High Milage oils in Australia

[dirtydannyd]

Heya peeps.
As the heading suggests, i'm looking for a high milage oil in Australia.
Car is a 2001 Audi A4 2.0 NA. 170,000km on the clock.
Consumes about 1 litre per 1000 - 1500 km.
I've gone to Supercheap and as far as HM oils go they just have Valvoline 20W-50 and Shell HM 15W-50 (ghe Shell has AECA A3 B3 on the bottle).
Guy said that all HM oils are very thick. I can use any oil and put the Nulon oil burning additive in and it's the same as a HM oil. But on the Mobil website there are 10W-40 HM oils.
Wondering if they are available in Australia.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Can you get Pennzoil and Valvoline hm oils there? From what I've read here everyone has the best luck with these.

 

[Shannow]

There's nothing really marketted down here as a high mileage oil.

Funny that Americans will refute the start-up/magnatec, but get on board to high mile oils en masse...there's something about paying money to be frugal maybe.

Re the Nulon, I DID see teflon additives in the 80s seriously reduce oil consumption. PMT in parent's Renault, Nulon E10 in a Falcon...I don't think they will help here.

I did 5 minute survey today when I took 12 gallons of oil to the recycling place today...all but one of the engine oil jugs was either 10W40 Castrol Magnatec, 15W40 GTX, 15W40 XLD, or 15W40 engine armour.

aquariuscsm...nah, Pennzoil doesn't show downunder.

 

[SR5]

Castrol make a GTX HighMilage 15W-50 and Valvoline MaxLife 20W-50 is another local HM oil.

My old Audi used a lot of oil too. Not much leaked out, so mostly burnt in the engine. I used Penrite HPR 30 (20W-60, A3/B3) and consumption reduced a lot, much more than all the rest.

Those light HM oils from North America, I've never seen them here. They don't seem that thick to me, mostly seal conditioners for leaks.

If your car is leaking, try HM MaxLife or HM GTX.
If your car is burning (like mine was) try the Penrite. It's not sold as a HM oil, but it has always done the job for me.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: dirtydannyd

Guy said that all HM oils are very thick.


Can't be any thicker than the rating for the particular grade... Yeah it may be lightly thicker than std oils but not that 99.999% would know the difference(at least in real world)...

 

[Atesz792]

Why not try some Penrite "Stops Oil Burning" 30-70?
Sounds so exotic to me, I'd probably try it in an oil burner in summer.

 

[SR5]

Originally Posted By: Atesz792
Why not try some Penrite "Stops Oil Burning" 30-70?
Sounds so exotic to me, I'd probably try it in an oil burner in summer.


If you like the sound of Stops-Oil-Burning, you also may like a can of SYB, as featured in the humor section, even though it's a serious product

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3927474

OP, have a close look at the Penrite HPR range
http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products-categ.php?id_categ=1&id_brand=1

There is light stuff, but at the heavy end consider
HPR 15 full synthetic 15W-60 that is A3/B4
HPR 30 mineral 20W-60 that is A3/B3

I've have always been sorted out by one of the above two for oil burning in regular cars.

However, if you need to get serious, you also have
HPR 40 mineral 25W-70
HPR 50 mineral 40-70 (no W rating for this sucker).
These last two have a lower TBN than the rest, probably on the assumption you are always topping up with fresh stuff.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: dirtydannyd
Guy said that all HM oils are very thick.

If you're comparing an ILSAC conventional to a non-ILSAC high mileage of the same viscosity, you might have something with a higher HTHS. If they're both ILSAC oils, or both A3/B3 A3/B4, I bet there won't be much difference.

 

[SR5]

Originally Posted By: Shannow

I did 5 minute survey today when I took 12 gallons of oil to the recycling place today...all but one of the engine oil jugs was either 10W40 Castrol Magnatec, 15W40 GTX, 15W40 XLD, or 15W40 engine armour.


Interesting observation Shannow, Australia has become a 40 Wt nation.

Either 15W40 mineral oil as Valvoline XLD or Castrol GTX

Or 10W40 semi-synthetic as Castrol Magnatec or Valvoline Engine Armour.

Those 4 would be the biggest movers in the country, from 4 cylinder buzz box to big V8's

For those local people interested, GTX 15W40 is 50% off at Repco. I've posted more details in the Specials section
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3929704

 

[SR5]

Yep, just checked, Valvoline Engine Armour comes in two 40 Wt flavors, 10W40 or 15W40. Seems most prefer the heavier one.

I hear they even make an ILSAC 10W30 !
All semi-synthetic.

 

[SR5]

OP, I just noticed that my local Coles supermarket has Shell Helix HX7 15W-50, it's a semi-synthetic, high milage oil, that is API SN and ACEA A3/B4.

All our local HM oils appear to be 15W-50 (GTX or HX7) or 20W-50 (MaxLife).

The GTX mineral oil is API SL
The Valvoline MaxLife is also a semi-synthetic ACEA A3/B4 oil.

All these HM oils claim to have seal conditioners to help control leaks, and extra anti-wear additives.

Maybe the HX7 is closest to what you want.

 

[dirtydannyd]

Thanks for the reply guys.

SR5, thanks for the headsup about Penrite. I was thinking of trying the HPR15. As for the HPR30 I really thought that a xW-60 would be way too heavy (let alone a 40-70!). Really, wouldn't those be crazy thick for the engine?

When I said "guy said HM oils are very thick" I didn't mean that they're thicker than their stated viscosity. I meant that there don't seem to be any 10W-40 HM oils. They're all 15W-50 and beyond.

I think I might try the Shell Helix HX7 High Milage 15W-50 (sold in Supercheap Auto) as it's an ACEA A3/B4 so I can stick to the standard 15,000 km service interval and it should have seal conditioners to hopefully help usage.

Given that the VW502 spec oils seem to range from 0W-30 to 5W-40, my thinking was that a 15W-50 and above would be too high viscosity for the engine. It doesn't get that cold in Melbourne (maybe 5 deg C on cold winter mornings). So by taking it really easy on cold startups would you say it's ok?

 

[SR5]

Hi dirtydd,

Yes I would try either the Shell Helix HX7 HM 15W-50 A3/B4 semi-synthetic, or the Penrite HPR series.

The HPR 15 is a full synthetic 15W-60, A3/B4, VW 502.00/505.00

The HPR 10 is a full synthetic 10W-50, A3/B4, VW 500.00/502.00/505.00

The HPR 5 is a full synthetic 5W-40, A3/B4, VW 502.00/505.00

What oil is it using right now?
Is it burning oil or dripping oil?

If it was anything like my old Audi 90, it's burning oil, but not blowing smoke, just disappearing. No Drips.

I would guess you are using a 5W-30 or a 0W-40 right now, so try the HPR 5 or the HPR 10. Just go up in viscosity from where your are now. I would use the HPR 10 myself, as a starting point, and see how things go.

The HPR 10 (10W-50) should be fine in Melbourne on a chilly 5 degC morning. A 10W oil should be good to 0F or -18degC. No worries.

 

[dirtydannyd]

Originally Posted By: SR5

What oil is it using right now?
Is it burning oil or dripping oil?

If it was anything like my old Audi 90, it's burning oil, but not blowing smoke, just disappearing. No Drips.


Yes spot on. Exactly. No drips. No visible leaks from engine. No smoke either.

I used Mobil 1 0w-40, castrol edge 5w-40 and currently shell helix ultra 5w-40. All vw502 spec. All consumed roughly the same amount. I'm currently topping it off with Delo 400 15w-40 because i have a lot of it (for my dirtbike and track bike) and i don't want to go out and buy another jug of the really expensive stuff as it just drinks it.

I think i will go straight for the shell hx7 hm 15w-50 as it's thicker than current oil and has seal conditioners.

Still about 10,000 km off my next oil change so will be a little while before i can report back.

 

[SR5]

Sounds like a plan. Give the HX7 a go, if that doesn't work try the HPR 15.

I tried HX7 in my Audi, it was OK. The HPR 30 however gave it a right slapping, and I could go the whole OCI with only one top up. My car was older than yours, so your plan is good.

Don't forget to report back.

 

[supercity]

I would try Magnatec Diesel 15w40 - Properly meets A3/B4, high HTHS, low NOACK. 10L for $55 on special is not too bad.

 

[FCD]

I'm pretty sure in Oz you can buy Shell Helix 3 25w60 which is for engines with very loose tolerances

 

[toyota62]

G l lubricant sell Mobil high mileage 5w-30

 

[Jake777]

i have to ask you all. So many of you are talking about 40wt or 60wt oils. My cars are all specked to 20 or 30 wt. I have to ask is it really all about fuel requirements that us Americans have to run 20 or 30 wt? Are the vehicles you run there really built differently so they take thicker oil?

 

[SR5]

Hi Jake777,

Australia has a small population by world standards, I'm sure imported cars from Honda, Audi, etc are not special models just made for our local market. That would be uneconomical. Apart from obvious legal requirements like right hand drive.

Ford, GM Holden, etc do make some cars here (for the time being) but other models like the GM Malibu or Jeep Patriot are directly imported.

In the USA, I believe the Jeep Patriot ( 2.4L DOHC dual-VVT 16valve with a 6 speed auto) takes something like 5W-20, but in OZ I was speaking to the Jeep dealer earlier this year and he told me "The patriot takes 5W-40, the brand we use is mopar oil"

I think the governments of various countries like to encourage people to be green and use less resources, but they go about it in different ways. In the USA I believe they like low petrol (gas) prices but they encourage car fuel economy via CAFE rules. In Australia we don't have CAFE laws, but we have a very high tax on petrol to encourage people to use less fuel.

In Australia there is less direct federal government pressure on the car companies to lower fuel consumption, rather the pressure is on the consumer via fuel prices. Of course this make economical cars more desirable to the average consumer. But I also think it allows the manufacturer to base their oil recommendation more on engineer advice and less on corporate taxation advice. I hear the USA has a "gas guzzler tax" and Corporate Average Fuel Economy" standards etc.