** Please Make This Caterham Thread a Sticky **

[crashtestdummy]

Hello all,

History. I first joined this forum in August due to a search on engine oil and found Dr. Haas' Motor Oil 101 thread. Excellent info in an easy to comprehend, simplified format. Browsed this site once in awhile but that's about it.

Then recently, when I purchased a nice older car that I really cared about, I made a post asking for opinions about oil weight and fortunately enough, Caterham replied with recommendations and other factors I should be aware of. Thank you Peter. Upon further reading I found this thread below.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2000048&page=1

The information contained in that thread is a must read in my opinion. It answers so many questions that new members might have and provides information they should know similar to the 101 thread.

Thank you all for reading this and moderators for your consideration.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: crashtestdummy
Thank you all for reading this and moderators for your consideration.


I would agree. While there are certainly points of disagreement in the thread, it does provide a lot of food for thought for those who wish to consider an oil's properties beyond the SAE grade. And, it's not a "thin oil" issue, either. It can definitely help people wrap their heads around the difference between a 5w-30 in SN/GF-5 versus one that meets European specifications.

 

[Clevy]

Caterham and Trav on on either side of the thick/thin debate and both make some very good points. In fact they make such good points it clouds the issue even further.
I will say this though. I was on the thick side of the fence up until recently. The 20 grades have been in service for long enough now to prove they are up to the task in the application they are specified for. For example the ford 4.6 has been put in millions of vehicles and they are all putting on many hundreds of thousands of miles and not grenading,and most Japanese oem's also specify 20 grades in most of their engines,and those engines tend to outlive the bodies.
My hemi has over 250000 on it. Service records state it's had nothing but 5w-20 it's entire life,and that includes towing the previous owner's boat and 22" trailer through the mountains every summer. And it runs strong enough to shred the tires pretty much at will.
I'm not completely convinced that they are right for every application however 99% of drivers don't need to go any thicker than the oem's spec.
Jmo