Hi There!
Long time lurker, but first post here, so please be indulgent
I recently bought a 1996 Fiat Barchetta:
Looks nice! Just kidding, this is not mine. Mine looks a bit more like that:
(greasy hands, not good for taking pictures, sorry. Also it was taken at the place I bought it, now it is a bit less dusty and has wheels)
Well, as the subject says, I'm looking for oil recommendation. I live in Europe so I have a somewhat more limited choice than most on the forum.
I have no owner manual (haven't succeeded in founding one online yet), and don't know much about this car and it's motor (a pretty simple 4cyl/1747cm3, except is it using the same phase phase variator as some alfa romeo motors (like the 1600cm3 in the Alfa 147), which apparently needs a certain old viscosity when cold (true or not ? Specs for Alfa 147 motor are sometimes 0W60 oil, and the ref of the phase variator is the same that the one on the Barchetta).
Guys on some local Barchetta forum says 10Wxx or 15Wxx is the recommended viscosity. Mobil 1 website says 0W40 for first choice, and some 10W40 second choice. Fiat recommendation (sticker under the hood) is some Selenia stuff, and my local Fiat agent doesn't know what it is (in fact they don't have spare parts anymore for the Barchetta, really a shame for a not that old car).
For the moment I only did a oil change with Shell Helix HX7 (semi-synthetic), I bought the car on picture and brought my oil with me to get it back home, a 700Km trip with an almost wrecked car, lol, but everything went fine).
Soooo, sorry for the long post. Car has now almost 145000Km, I've done around 3000Km since the last OC (many of them while fixing motor issues, many sensors replaced, etc.), and I feel it is time to do an OC, especially since I'm going to change the timing belt and two remaining possibly faulty sensors tomorrow!
I got some Mobil 1 0W40 oil on hand, and some Total Quartz 10W60, but I can also bought something else, no problem. The car will mostly be used for small distance (my work is ~10Km from home and I plan to use this car to go to work), many cold start, and from time to time some highway (motor is noisy and the wing in the rooftop too!). Temperatures here are very gentle (from -5°C to ~35°C).
What type of oil are you recommending? Considering the age of the vehicle and the numbers of cold start I do, maybe Mobil 1 5W50 could be fine? Don't know if the phase variator really really need thick oil when cold. 5W50 seems like best of both words isn't it?
Also what interval between OC?
Edit: don't know if important, block appears to be cast iron (rusty!) and head is aluminium. Car doesn't seem to eat oil and doesn't smoke. Pollution report came back ok at the MOT.
Sorry again for long post, now looking forward to hear from you
PS: I also need recommendation for my other car, should I need another thread? I don't want to flood forum.
Long time lurker, but first post here, so please be indulgent
I recently bought a 1996 Fiat Barchetta:
Looks nice! Just kidding, this is not mine. Mine looks a bit more like that:
(greasy hands, not good for taking pictures, sorry. Also it was taken at the place I bought it, now it is a bit less dusty and has wheels)
Well, as the subject says, I'm looking for oil recommendation. I live in Europe so I have a somewhat more limited choice than most on the forum.
I have no owner manual (haven't succeeded in founding one online yet), and don't know much about this car and it's motor (a pretty simple 4cyl/1747cm3, except is it using the same phase phase variator as some alfa romeo motors (like the 1600cm3 in the Alfa 147), which apparently needs a certain old viscosity when cold (true or not ? Specs for Alfa 147 motor are sometimes 0W60 oil, and the ref of the phase variator is the same that the one on the Barchetta).
Guys on some local Barchetta forum says 10Wxx or 15Wxx is the recommended viscosity. Mobil 1 website says 0W40 for first choice, and some 10W40 second choice. Fiat recommendation (sticker under the hood) is some Selenia stuff, and my local Fiat agent doesn't know what it is (in fact they don't have spare parts anymore for the Barchetta, really a shame for a not that old car).
For the moment I only did a oil change with Shell Helix HX7 (semi-synthetic), I bought the car on picture and brought my oil with me to get it back home, a 700Km trip with an almost wrecked car, lol, but everything went fine).
Soooo, sorry for the long post. Car has now almost 145000Km, I've done around 3000Km since the last OC (many of them while fixing motor issues, many sensors replaced, etc.), and I feel it is time to do an OC, especially since I'm going to change the timing belt and two remaining possibly faulty sensors tomorrow!
I got some Mobil 1 0W40 oil on hand, and some Total Quartz 10W60, but I can also bought something else, no problem. The car will mostly be used for small distance (my work is ~10Km from home and I plan to use this car to go to work), many cold start, and from time to time some highway (motor is noisy and the wing in the rooftop too!). Temperatures here are very gentle (from -5°C to ~35°C).
What type of oil are you recommending? Considering the age of the vehicle and the numbers of cold start I do, maybe Mobil 1 5W50 could be fine? Don't know if the phase variator really really need thick oil when cold. 5W50 seems like best of both words isn't it?
Also what interval between OC?
Edit: don't know if important, block appears to be cast iron (rusty!) and head is aluminium. Car doesn't seem to eat oil and doesn't smoke. Pollution report came back ok at the MOT.
Sorry again for long post, now looking forward to hear from you
PS: I also need recommendation for my other car, should I need another thread? I don't want to flood forum.
Last edited: