Originally Posted By: ChaosphereIX
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
Originally Posted By: shDK
5-50 is good for thoose older alfa engines. 10-30 is way to thin
Without an oil pressure gauge how do you know?
ChaosphereIX, does your car have an OP gauge and/or an oil temp' gauge?
yes it has both, it is an Alfa - those are more essential readouts than the tach or speedo...
what should I be looking out for? high oil temps and low pressure?
That's great since it means you don't have to guess about what oil viscosity to use but rather can optimize your viscosity choice to the way YOU use your car.
First you need to look up the OP test spec's which may be available on line from the factory shop manual. There normal are two spec's, one on idle and another at some elevated rpm.
Also you should be aware of your oil pump by-pass point. This is the maximum reading on your OP gauge which is easily determined with a cold engine shortly after start-up. It's the maximum OP reading as you raise the engine rpms. With a cold engine it will be reached at relatively low rpms (very low with heavy oil).
Once the engine oil is fully up to temperature your maximum OP should be below the by-pass point at maximum rev's.
