Engine oil.

Discussion and technical advice for 84-89 AW10 & AW11 MR2. 3A-LU, 4A-GE, 4A-GZE.

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Mav122
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Location: Tollesbury, Essex

Engine oil.

Post by Mav122 »

What oil would anyone suggest for a 4agze. Should I go all out on super dupa Castrol or is magnatec or similar ok?
MartG
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Re: Engine oil.

Post by MartG »

Magnatec will be fine :thumleft:
Mav122
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Re: Engine oil.

Post by Mav122 »

Would 10/40 or 15/40 be best? Was having this discussion with a friend the other day. Think we settled on 10/40 for UK but just wanted some opinions.
cartledge_uk
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Re: Engine oil.

Post by cartledge_uk »

Mav122 wrote:Would 10/40 or 15/40 be best? Was having this discussion with a friend the other day. Think we settled on 10/40 for UK but just wanted some opinions.


Depends really. YOu don't quite know how the engine was treated before you (in the 20 odd years) so i'd go 10/40, but then if your losing some go 15/40.

Personally I slapped in whatever was cheapest as I was bound to blow it up anyway regardless of whats in there *pats engine graveyard*
MartG
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Re: Engine oil.

Post by MartG »

10W40 will be fine. If you're worried, Castrol do an oil designed for 'older engines' - can't remember what grade it is though

:lol: at Tim's 'engine graveyard' remark - having been present at least two of their demises 8-[
Mav122
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Re: Engine oil.

Post by Mav122 »

cartledge_uk wrote:
Mav122 wrote:Would 10/40 or 15/40 be best? Was having this discussion with a friend the other day. Think we settled on 10/40 for UK but just wanted some opinions.


Depends really. YOu don't quite know how the engine was treated before you (in the 20 odd years) so i'd go 10/40, but then if your losing some go 15/40.

Personally I slapped in whatever was cheapest as I was bound to blow it up anyway regardless of whats in there *pats engine graveyard*


10/40 it is then. I'm just rebuilding it and only painted block the other day, so it had better not be losing oil :)
cartledge_uk
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Re: Engine oil.

Post by cartledge_uk »

Mav122 wrote:
cartledge_uk wrote:
Mav122 wrote:Would 10/40 or 15/40 be best? Was having this discussion with a friend the other day. Think we settled on 10/40 for UK but just wanted some opinions.


Depends really. YOu don't quite know how the engine was treated before you (in the 20 odd years) so i'd go 10/40, but then if your losing some go 15/40.

Personally I slapped in whatever was cheapest as I was bound to blow it up anyway regardless of whats in there *pats engine graveyard*


10/40 it is then. I'm just rebuilding it and only painted block the other day, so it had better not be losing oil :)


Is it a full rebuild? If so, then it needs to be bedded in first with mineral oil, or bedding in oil.
SuperRedMR2
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Re: Engine oil.

Post by SuperRedMR2 »

I use castrol 10/40 in mine since buying the mk1b mate
D
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Re: Engine oil.

Post by D »

Hi

My oil pressure gauges shows lower pressures as some months before.
At last year we replaced the rod's bearing.

At idle(warm, about 900-1000rpm): oem between the 2. and the 3. line, with vdo oil pressure gauge: 1,5 bar !!!!!

Higher Idle 1200rpm about 2bar

3bar from about 2000rpm

Max pressure(5-6000): oem at the 3. line, vdo about 5bar.

My friend told me it's very bad for 4age

What should i do then?

Is the original gauge measuring correctly?

Are there anybody knows how much pressure means the 2.,3.,4. line?

Image
WeirdNeville
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Re: Engine oil.

Post by WeirdNeville »

I don't know any real correlation to oil pressures, or even if the oil pressure gauge is calibrated, but mine generally sits between 3 and 4 on your diagram when under load, getting to 4 at high revs. At idle it's about at 2-3.
I've always assumed that this is Ok, as my engine has worked fine for the last 10,000 miles and doesn't use any oil.
oukie
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Re: Engine oil.

Post by oukie »

Ive never owned a mk1 that has been above 4 on your scale, My current cars all sit between 3 +4 when in normal driving conditions
Mk1b White T-bar SC 1987, Mk1b White coupe Jan90, Mk1b White coupe Jan90 (spares), Mk1b Mica blue T-bar Mar90, Mk1b Mica blue T-bar,full climate control,Jan90, 5 mk1's :)
Ben
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Re: Engine oil.

Post by Ben »

Really? When idling, my gauge sits a bit below 2, whre cruising at about 2-2.5k rpm it sits dead centre, and when giving it the beans it will just about reach 3 on your scale.

Never had any engine issues though and it doesn't seem to use much oil :-k
I never realised it was so low compared to other people's :scratch:
2001 BMW M5 (Bahnstormer) | 2004 RX8 231 (the Racecat) | 2001 Volvo V70 (Swedish eBay barge)

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1989 MR2 Mk1b T-bar | 1988 MR2 SC Super Edition
crazybrightman
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Re: Engine oil.

Post by crazybrightman »

D wrote:Hi

My oil pressure gauges shows lower pressures as some months before.
At last year we replaced the rod's bearing.

At idle(warm, about 900-1000rpm): oem between the 2. and the 3. line, with vdo oil pressure gauge: 1,5 bar !!!!!

Higher Idle 1200rpm about 2bar

3bar from about 2000rpm

Max pressure(5-6000): oem at the 3. line, vdo about 5bar.

My friend told me it's very bad for 4age

What should i do then?

Is the original gauge measuring correctly?

Are there anybody knows how much pressure means the 2.,3.,4. line?

Image



im not sure what the specs are on an mr2 but that sound like spot on oil pressure to me. most engines are roughly the same.
for example on my recently rebuilt saab engine i get 1.4bar at idle and 2.8bar at 2000rpm which is bang on spec. as your engine has over that id say its in very good health.
10/40 will be fine just change it ever 6000 miles if you dont do many miles or drive it hard. for track use you may need to go upto a 50grade. semi synth is all you need.
4agte on the way
viperrr
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Re: Engine oil.

Post by viperrr »

benedwards64 wrote:Really? When idling, my gauge sits a bit below 2, whre cruising at about 2-2.5k rpm it sits dead centre, and when giving it the beans it will just about reach 3 on your scale.

Never had any engine issues though and it doesn't seem to use much oil :-k
I never realised it was so low compared to other people's :scratch:


Mine is also like this... maybe we need to put a bit more oil in? Although I too have had no problems. :-k
Image
Ben
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Re: Engine oil.

Post by Ben »

viperrr wrote:
benedwards64 wrote:Really? When idling, my gauge sits a bit below 2, whre cruising at about 2-2.5k rpm it sits dead centre, and when giving it the beans it will just about reach 3 on your scale.

Never had any engine issues though and it doesn't seem to use much oil :-k
I never realised it was so low compared to other people's :scratch:


Mine is also like this... maybe we need to put a bit more oil in? Although I too have had no problems. :-k


I doubt it... Its done about 8k miles like this (basically since I bought the car), with a full service about 1k miles ago and I check the oil regularly. It's always pretty much at the top of the dipstick. I'm hoping it's just the calibration of the guage :eye:
2001 BMW M5 (Bahnstormer) | 2004 RX8 231 (the Racecat) | 2001 Volvo V70 (Swedish eBay barge)

Previous:
1989 MR2 Mk1b T-bar | 1988 MR2 SC Super Edition
D
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Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 12:16 pm

Re: Engine oil.

Post by D »

WeirdNeville: It looks the same as mine.

oukie: they told me the best is about 5,5-6 bar. Mine has 5 it's not to bad. I only afraid about the idle and lower rpm pressure. But with harder trackday use i will get lower pressures and this can effect big problems perhaps.

benedwards64: It doesn't mean too much that You see this. Maybe the oil pressure sender is wrong.

I forget to say I'm using 10w50liqui moly.

I afraid because my friend how told me it's quite bad, is a very experienced guy. He is building 4ag's for the Hungarian drift championship ae86's.
He told me as well i should use smallport oil pump (i have bigport now)
In this year I want to visit about 5-10 trackday...

Are you visit trackdays often?
WeirdNeville
Posts: 425
Joined: Sat Apr 09, 2005 4:10 pm

Re: Engine oil.

Post by WeirdNeville »

I've done 2 trackdays, one at silverstone with the car on track for about 3-4 hours and 200 miles and the second at Brands Hatch with the car on track 2 hours and about 100 miles and the car loved it. Nothing has changed before or since and it used no oil all day in either case. I wasn't going easy on the old girl either :twisted:
jimi
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Re: Engine oil.

Post by jimi »

Mr T says oil pressure should be a minimum of 4.3 psi (0.29 bar) at idle
and between 36-71 psi (2.5-5 bar) at 3000 rpm, that checked with a proper gauge, not the dash gauge which isn't accurate, it's only meant to be used as a guide.
Mav122
Posts: 216
Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2007 9:54 pm
Location: Tollesbury, Essex

Re: Engine oil.

Post by Mav122 »

I ended up putting 10w/40 Castrol super s in. It's run fine with no problems and my gauge sits just under half way at idle, about half way normal driving and just over the halfway a smidge when given the beans.
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