Turbo engine - what oil properties are best

[addyguy]

I don't think anyone has touched on the fact that for warranty considerations, this engine needs a synthetic oil that is certified to 4718M. There is alist of oils that are certified to it, and you will want to stick with one.

My friend has an '08 Cobalt SS, and he runs Mobil 1 5w30 in it, and changes it when the OLM hits about 30%. Man, those cars are fast!

 

[ZZman]

Does your manual spec any oil?

Any high quality Syn oil that says it is good for Turbo's will wotk fine. Just change at reasonable intervals.

 

[dla]

The owners manual calls for a Synthetic 5w30 that meets GM's 4718M certification.

I haven't had a chance to take it to the track yet to see just how fast it yet but R&T track magazine has them running 13.9 @103 in the quarter. Not to bad for a little 4 cylinder.

I picked this car up because the price of gas was killing in my other cars (heavily modified 01 Z28 and mildly modified 06 Trailblazer SS). I love that this car averages about 26 mpg in my stop and go driving and gets 30+ on highway trips. Once I get a few more miles on it I'll make a pass to or two at the track to see what it does.

 

[BuickGN]

Originally Posted By: dla
The owners manual calls for a Synthetic 5w30 that meets GM's 4718M certification.

I haven't had a chance to take it to the track yet to see just how fast it yet but R&T track magazine has them running 13.9 @103 in the quarter. Not to bad for a little 4 cylinder.

I picked this car up because the price of gas was killing in my other cars (heavily modified 01 Z28 and mildly modified 06 Trailblazer SS). I love that this car averages about 26 mpg in my stop and go driving and gets 30+ on highway trips. Once I get a few more miles on it I'll make a pass to or two at the track to see what it does.


Nice! With those traps, you should be able to hit mid 13s with some tire.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: dla
The owners manual calls for a Synthetic 5w30 that meets GM's 4718M certification.

Mobil 1 5w30 and Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 meet 4718M. They also meet Honda HTO-06, which is another really tough spec designed specifically for deposit prevention in turbos. Either of those oils should do very well for you.

 

[d00df00d]

...or at least as well as anything you can buy off-the-shelf that also meets warranty specs.

 

[buster]

Agree with d00df00d.

 

[ZZman]

Valvoline Synpower and QS Ultimate Durabilty also make that GM spec.

 

[hooligan24]

why not Mobil 1 5w30? No warranty problems, HT06 spec'd along with many many other specs.

edit: should have read the whole thread before posting. I just didnt understand the whole Redline thing, before recommending something that will give no hassles with "The Man" that holds the warranty decisions

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted By: hooligan24
why not Mobil 1 5w30? No warranty problems, HT06 spec'd along with many many other specs.

edit: should have read the whole thread before posting. I just didnt understand the whole Redline thing, before recommending something that will give no hassles with "The Man" that holds the warranty decisions
It's the intake valve buildup most Direct Injection equipped engines suffer from that makes an oil choice much more difficult. Turbo rated oils are easy to find but find one that matches Redline or RLI Biosyn in the Direct Injection engine problem.

 

[noi8u]

Originally Posted By: dla
Hello,

I have an 09 Cobalt SS that has a 2.0L Ecotec engine that is turbocharged and has direct injection. In selecting an oil for this car what properties of the oil are important to consider. I've heard that the turbo can "cook" the oil when the engine is shut off and the oil isn't circulated through the turbo. I'm not sure what impact the direct injection has on the oil either. Does a lot of gas get into the oil on that type of engine. Another feature of the engine is an inject that sprays oil on the bottom of the piston to help cool them.

The car is daily drive with a 16 mile commute each way to work mainly stop and go driving.

What brand, weight and oil change interval would you recommend? Should I listen to the oil monitor or change it in advance of that at a set schedule of x number of miles?



I also have a turbo 4 and I love the Amsoil ACD 10w30 because it really is a SAE 30 with no viscosity modifiers to burn off and the diesel standards are higher than the gasoline standards. In stores I would use Castrol Syntec 5w50, approved for AMG SL65 Turbo V12 and the SLR Supercharged V8 with over 600hp.

 

[BuickGN]

Originally Posted By: noi8u
Originally Posted By: dla
Hello,

I have an 09 Cobalt SS that has a 2.0L Ecotec engine that is turbocharged and has direct injection. In selecting an oil for this car what properties of the oil are important to consider. I've heard that the turbo can "cook" the oil when the engine is shut off and the oil isn't circulated through the turbo. I'm not sure what impact the direct injection has on the oil either. Does a lot of gas get into the oil on that type of engine. Another feature of the engine is an inject that sprays oil on the bottom of the piston to help cool them.

The car is daily drive with a 16 mile commute each way to work mainly stop and go driving.

What brand, weight and oil change interval would you recommend? Should I listen to the oil monitor or change it in advance of that at a set schedule of x number of miles?



I also have a turbo 4 and I love the Amsoil ACD 10w30 because it really is a SAE 30 with no viscosity modifiers to burn off and the diesel standards are higher than the gasoline standards. In stores I would use Castrol Syntec 5w50, approved for AMG SL65 Turbo V12 and the SLR Supercharged V8 with over 600hp.


That's a very good choice. I ran it in the TL from new to 77,000 miles and have nothing but good things to say. I recently switched to Redline only because I wanted to try out an ester based oil. Most of the Redline weights also have no VIIs and are straight weights. You definately can't go wrong with the ACD. I ran mine year round and had no problems during winter.

 

[mechtech2]

DI sounds good on paper with gas engines, but I'm not sold yet.
Running rich is a recurrent theme, with oil dilution possible.
I prefer standard multiport injection at this point.

 

[StevieC]

It's ok if the engine is well tuned and the oil is monitored via used oil analysis for your driving style the OCI adjusted as such. This will suffice for at least 60-80K KM without issue IMO.

Also if you modify the PCV/Breathing setup to include a Catch Can to ground the Oily vapors before they can be fed back into the intake and gum up the intake valves this would be ideal.

Using a high quality POE oil that has a low NOACK, and using a Top-Tier fuel that contains little or no ethanol (preferred) is another step at helping these engines survive.

If there was only one thing I could do to make these engines survive I would setup a catch-can for the oil vapor. This would definitely prevent premature gumming of the valves with oily residue.

They are cheap and effective. I made one for $22 CDN and it has saved my Cabriolets air filter from the normal residue that could collect in the air-box and on the filter and worse on the Fuel distributors air plate which is very fussy and will make the car run terrible if gummed up.

At the mileage it collects in the catch can, it's a once a year maintenance item to dump the catch-can. Even then it's only an ounce or two of oil after about 15K KM (9K miles) on that vehicle.

Steve

 

[StevieC]

It's ok if the engine is well tuned and the oil is monitored via used oil analysis for your driving style the OCI adjusted as such.

Also if you modify the PCV/Breathing setup to include a Catch Can to ground the Oily vapors before they can be fed back into the intake and gum up the intake valves.

Using a high quality POE oil that has a low NOACK, and using a Top-Tier fuel that contains little or no ethanol (preferred) is another step at helping these engines survive.

If there was only one thing I could do to make these engines survive I would setup a catch-can for the oil vapor. This would definitely prevent premature gumming of the valves with oily residue.

They are cheap and effective. I made one for $22 CDN and it has saved my Cabriolets air filter from the normal residue that could collect in the air-box and on the filter.

At the mileage it collects in the catch can, it's a once a year maintenance item to dump the catch-can. Even then it's only an ounce or two of oil after about 15K KM (9K miles) on that vehicle.

An ounce or two doesn't seem like much but it certainly can make a mess when in the air box or caked onto intake valves in an engine.

Steve

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: StevieC
Also if you modify the PCV/Breathing setup to include a Catch Can to ground the Oily vapors before they can be fed back into the intake and gum up the intake valves this would be ideal.

The RS4 has a triple cyclonic oil separator that condenses oil vapors and drops them into the sump. Even that doesn't solve it entirely. You need to vent the crankcase elsewhere.


Originally Posted By: StevieC
Using a high quality POE oil that has a low NOACK, and using a Top-Tier fuel that contains little or no ethanol (preferred) is another step at helping these engines survive.

Agreed.

It may be hard to find fuel without ethanol, but VAG has repeatedly stressed the importance of good fuel in DI engines.

 

[dla]

For fuel I always use 93 Octane from a top tier gas station like Shell, Sunoco or Texaco. I hope intake deposits wouldn't be that big of an issue using a top tier gas. All the fuel by me is a 10% ethanol blend year round.

If you think it's that big of a risk with DI do you think a montly dose of Redline fuel injector clear or maybe even a few ounces of MMO might be worth wild in the gas?

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: dla
If you think it's that big of a risk with DI do you think a montly dose of Redline fuel injector clear or maybe even a few ounces of MMO might be worth wild in the gas?

The deposits we're talking about would be in areas that the fuel doesn't reach. If the fuel won't get there, nothing you put in the fuel will get there either.

 

[Nederlander75]

Redline does advertise that the S1 will survive the combustion process making its way to the IM where it will continue to clean FWIW.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: Nederlander75
Redline does advertise that the S1 will survive the combustion process making its way to the IM where it will continue to clean FWIW.

How would it escape the combustion chamber into the IM? If it was going to go anywhere, wouldn't it go to the exhaust?