Cost Considerations Aside Is Redline A Great Oil?

[JSRT4]

Originally Posted By: K23Turbo
[censored]. Miss my old AP2. Never tried RL. Used M1, CE, PP all with good results.


Quite a few people who get rid of their S2000's often regret their decision and end up buying replacements later down the road. At times I've thought about selling the car as it isn't totally practical and our driving season is pretty short, but I know I'd miss it like crazy. Here is my ap1

 

[crazyoildude]

Buy a good oil that does not break the bank and you or your engine won't know the difference if those oils were really that much better they would be rated as such and engine builders myself included would tell you to use them.

 

[Vitt]

Originally Posted By: Greasymechtech
...Since your engine responded to the typical thicker Redline oil, you could consider the other Euro oils... M1 0w40 or 5w30ESP, Castrol 0w30 or 0w40...

Or, maybe your engine likes the Redline slug of Group V esters and moly. Stick with it.


I'm currently using RL 10w-30 on my S2000, and I plan to do a few track days in the coming months. I have a LOT to learn about oils, but I've used GC 0-30 before without even considering the thickness, so may try M1 0-40 for track days. Having said that, there are ppl that say we need to run a relatively thin oil (AKA, a 'true' 5w30) due to the hollow camshafts having to supply lubrication to the valvetrain in the head. I believe the hole for the oil to pass through the cams is very narrow (something like 2mm wide but don't quote me on the exact number). When someone who races S2000s posted on S2Ki.com that he lost an engine (not the first one he lost), he was told running thick oil may have been the reason.

In any case, I haven't had any problems using any of the above mentioned oils but I'm more inclined to use one with a higher HTHS number for track days during the summer in SoCal.

 

[slo town]

Originally Posted By: JSRT4
Originally Posted By: K23Turbo
[censored]. Miss my old AP2. Never tried RL. Used M1, CE, PP all with good results.


Quite a few people who get rid of their S2000's often regret their decision and end up buying replacements later down the road. At times I've thought about selling the car as it isn't totally practical and our driving season is pretty short, but I know I'd miss it like crazy. Here is my ap1




Hello JSRT4, nice pictures of your car. Not sure of you knew this but your entire library of photos can bee seen when clicking on your picture. It appears you are a pretty hardcore gear head given all the pictures of your mods. Nice picture of your wife in the red bikini!!!

Cheers,

Scott

 

[JSRT4]

Originally Posted By: SLO_Town
Originally Posted By: JSRT4
Originally Posted By: K23Turbo
[censored]. Miss my old AP2. Never tried RL. Used M1, CE, PP all with good results.


Quite a few people who get rid of their S2000's often regret their decision and end up buying replacements later down the road. At times I've thought about selling the car as it isn't totally practical and our driving season is pretty short, but I know I'd miss it like crazy. Here is my ap1




Hello JSRT4, nice pictures of your car. Not sure of you knew this but your entire library of photos can bee seen when clicking on your picture. It appears you are a pretty hardcore gear head given all the pictures of your mods. Nice picture of your wife in the red bikini!!!

Cheers,

Scott


Thanks for the heads up Scott, I don't know how that happens with photobucket but it's okay , not much to see, just my hobbies with Honda S2000 stuff, coffee equipment, and a few bottles of booze ( I tend to collect way more than I drink, lol).

Oh I wish that was my wife in the red bikini , lol.

Joey

 

[A_Harman]

Originally Posted By: JSRT4
Originally Posted By: K23Turbo
[censored]. Miss my old AP2. Never tried RL. Used M1, CE, PP all with good results.


Quite a few people who get rid of their S2000's often regret their decision and end up buying replacements later down the road. At times I've thought about selling the car as it isn't totally practical and our driving season is pretty short, but I know I'd miss it like crazy. Here is my ap1




Red Line 5w30 is a fine choice for the S2000. Very shear resistant and capable of withstanding high temperatures without oxidizing. You could probably even go 2 years/6000 miles on an oil change.

For a really good time, take your S2000 to Calabogie Motorsports Park.

 

[JSRT4]

Originally Posted By: A_Harman
Originally Posted By: JSRT4
Originally Posted By: K23Turbo
[censored]. Miss my old AP2. Never tried RL. Used M1, CE, PP all with good results.


Quite a few people who get rid of their S2000's often regret their decision and end up buying replacements later down the road. At times I've thought about selling the car as it isn't totally practical and our driving season is pretty short, but I know I'd miss it like crazy. Here is my ap1




Red Line 5w30 is a fine choice for the S2000. Very shear resistant and capable of withstanding high temperatures without oxidizing. You could probably even go 2 years/6000 miles on an oil change.

For a really good time, take your S2000 to Calabogie Motorsports Park.


Thanks. Now that you mentioned it my first run of Redline was the first oil that did not shear down in my engine. Every oil I have used before has sheared down to some degree.

I've taken my car to Mosport, and Watkins Glen, and had a blast at those tracks. I've never been to Calabogie but I've heard some good things about it, I must put that on my list to explore. Thanks !

 

[dgunay]

Originally Posted By: Oil Changer
Most of your responses will be fanboy talk. RL won't do anything to prevent a mechanical breakdown. Totally unnecessary, but it's your money. Don't those things call for 10W-30?

BLACKSTONE REPORT


+1. If its only street driven, I would use PP 5W30 and change it every year, or Amsoil SS 5W30 every 2 years.

 

[virginoil]

After reading your subsequent posts I am sure why you asked the question regarding Redline if cost was not an issue as you appear to have clear reasons to go with Redline again and looks like you had already made up your mind.

 

[JSRT4]

Originally Posted By: virginoil
After reading your subsequent posts I am sure why you asked the question regarding Redline if cost was not an issue as you appear to have clear reasons to go with Redline again and looks like you had already made up your mind.


Not sure what you mean, but I don't have much experience with Redline Oil. I really wanted to post up here to get opinions from people that may have had good or bad experiences with it. I tried Redline the first OCI solely on the basis that it had a high level of moly, probably not the best way to choose an oil but I guess I am old school in that regard. After running it once the only two things I noticed was that my aluminum wear dropped a healthy amount, and the oil did not shear, in comparison to previous oils. If cost was a consideration I probably would not run it again, as I could likely find an oil that performs almost as well for a lot less money. Anyways I just wanted to see if Redline has a good reputation on this forum and there is no where better to get opinions than right here. If someone had proof that it was a poor performing oil I'd gladly find an alternative use for the stock that I have on hand.

 

[virginoil]

Originally Posted By: JSRT4
Originally Posted By: virginoil
After reading your subsequent posts I am sure why you asked the question regarding Redline if cost was not an issue as you appear to have clear reasons to go with Redline again and looks like you had already made up your mind.


Not sure what you mean, but I don't have much experience with Redline Oil. I really wanted to post up here to get opinions from people that may have had good or bad experiences with it. ............................................................................ If someone had proof that it was a poor performing oil I'd gladly find an alternative use for the stock that I have on hand.


Your last sentence pretty much sums up what I thought.

I used Redline 10w30 in my 1995 Holden V6 3800 commodore and it showed high lead and copper wear in the UOA that I did, this was in 2000. Redline Oil in Perth told me it was just cleaning out wear metals from other oils it sounded reasonable at that time.

Redline offered me 5 quarts of the 10w40 at cost price for a 2nd OCI and they paid for the 2nd UOA on the 10w40 as well. The ppm wear metals rate for the 2nd OCI for lead, copper etc did not decrease and stayed approx the same as the 1st OCI on the 10w30. The UOA also showed high silicon content as well.

The engine had only approx 80000km on the clock. Redline was approx $14 / quart AUD at that time.

After the 2nd OCI I stopped using the Redline some engine weeps appeared, after about 1 month on Mobil 1, I put it down to the seals shrunk slightly after the high ester content of the Redline Oils was no longer used. There was no weep whilst Redline Oils was in use.

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: virginoil

Your last sentence pretty much sums up what I thought.

I used Redline 10w30 in my 1995 Holden V6 3800 commodore and it showed high lead and copper wear in the UOA that I did, this was in 2000. Redline Oil in Perth told me it was just cleaning out wear metals from other oils it sounded reasonable at that time.

Redline offered me 5 quarts of the 10w40 at cost price for a 2nd OCI and they paid for the 2nd UOA on the 10w40 as well. The ppm wear metals rate for the 2nd OCI for lead, copper etc did not decrease and stayed approx the same as the 1st OCI on the 10w30. The UOA also showed high silicon content as well.

The engine had only approx 80000km on the clock. Redline was approx $14 / quart AUD at that time.

After the 2nd OCI I stopped using the Redline some engine weeps appeared, after about 1 month on Mobil 1, I put it down to the seals shrunk slightly after the high ester content of the Redline Oils was no longer used. There was no weep whilst Redline Oils was in use.


The high silicon would indicate Red Line oil wasn't your problem.

 

[JSRT4]

Originally Posted By: virginoil
Originally Posted By: JSRT4
Originally Posted By: virginoil
After reading your subsequent posts I am sure why you asked the question regarding Redline if cost was not an issue as you appear to have clear reasons to go with Redline again and looks like you had already made up your mind.


Not sure what you mean, but I don't have much experience with Redline Oil. I really wanted to post up here to get opinions from people that may have had good or bad experiences with it. ............................................................................ If someone had proof that it was a poor performing oil I'd gladly find an alternative use for the stock that I have on hand.


Your last sentence pretty much sums up what I thought.

I used Redline 10w30 in my 1995 Holden V6 3800 commodore and it showed high lead and copper wear in the UOA that I did, this was in 2000. Redline Oil in Perth told me it was just cleaning out wear metals from other oils it sounded reasonable at that time.

Redline offered me 5 quarts of the 10w40 at cost price for a 2nd OCI and they paid for the 2nd UOA on the 10w40 as well. The ppm wear metals rate for the 2nd OCI for lead, copper etc did not decrease and stayed approx the same as the 1st OCI on the 10w30. The UOA also showed high silicon content as well.

The engine had only approx 80000km on the clock. Redline was approx $14 / quart AUD at that time.

After the 2nd OCI I stopped using the Redline some engine weeps appeared, after about 1 month on Mobil 1, I put it down to the seals shrunk slightly after the high ester content of the Redline Oils was no longer used. There was no weep whilst Redline Oils was in use.


I can certainly understand your decision in that application. One other reason for my post was that I used to read about high lead readings in Hondas that ran Redline in the past. I am not sure what the reason was for that, if it was the cleaning process occurring or if Redline just didn't work well with Honda bearings. I was curious to know if anyone on this site had further info. on that, but it was quite a few years back when I had seen that in some Honda UOA's. My one OCI with Redline showed normal lead readings. Redline has higher silicon readings in virgin form for anti-foaming so it is not uncommon to see that with a Redline run.

 

[virginoil]

Originally Posted By: badtlc
Originally Posted By: virginoil



The high silicon would indicate Red Line oil wasn't your problem.


Redline is usually high silicon compared to other oils, regardless of its silicon content, the Redline IMO view was the problem in respect to the weeps.

Silicon content within normal expected range with other oils used eg Mobil 1 5w-50 or Shell Helix 5w-40.

BTW your crystal ball is able to see in the past and able to analyse what you have not seen.

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: virginoil

Redline is usually high silicon compared to other oils, regardless of its silicon content, the Redline IMO view was the problem in respect to the weeps.

Silicon content within normal expected range with other oils used eg Mobil 1 5w-50 or Shell Helix 5w-40.

BTW your crystal ball is able to see in the past and able to analyse what you have not seen.


Red Line has some Si in it but not enough for Si to read "high" (your words, not mine). If it was "high" then Red Line wasn't the issue for the wear, but probably the seeping. Red Line is also crazy thick. If you didn't go down a step or two viscosity wise, maybe something was starving for oil?

 

[virginoil]

Originally Posted By: badtlc
Originally Posted By: virginoil

Redline is usually high silicon compared to other oils, regardless of its silicon content, the Redline IMO view was the problem in respect to the weeps.

Silicon content within normal expected range with other oils used eg Mobil 1 5w-50 or Shell Helix 5w-40.

BTW your crystal ball is able to see in the past and able to analyse what you have not seen.


Red Line has some Si in it but not enough for Si to read "high" (your words, not mine). If it was "high" then Red Line wasn't the issue for the wear, but probably the seeping. Red Line is also crazy thick. If you didn't go down a step or two viscosity wise, maybe something was starving for oil?


Redline always had high readings for soft metals in GM engines. The higher silicon VOA compared to other oils was another factor to move away from Redline.

All the claims Redline made in their truck load of technical literature about (POE PAO etc) not shearing reducing consumption etc was not so in my case as my engine used the same amount of Redline 10w-40 as it did with other oils.

No longer a fan of this stuff after this. Anyway enuf said, I leave it to the audience to test out ie those that do not believe, cost is not an issue etc.

My test in 1999/2000 for 2 x OCIs approx cost for 11 quarts of Redline oil $154 (including top-up oil at $14 / L AUD trade sale price), should have stuck to Mobil 1 comparative cost of around $90 for 11 litres of 5w-50 grade.

 

[JSRT4]

^ I used to think there was something going on with soft metals and Redline used in Hondas a few years back, but that seems to have gone away as far as I know. If it was still a concern I wouldn't use the oil.