Land Rover 4.0 Flat Tappet Oil Question(s)

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HI.
First post. I recently acquired a 1997 Land Rover Discovery, 4.0 liter (Buick) V8, flat tappet design. I have owned three of these trucks before, but none in the last 12 years. To be honest I can not remember what type of oil I ran in the motor and when I began searching for recommendations on summer/winter oils, it was an eye opener and most directed me here for specific answers.

I live in western NJ, so I see a fairly wide range of temperatures. With regards to the motor on the truck and its condition, it is in the midst of a rebuild from the block up. So all seals/gaskets will be refreshed. It seems most folks with these motors are running Rotella 15w/40 dino oil with excellent results. My only concern with the Rotella 15w/40 is cold winter temps.

The Rotella T6 5w/40 full synthetic is an option for the winter but I would be switching back to the dino oil in the summer.

Another option I was considering after initial break in, to run the Rotella T5 semi-syn 10w/40 in the winter and the Rotella T4 dino 15w/40 in the summer?

Thank you for the help and advice.

Matt
 
Buick stopped making the 215 in 1963, Rover bought the rights in 1965. Your Rover is a 1997. Do Rover people refer to it as a Buick motor?
 
If leaks aren't a concern, I'd run a quality 5W-30 full synthetic. If usage gets high, switch to a high mileage oil like MaxLife Blend in either 5W or 10W-30. Special oil for flat tappets is not needed because spring pressures are too low to create an issue. In NJ, 5W-30 is fine year round.
 
Ah the good old Rover ( buick ) V8 , i think they are spec'd for 10w40, i'd run Rotella 5w40, M1 10w40 HM , any 5w or 10w40 with a decent dose of Zddp of about 1000ppm, the earlier carb versions do well on 15w40 or 50 or 20w50 too
 
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
Buick stopped making the 215 in 1963, Rover bought the rights in 1965. Your Rover is a 1997. Do Rover people refer to it as a Buick motor?

In the UK everybody calls them Rover V8s, even though most people are aware the design was made by Buick, TVR used them because the block and heads are extremely light for a V8 and therr are tons of engine builders that specialise in them.
 
I had the same engine in my XJ8's. They do require a 40 weight, however at the time I used Quaker State Defy 5w/30 when it was still made. Jaguar club members use Motul Excess 8100 5w/40.
 
Motul X-cess ? I put some in my Barchetta...an overrated oil IMO. Or maybe not overrated, but overpriced probably
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Originally Posted By: 79sunrunner
I had the same engine in my XJ8's. They do require a 40 weight, however at the time I used Quaker State Defy 5w/30 when it was still made. Jaguar club members use Motul Excess 8100 5w/40.

IMHO the XJ8 has a DOCH AJ-8 engine which is Jaguar's new construction of the mid-90s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_AJ-V8_engine
 
Originally Posted By: MattLab
HI.
First post. I recently acquired a 1997 Land Rover Discovery, 4.0 liter (Buick) V8, flat tappet design. I have owned three of these trucks before, but none in the last 12 years. To be honest I can not remember what type of oil I ran in the motor and when I began searching for recommendations on summer/winter oils, it was an eye opener and most directed me here for specific answers.

I live in western NJ, so I see a fairly wide range of temperatures. With regards to the motor on the truck and its condition, it is in the midst of a rebuild from the block up. So all seals/gaskets will be refreshed. It seems most folks with these motors are running Rotella 15w/40 dino oil with excellent results. My only concern with the Rotella 15w/40 is cold winter temps.

The Rotella T6 5w/40 full synthetic is an option for the winter but I would be switching back to the dino oil in the summer.

Another option I was considering after initial break in, to run the Rotella T5 semi-syn 10w/40 in the winter and the Rotella T4 dino 15w/40 in the summer?

Thank you for the help and advice.

Matt


With the amount of modifications and improvements made to that engine over the years I don't think you can really refer to it as a "Buick"
 
Originally Posted By: FordCapriDriver
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
Buick stopped making the 215 in 1963, Rover bought the rights in 1965. Your Rover is a 1997. Do Rover people refer to it as a Buick motor?

In the UK everybody calls them Rover V8s, even though most people are aware the design was made by Buick, TVR used them because the block and heads are extremely light for a V8 and therr are tons of engine builders that specialise in them.


Even the first 3.5 versions made by BL were different to the Buick and were stronger and heavier.

So BL/Rover never produced a Buick engine as such, the design was modified and improved from the outset.

We had loads of LDV 400's and Convoys with the 3.5v8 and SU Carbs, some of them are in Cuba and some are in Mongolia now. Even the very latest 2001 vehicles had SU Carbs and no Catalytic Convertor.

Theybused tonrun them on 15w40 GTX. All year round, 3000mile or 6 weeks service intervals
 
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Originally Posted By: 79sunrunner
I had the same engine in my XJ8's. They do require a 40 weight, however at the time I used Quaker State Defy 5w/30 when it was still made. Jaguar club members use Motul Excess 8100 5w/40.


The V8 in your XJ8 was made by Jaguar and not related to the Rover V8.
 
Originally Posted By: Red91
My vote is to allow your oil to meet in the middle; Delo XLE semi synthetic 10W-30, or equivalent, I.e. rotella, delvac, etc.


I wouldn't go to a 10w30 oil with that engine.

I put hundreds of thousands of miles on the 3.5V8 at work and topping up the oil was something that you never had to do. As I have mentioned already thatvwas on 15w40 Castrol GTX. And the vehicles were on the run 24/7 pretty much all the time.
 
Ordinarily I'd agree, and I'd probably run a 40 in it if it were mine, but an HDEO 10W-30, or even better a mono grade 30, will be more shear stable than an XW-40. Mono grade 30 typically has better cold flow and flashpoint properties than 20W-50 too. Just saying, there are options other than 40, and this engine in question has been rebuilt.
 
How about Maxlife Heavy Duty 15w40 year round? It'll cover the 40 weight you're after and it's a SynBlend so will be fine for cold weather.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: ac_tc
The Rotella T6 5w/40- its about the best you can get...


+1 I can't believe you're the only one to suggest this so far.

Cheap, stout, everything you need for year-round happy.
 
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