Oil recommendation - 94 Suzuki Escudo (Tracker)

[manjina]

Going to attempt my first oil change and need some advice on which oil to use.
I dont have the owners manual.

1994 Suzuki Escudo 1.6L 4cycl 16valve 5sp manual
125000 miles.

The climate here ranges 41-80F but if extremes are included, then 30-90F.

I drive aggressive, quick acceleration and cruise about 70mph.
My daily drive is 70 miles, mostly all highway.

Also, the oil change history on this vehicle is not great. It had only 4 changes over the last 70,000miles.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[Andyge]

what brands of oil can you get in New Zealand?

I would say 5w30 M1 or PP.

Andy

 

[manjina]

Brands available here

Castrol
Lucas
Mobil
Shell
Royal Purple
Pennzoil
Redline
Fuchs
Amsoil
Elf
Penrite

possibly others...

 

[pidster]

If it were mine I'd get something very cheap and do a couple real short OCI's to rinse things out first. Then decide on what to keep running after.

 

[Scienceman]

Good luck on your first change!

 

[sicko]

Originally Posted By: pidster
If it were mine I'd get something very cheap and do a couple real short OCI's to rinse things out first. Then decide on what to keep running after.


Personally that's what I'd do. 70k is a lot of mile to go on only 4 oil changes, esp if you're not sure if synthetic was used. Hopefully there were more oil changes and the records of them are just not there.

If cost was an issue, I'd put fresh conventional oil and a good filter on there. Then after a short OCI (Oil Change Interval), I'd drain and fill the oil but save few bucks by keeping the filter on there. Then after another short OCI I'd change the oil and filter. Filters are cheap here but I don't know how much they run you over there.

Depending on how much I felt it was needed I might do the above interval again.

As for your oil, since it's a non-turbo vehicle and it's mostly highway driving, any decent conventional oil should be able to protect the engine just fine for 4k miles. I personally would run it longer then that, but that's me and you have to do what you're comfortable with.

I'm not sure what weight oil is spec'ed for that vehicle, but if I had to guess I'd say 5w-30, but I'd look it up online if you could

 

[manjina]

Thanks for the tips guys. I cant seem to find any reference to the correct weight. I'll try 5w-30 unless anyone knows what weight I should be using.

 

[addyguy]

I'd imagine the factory recommended viscosity was 5W-30. In a warmer climate, using 10W-30 is fine. It might be easier to get.

Start with that, but if you find that the engine is consuming a lot of oil, you might want to use a thicker oil, a 10W-40 or 15W-40, to see if it helps.

As others have said, do a couple of short changes to clear out any junk that may be in the engine.....