Oil question Castrol GTX 20W 50 vs Castrol Grand Prix 20W 50

Quote,[ ass of lavs most are riden short distances every now and then ]
What a load of BOLLOCKS you may have a fucking trailer queen but most of us in the green and pleasent land don't.
Hi zinc is used in engines that get hot and are  under load for most of there running to help coat the steel with a slippery film, bit like butter on your fingers
 
Golden Film SAE 20W-50 Classic Oil is recommended for use in veteran, classic and vintage cars, motorcycles, commercial vehicles and tractors, where engine design and tolerances prohibit the use of modern high additive level oils.  Modern dispersant additives keep combustion chamber contamination suspended in the lubricant, allowing full flow cartridge filters to remove it. Early oil filtration, usually in the form of a mesh gauze or strainer, is not efficient enough to remove this suspended material.  Golden Film SAE 20W-50 Classic Oil is a low dispersant oil and allows the suspended matter to drop harmlessly into the sump.
The multigrade properties of Golden Film SAE 20W-50 provide improved cold start circulation whilst maintaining good working oil pressure.


I like this as it's the only one I've found that talks specifically about filter action , ie mesh gauze, just like Laverda.
 
Piranha Brother 2 said:
Red, any reason why NO synth oil should go in? Wet clutch???? My motor looked sweet inside after years on Mobil 1 ... once it had been run in. Particulcarly good in the top end/cam/rocker dep't.
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I recommend mineral oil only on a fully rebuilt engine for the first 1,000 klms so the engine beds in
Total Seal rings, Hastings rings, Ross Racing Pistons, even Sunnen themselves all recommend to only use mineral oil for the bedding in process on new engines

after the run in is complete, use whatever oil you want as long as it is designed for an air cooled engine with a wet clutch
 
Brett said:
Red stipulates mineral oil for the first 1000 K's as synthetic from the get go will not allow the engine to bed in correctly so you will never seat the rings correctly.

GTX is crap pure and simple even today stay away from Castrol full stop.

Your Skoda would be lucky to make 20K with the oil in it me thinks ( VW reckon that 1 litre per 1,000k's use is within spec's and they aint got a 25 liter sump )  most VW diesels use oil like there is no tomorrow. Hence the low ash aint for the engine it is for the DPF to help stop it clogging up prematurely...

Anyway it has an oil filter, different clearances internally and if the technical boys at VW had their way ( and they dont and hate the thought of their engines doing that many K's ) and not the marketing department trust me the service intervals would be less. Remember use an oil that aint VW spec'd and kiss your warranty goodbye..................( you shouldnt have got me started about VW crap diesels, sorry no offence just that VW and quality in the one sentence seriously, sell the Skoda before it starts to cost you a bomb trust me it will ) Visit any VW, Audi, Skoda dealer and see how vehicles are sittin in the workshop getting new engines...

As of Lav's most are ridden short distances every now and again so the acids build up in the oil, plus is a carb engine so you get not a spot on mixture at all times and you get fuel blowby which also affects.... oh and no oil filter.. oh and roller crank bearings...

If you only use it on good long distance runs so it gets to operating temperature and stays there for a while ( like a good few hours at a time ) then you can run higher intervals but dont forget no filter...

I use Fuch's oil and it aint costing me $100 for 5 liters..it is high zinc good ol mineral oil and is designed specifically for flat tappet engines...

been there and done that with Synthetic crap in Laverda's,  no longer interested as the engine was never designed for it... hi zinc content and less polymer stretch in the oil is much much important and way better for the lobes etc on our engines.

Up to you but for me good quality oil changed regularly is the cheap insurance.
(note I do say good quality so that exludes Castrol )

Diesel oil aint hi zinc it does have a lot of detergent as is designed for Diesel usage.
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My 2001 Skoda 1.9 TDI (ATD engine) is still going strong with 360000 km on the odo.  Requires less than 0.5 l between oil changes every 20000-odd km, don't see it giving up for a long time to come.

My 3C has seen nothing but 10W-60 synthetic since the big rebuild 1991.  It got an oil filter at the same time.  I stretched change intervals to 6500-7000km, after 60000km the insides looked like I assembled it yesterday... only wear was the Laverda-typical top ring groove.

piet
 
Brett is a very very long term Laverda owner,Mechanic by trade, worked as a mechanic in shops specializing in Laverdas back in the day,been to just about everywhere on the planet riding bikes and these days Manages warranty claims for a very big local automotive importer and distributer. And thats just what I have picked up in conversation,he has had an interesting life.Very nice bloke as well.Bit of a coffee nut but I don't hold that against him.
 
I'd prefer to rely on my own experiences... have owned my first Laverda for 35 years, been in the automotive/2 wheel business for almost 40 years.  Have also run a Laverda specialist workshop, precision engineer by trade.

Almost forgot, there's a bachelors' degree in engineering as well.

What now, Vince?

piet
 
We all make up our own minds about stuff,at least I do.I take my experience lessen to other respected opinions and then follow what I decide and wear the consequences.I was thinking about my day to day experiences in my usual job. Fixing fuckups in high end homes,that over 3 or 4 mill in most cases.
Beautiful places,supervised by talented Architects that leak like a sieve in heavy rain.Thats what happens when you dont use eaves,not stylish enough.
I expect in Brett's case all he sees is warranty fuckups.Maybe there are stylish architect designed homes that dont leak and desal motors that don't fuckup that we dont see.Thats all I got.
 
Vince said:
Here we go with an Oil thread,... This is going to be epic
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Ah, you weren't wrong there, Vince ... 2 days old and 5 pages in already this thread!

I take everything that's posted in - might not agree (there are some very divided opinions out there!!). My Skoda's well out of warranty - 95,000km - still doesn't use a drop of oil or miss a beat (touch wood). i change oil every 15,000. have done a it of reading on oil quality and properties for VW 70501 (or whatever the spec is). I intend to do my own work on it as the need arises - and hopefully own it for a long time. i have trouble trusting a lot of mechanics these days - when I did my own 60,000km service I drained 8.5L of oil from it (capacity with filter 4.7L). I contacted the stealership who'd been charging the previous owner a bomb for servicing and suggested they'd double filled the sump. Not possible they said No responsibility taken, they said. VAG took control and another dealer ran drain & weigh tests and concluded that it was not sump level rise and could only have been an overfill. I now have a claim if the DPF carks it prematurely. So far so good - amazing that there were no odd things going on whatsoever with double the capacity of oil in the sump. Anyways, if it requires major work I'll either toss it or fix it myself.

Reckon I'll probably go back to Mobil 1 for the Lav, but seriously, they (SFs at least - not enough ownership experience of triples) aren't prone to engine failure due to oil breakdown - much more likely to have lube probs due to blocked oilways or some other mech problemo.

I misunderstood the info about Red not recommending synths - yes, even Mobil 1 20 years ago didn't recommend bedding in period use ... which says a lot about the low friction, low wear properties of a really good oil.
 
So! Despite the usual spirited discussions I have learnt a lot from this thread:

My old engine doesn't seem to be a candidate for full synthetic as more than likely there is too much crap sitting around inside that doesn't need disturbing. So the best mineral I can afford will do, then perhaps synthetic after any rebuild and it's run in.
Personally I think that any in-line filter attachment will wait until I do use synthetic.

I think MotoJouni's link was very useful - explaining about base oils.

Also there was also an interesting explanation about Zinc merely being a binder for low-friction additives from Rob.
 
Hi all

just re read this entire thread. A lot of folks seem to actively dislike Castrol, refer to it as crap oil, etc.

Is there any real evidence to support the expressed opinions about Castrol oil being "crap"? What is it that is being complained about?

I am not aware of ever having suffered an oil related issues in any of my cars, trucks, SUV's or motorcycles over the years, with the exception of wet clutch slippage when I put Mobil 1 full synthetic in one of my Laverda triples.

Paul LeClair
 
I would imagine that it would be difficult in the extreme to prove beyond doubt legally that one oil caused a failure.
Even if you had years of faithfull service using one oil, changed to another and had a failure then it would be insinuated that we have 'thrashed' the engine or something.

For the most part oils are a subjective experience for us because we don't know what would have happened if we had used another type.
People tend have favourites and stick with them, hence the heated debates!!!!

I changed to Castrol GTX years ago! The engine seemed to vibrate a bit more and was noisier, so I reverted to Duckhams Green and never used the Castrol again.
The 'problem' perhaps was that the GTX was 15w30 and the Duckhams 20w50 and my experience was purely on feel?
EDIT* That was yonks ago and I now use Morris V Twin 20/50.

I use Castrol Magnatec in my cars, who knows what is going on inside the engine but nothing has come flying out yet!
 
Tyres, spark plugs, oil?
These are all emotive subjects.
Ask 100 people and get 100 different answers.

To try to achieve a definitive oil, spark plug (make) or tyre is pissing against the wind, especially as how many of us are metallurgists, oil technicians and so on.

Instead, go with factory recommendations/ feel / gut instinct / what everyone else is using.
Delete as appropriate.
 
Paul LeClair said:
Hi all

just re read this entire thread. A lot of folks seem to actively dislike Castrol, refer to it as crap oil, etc.

Is there any real evidence to support the expressed opinions about Castrol oil being "crap"? What is it that is being complained about?

I am not aware of ever having suffered an oil related issues in any of my cars, trucks, SUV's or motorcycles over the years, with the exception of wet clutch slippage when I put Mobil 1 full synthetic in one of my Laverda triples.

Paul LeClair
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I wouldn't put Castrol down as crap, Paul.  Just unsuited for my needs.

Castrol is a huge company that has a lot to lose if their reputation turns really bad.  Years ago they marketed GTX at dumping prices in Germany.  They certainly didn't do themselves a favour with that, it wasn't suited to engines that required a certain standard, but was quite OK for most 4-wheeled shitheaps on their last legs, which is what I used it for. :D  Fill it in a thermically challenged british long stroker and pressure would drop to the floor.  Took them decades to regain their prior share of the market.

piet
 
2nd bottle now. Oh, and I don't think Castrol oils are as shit as they are being portrayed. Lots of folk will balme anything rather than their own lack of ...
 
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