Engine oil recommendations for a Daihatsu Kei Truck

[Nambu1035]

Hey guys, this is my first post here.
Looking for a recommendation. I recently purchased a 1995 Daihatsu HiJet mini truck.
It’s a 660 CC 3 cylinder SOHC engine. It has adjustable rockers that run directly off the cam. They are hardened cast steel I believe. This truck has 6.66 rear end ratios so it revs a lot going down the road. I thinking this would be considered moderate duty. For the size and horsepower of the engine..
It calls for 5w30 SE oil in the factory Japanese service manual. What would you put in this? I was thinking Mobil Delvac 5W30. What say you guys? Thanks for reading this

 

[Overfill]

What is it's normal highway rpm, and what is it's redlining rpm?
What is the coldest ambient temp it will be started at?

 

[OM617YOTA]

1. Welcome to the forum, and congrats on the purchase. Love those little things. RHD?

(Assuming gasoline fuel.)

2. Any 5w30 or 0w30 available on the shelf today will be lightyears ahead of what was available in 1995. You can run any of it and be happy.

3. My personal choice would be a full round of Valvoline Restore and Protect to clean things up, then whatever 0w30 Euro oil is cheapest when I needed oil.

 

[kschachn]

1. Welcome to the forum, and congrats on the purchase. Love those little things. RHD?

(Assuming gasoline fuel.)

2. Any 5w30 or 0w30 available on the shelf today will be lightyears ahead of what was available in 1995. You can run any of it and be happy.

3. My personal choice would be a full round of Valvoline Restore and Protect to clean things up, then whatever 0w30 Euro oil is cheapest when I needed oil.

Good advice.

OP, post some pictures of this thing.

 

[Nambu1035]

What is it's normal highway rpm, and what is it's redlining rpm?
What is the coldest ambient temp it will be started at?

It’s not a highway truck so to say. But at 60 mph it will be north of 6K
Probably single digits in a very rare condition. I’ll drive this truck in the summer mostly. I live in North East Pennsylvania.

 

[Nambu1035]

 

[Nambu1035]

1. Welcome to the forum, and congrats on the purchase. Love those little things. RHD?

(Assuming gasoline fuel.)

2. Any 5w30 or 0w30 available on the shelf today will be lightyears ahead of what was available in 1995. You can run any of it and be happy.

3. My personal choice would be a full round of Valvoline Restore and Protect to clean things up, then whatever 0w30 Euro oil is cheapest when I needed oil.

Ok, the truck has about 25k on it and I just had the valve cover off and it looks new. Not a bit of sludge anywhere.
What is special about the Euro oil? I was on the Mobil website and saw that listed

 

[shortyb]

Neighbor has a 1997 S100 with factory A/C, its a cool little runabout truck. He uses Rotella T6 5W-30 and Delvac 1 5W-30 interchangeably. He also sourced a much taller geared rear axle, but I don't know the ratio. He can do an honest 60MPH with it though.

 

[kschachn]

View attachment 333057

That’s great. Thanks for the picture.

 

[kschachn]

Ok, the truck has about 25k on it and I just had the valve cover off and it looks new. Not a bit of sludge anywhere.
What is special about the Euro oil? I was on the Mobil website and saw that listed

A higher HT/HS for somewhat increased film thickness, plus somewhat superior base stocks. Plus you get the proven oxidation resistance and sludge resistance that the European approvals bring. VW 504 00 is a pretty demanding approval over what an API license requires.

 

[OM617YOTA]

Ok, the truck has about 25k on it and I just had the valve cover off and it looks new. Not a bit of sludge anywhere.
What is special about the Euro oil? I was on the Mobil website and saw that listed

Still likely to be gunk you can't see in the engine, particularly around the piston rings. Valvoline Restore and Protect is also a solid oil that you could run in perpetuity and be in good shape.

"Euro oils" doesn't mean they can only be used in euro vehicles, or that they're from euro companies, just that they meet euro vehicle standards which tend to be more robust than SAE counterparts. I'd specifically run 0w instead of 5w because in some cases it makes more sense for the blender to use a better base stock to reach that spread vs. more viscosity index improvers, so by default you get a "better" oil for the same price as the 5w30 counterpart. There is no down side to running a 0w instead of a 5w.

I put "better" in quotes because that's seriously getting down the oil rabbit hole. Almost any 0w30 or 5w30 on the shelf will let your engine live it's full lifespan without you noticing any difference. If you find 5w30 for a lower cost than 0w30, go for it, neither you nor your engine will notice a difference.

This is the 30,000ft view, there will be endless yabbuts, ACKSHULLYs, and cherry picked exceptions. Shrug.

 

[fdcg27]

Does anyone else think that a thicker grade might be a better choice for this hard worked little engine?
Maybe a 0W-40?

 

[kschachn]

Does anyone else think that a thicker grade might be a better choice for this hard worked little engine?
Maybe a 0W-40?

Sure. But a Euro 30-grade will have almost the same HT/HS as a 40-grade.

 

[Japanese]

3. My personal choice would be a full round of Valvoline Restore and Protect to clean things up, then whatever 0w30 Euro oil is cheapest when I needed oil.

It’s not a highway truck so to say. But at 60 mph it will be north of 6K
Probably single digits in a very rare condition. I’ll drive this truck in the summer mostly. I live in North East Pennsylvania.

I would personally use Mobil 1 ESP 0W-30 or Mobil 1 Euro 0W-40. High quality oils with great base oils, with nice HTHS, and used in both gasoline and diesel engines.

There is a vehicle like yours in my neighborhood. I may ask the guy what oil he runs. It's 660 cc, 3 cyl, 12v.
It's interesting that it doesn't have a spot of rust on the undercarriage.

It needs new tires and those are either 11" or 13" tires available only as made in China. If you know where you can get tires for that vehicle, let me know, please.

 

[ClutchDisc]

Beautiful trucks! I would love to get a Kei Truck, seems the process isn’t simple though.

 

[OM617YOTA]

Does anyone else think that a thicker grade might be a better choice for this hard worked little engine?
Maybe a 0W-40?

Won't hurt anything. If someone has 0w40 on hand and not 0w30, sure run it.

42hp out of 660cc, not particularly hard worked. Also not much duty cycle, won't be dragging trailers over mountain passes at WOT for minutes at a time.

 

[fdcg27]

Won't hurt anything. If someone has 0w40 on hand and not 0w30, sure run it.

42hp out of 660cc, not particularly hard worked. Also not much duty cycle, won't be dragging trailers over mountain passes at WOT for minutes at a time.

Specific output may be nothing to brag about with this little engine, but it's going to be using a far greater percentage of its output all of the time than would an engine with more displacement and more power.

 

[Japanese]

Won't hurt anything. If someone has 0w40 on hand and not 0w30, sure run it.

42hp out of 660cc, not particularly hard worked. Also not much duty cycle, won't be dragging trailers over mountain passes at WOT for minutes at a time.

I thought first - that little thing is only 660 cc, 0W-40 oil may kill 1/3 of its power. Then I remember people run that same oil in their generators.

The OEM oil looks like is 10W-30.
Honda Acty Engine Oil

 

[kschachn]

I thought first - that little thing is only 660 cc, 0W-40 oil may kill 1/3 of its power. Then I remember people run that same oil in their generators.

1/3 you say? Compared to a 30-grade?

 

[OM617YOTA]

Specific output may be nothing to brag about with this little engine, but it's going to be using a far greater percentage of its output all of the time than would an engine with more displacement and more power.

Nah, it's in a proportionately smaller vehicle too. 6.66 rear end gears and little ~13" tires. Weighs well under 2000lbs.

A buddy has a Kei truck as a ranch vehicle. Cost a fraction what a side by side cost, has more cargo capacity, a fully enclosed cab with heat and AC. He's very happy with it.