oil: 10w/40 or 15w/50

TiTheRev

espresso wrote: »

Rubbish!

10W/40 is what is actually recommended in his manual:

...and when NEW that would be fine, but the car is now nearly 12years old and engine wear will mean it needs a thicker oil, hence the 15w50 recommendation :rolleyes:

espresso

TiTheRev wrote: »

...and when NEW that would be fine, but the car is now nearly 12years old and engine wear will mean it needs a thicker oil, hence the 15w50 recommendation :rolleyes:

More assumptions! You don't know how many miles the car has done. There are lots of 'old' cars with not many miles on the clock and are far from worn out!

The days of Duckhams Q20W/50 being the standard oil are long gone.

Premier_2

Wow! 3 pages of posts and no one has asked the OP what engine the Fiesta has.


I believe latest Ford recommendation for the 1.25 & 1.4 (and possibly 1.6) 16v engines is to use 5W30 oil despite what was in the handbook originally. The reason for this is that the lower viscosity oil (a) improves fuel economy and (b) provides better lubrication through the small oil channels of the 16v engine.
Having said that, use of 10W40 oil is also acceptable for use in ambient temperatures between -20C and +40C.
15W40 may be used for temperatures between -15C and +40C


However, if the vehicle has the old 1.3 8v engine fitted, then 10W40 oil should be used or 15W40 can be used for ambient temperatures between -15C and +40C.

Be careful about using any cheap/unbranded oil often sold in supermarkets - it often fails to state it meets any quality standard. Only use oils that meet or exceed the manufacturer's quality requirement.

The recommended oil should be used for the entire life of the engine. The manufacturer uses the same type of oil when testing the durability of engines.
The use of an oil with a higher viscosity than that recommended can cause issues because of poor circulation, particularly in the small oil channels of the 16V engines.

busenbust

Thank you all - didn't mean to start such a heated debate! - and after now reading Prem's post I am getting even more paranoid! Yes, the manual does indeed recommend branded oils (Duckhams, Castrol) but I just thought on a car like mine the Asda brand would be ok Perhaps go for 10w/40 Castrol GTX then?

mikey72

So long as the asda brand meets the right specifications, (which it normally does, if you check the back) it will be fine.
I wouldn't use a 5/30 as it's fully synthetic, and they remove all the gunge from old engines that have been run on a mineral oil, and the oil thickens up to the point where it may not flow properly. 10/40 semi synthetics don't, and mix much better with any oil.
Magnatec is better than GTX, and only a few pounds dearer.

busenbust

mikey72 wrote: »

So long as the asda brand meets the right specifications, (which it normally does, if you check the back) it will be fine.
I wouldn't use a 5/30 as it's fully synthetic, and they remove all the gunge from old engines that have been run on a mineral oil, and the oil thickens up to the point where it may not flow properly. 10/40 semi synthetics don't, and mix much better with any oil.
Magnatec is better than GTX, and only a few pounds dearer.

thank you sir; you are a gentleman

molerat

mikey72 wrote: »

.... I wouldn't use a 5/30 as it's fully synthetic ....

Ford spec 5w/30 is semi synthetic.

Pete268

molerat wrote: »

Ford spec 5w/30 is semi synthetic.

Yes, I can confirm the above (just checked the label on the Ford 5W-30 oil I got from the Ford garage last week).

It is diefinitely SEMI-synthetic.

mikey72

Yes, Ford have tried to save a few quid again, generally most 5/30 are fully synthetic, but some of them aren't, it'll still meet all the right specs though, if it's recommended for the car you have. A fully synthetic will disolve most of the gunk in a car that's been run on mineral oil, so unless you're certain avoid 5/30 unless you run a flushing oil through first. Sticking with a 10/40 used to get you a semi-synthetic, but even some of these are mineral oils now.