Oil for 1990 Lotus Esprit Turbo SE

[rotaryspeed]

Hello,

been reading here for a while and today I decided to register and ask about the right oil for my newest purchase.

I bought a 1990 Lotus Esprit Turbo SE with around 98k km on it. (No, not the submarine

) Well the car has a 2.2 liter turbo 4 cylinder DOHC with 4 valves per cyl. Turbo is oil and water cooled. Engine has an oil cooler and chargecooler (air to liquid intercooler) installed stock. It has around 265 HP stock.

The previous owner did not drive it that much so it has been sitting most of its time in the garage except the occasional drive to the store on or the sunday trip. I use this car as a daily driver now as it would be a shame to put it away and besides its just too much fun to drive. It has an excellent service record from 1992 on, every nut and bolt listed. Last oil change was done about 9500 km ago, mid 2007 with castrol 10W40. (Record shows Castrol MI-SYNTH 10W40)

Dipstick and oil filler inlet shows brown/black buildup on all internal parts (as far as I can see). So my question is what oil should I use for my Esprit ? I did some research on this and I do like the method of using mineral oil and changing it at 5000 km, filter included. Other Esprit Turbo owners prefer to use castrol edge 10w60, and the records of my Esprit also shows the use of castrol 10w60 RS before the switch to 10W40.

I do about 25 km daily, a mix of highway, urban and fast "mountain roads". Im not driving slow (Who in his right mind would drive a Lotus slowly anyways ?

).

Car does occasionally not get full boost and needs a tune up, plugs wires filters oil, the usual stuff. The boost issue will be sorted out once the engine is working well with new mentioned parts. OEM oil filter will be used.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Brgds
Steven

Here are a few images of said vehicle:

 

[Clevy]

M1 0w-40.

That is all

 

[michaelluscher]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
M1 0w-40.

That is all


+1

 

[aquariuscsm]

That really is a beautiful car!! Who makes the engine in those?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Looks like both Castrol and Mobil European sites recommend 10w-60 for this car. That's probably what I'd use then.

Nice car! Always loved that classic Esprit body.

 

[bigjl]

The 2.2 is a four pot Lotus engine.

Gearbox is from Renault if i remember correctly.

I would use Shell Helix Racing 10w60 if i was lucky enough to own one.

I would put in Mobil 1 Extended Performance 10w60 if i wanted to use Mobil.

Not sure i would run 10w40 or 0w40 Mobil 1 or similar.

I would never put mineral oil anywhere near a turbocharged Lous four pot engine.

Perhaps there are some specific owners club forums that would be a nice source of info

 

[Clevy]

K.
A turbo 4 with 265hp.
Not really stressed by today's standards and let's be honest today's 0w-40 grade syns are light years ahead of what was available when it was built.
How hot does the oil get?
And let's also remember that the oil guides that are recommending a 10w-60 will not deviate from the oem recommendation,so if the oem said 10w-60 when it was built then every oil manufacturer will also recommend 10w-60 whether or not a slightly thinner oil will be more than good in it.
So the Mobil and Castrol recommendation doesn't surprise me in the least however unless oil temps are in excess of 300f for the entire duration of operation I think it's way overkill.
Unless it's an air cooled engine

 

[aquariuscsm]

Wonder how Edge 5W50 would work?

 

[rotaryspeed]

Thanks for all your replys so far !

Yes its a Lotus motor with renault UN1 box.

The oiltemp gauge rarely climbs over 70 deg celsius. While now I dont know where the sensor is positioned and I also dont know if its still working correctly but as said it usually sits between 60-70deg celsius.

It does get pretty cold here, I was still using deice last week on the lotus ! 0w40 might be a good choice for cold starts.

I heard about the M1 being a well praised oil. Coincidentally my dad works for exxon, but that never influenced my oil choice

Might get some discount on the M1 tho.

What about the brownish layer buildup inside the motor ? Will M1 get rid of it ? 5000 km change intervall OK ? I love to tinker with my motors and from my rotarys I am used to change oil at 5000 km.

Edit:
Yes the owner clubs recommend 10w60 edge, but it struck me as odd since even on hot running turbocharged rotarys we never used anything more than 0w30 or 5w30.

 

[bigjl]

I think that is due to the oil being left in there too long.

Mobil1 0w40 is a great oil. But i would sleep more easily with best protectiom possible.

And Mobil and Shell both advise 10w60

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
K.
A turbo 4 with 265hp.
Not really stressed by today's standards

But probably not as tightly put together as today's engines either. Possibly for that reason they want you to run something thicker. Alas, 10w-60 does sound like overkill, especially if his oil temps truly are as low as he reported.

Maybe try M1 5w-50?

 

[Bud_One]

Awesome ride !! Ya gotta love those old Lotus Esprits

 

[Shannow]

Very sweet ride, one of my all time faves...

the engine looked pretty awesome when doubled up for the ETNA.

 

[OneEyeJack]

A local Jag shop here maintains 3 of them since new, 2 of which are drive a lot and one gets hammered on a regular basis. They all use 10w-60 oil, but this is Southern California with more warm days. I've driven one and it's a sweet drive. The fit and finish is not too good but they handle great, very driver friendly.

 

[901Memphis]

Turbo likes synthetic. If it was a US vehicle, I can't imagine Mobil 1 0W40 not working fine. Does it have oil pressure and oil temperature gauges? That would tell you if you needed more than a 40 weight or not.

 

[rotaryspeed]

Thanks for the nice comments

Its a great car and lots of fun to drive !

Yes it does have oil temp and pressure gauges, just like any real car

There are some minor issues here and there that needs to be sorted. It hasnt been driven more than these 9500 km in the last 7 years.

 

[A_Harman]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Clevy
K.
A turbo 4 with 265hp.
Not really stressed by today's standards

But probably not as tightly put together as today's engines either. Possibly for that reason they want you to run something thicker. Alas, 10w-60 does sound like overkill, especially if his oil temps truly are as low as he reported.

Maybe try M1 5w-50?


That's just what I was thinking. Split the difference between 0w40 and 10w60, and you end up at 5w50. M1 5w50 is basically a thicker version of the 0w40. Since the OP says the oil temperature typically runs at 70C, the 10w60 would be way overkill at that temperature.

And definitely don't run conventional oil in a turbocharged gasoline engine.

 

[05LGTLtd]

What's the sump size? Rotella comes in gallons, while M1 0w-40/10w-40HM/5w-40TDT are 5 quart jugs. I'd buy the one that fits the sump capacity and start from there.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: 05LGTLtd
What's the sump size? Rotella comes in gallons, while M1 0w-40/10w-40HM/5w-40TDT are 5 quart jugs. I'd buy the one that fits the sump capacity and start from there.

OP is in Luxemburg. Pretty sure they don't have quarts and gallons over there. Rotella, M1 HM, M1 TDT appear to be North American products only.

I think his car takes about 5.5 liters of oil.

 

[Clevy]

Just think how thick a 60 grade is at 70c. The drag on the engine would certainly be noticeable.
Yes the M1 will clean up those deposits but at 70c it's gonna take a while.
I'm definitely not comfortable using any flush type products in a turbo engine so don't even consider it.