroid]

Don't take anything I say as the last word on this subject. I broke in my CS using Castrol 15W40. It worked fine at high compression but fairly smokey at low compression.
Then I used straight thirty weight castrol. It's still a detergent oil but less smoke.
I have not fitted my oil filter yet. But it's on the list.
I have more questions than answers but it doesn't look like the sump oil gets really hot.