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147 2.0TS - Fully Synthetic Oil

12K views 53 replies 23 participants last post by  J2 GTV 
#1 ·
Hi...
I've searched posts relating to oil to be used on the alfa 147 2.0TS.

Unfortunately i'm just getting more confused. I have a simple question, please help.

Should i only use fully synthetic oil on my 147 2.0TS, if not what other oil can i use?
 
#2 ·
You can use any good quality 10w-40 semi synthetic in your car. I have been using texaco Havoline extra. (£13.50 for 5 L at Asda).

You can also use a 5w-40 fully synthetic if your wallet allows which will give your engine a bit more protection during cold starts.

If you live in a desert or other very hot area or race the car on a track a 10W-60 fully synthetic will be for you.

Check whatever oil you buy is approved to API-SL or API-SM specification as these are the latest ones.
 
#3 ·
Yes. Selenia Racing 10W/60- 4.4 litres.Unfortunately it only seems to be stocked in 2 litre tins at my nearest dealer,so initially you need 3 tins at around £16 a throw!If your car is still under warranty like ours,I'd stick to the Alfa recommendation.I used Halfords (Comma,I think)5W/40 fully synthetic for 72000 miles in my 156 2.0 with absolutely no problems but that was the early 155 bhp 2.0 engine with slightly different spec.
 
#4 ·
Should i only use fully synthetic oil on my 147 2.0TS, if not what other oil can i use?
You don't have to.

Minimum grade is a Semi-Synthetic 10w40.

If you drive hard, you may get better protection and les oil consumption using a fully synth.
As the guys above say, Alfa recommend Selenia 10W60 for hard driving.

In the real world, any good semi or fully synth of 10w40 to to 10w60 will do the trick, more important is to check and top up weekly and to change the oil and filter (in my opinion) every six months.
 
G
#7 ·
"I did a bit of shopping around and found a 0w-40 Synthetic oil. I take it that this is good right?

Have you read the cars handbook?...Just use what it says there. There is absolutely no point at all in putting expensive 0w-40 synthetic oil in unless you like spending money for no good reason.

Just re-read what Norbert said.....and obey!!!!

Sorry if I sound irritated, but you asked for advice..got given excellent advice, and now come back with a red herring. And IMHO its not good right..its bad wrong.

AlfaLincs
 
#18 ·
Hi AlfaLincs, I read through the Handbook :) and unfortunately Selenia is not available locally. I had asked the Alfa dealership and they suggested Shell Fullsynthetic, which is very expensive. Infact it's the most expensive Engine oil i've come across, hence i asked for help. The Mobile 0w40 is suprisingly reletively cheap, costing half of what the Shell Fullsynthetic costs.

Engine Oils seems to be quite a heated topic and from the posts before i've decided to go with Castrol 10w40 Semi-Synthetic, costing less then half of the Shell Fullsynthetic. Will let you know of my expiriences with it.

Thanks everyone for your assistance. ;)
 
#9 ·
0w-40 will be fine. It is the same thickness (Or viscosity) at 100ºC as a 10w-40.

It does however have better flow when cold hence the 0 rating at 0ºC so therefore will protect your engine better on a cold start. Especially if you live in a cold climate.

It cannot possibly be too thin, as it will still be thicker when it is cold than when it is hot.
 
#10 ·
Have to disagree with that I'm afraid Symonh:(: The Spec for my Turboed 16v was as the TS, 10/40. I tried the 0 rated synthetic, and as my number of previous posts stated, it didn' like it one bit.:(: So, back to 10/40 in the Turbo, and I have stuck with this semi-synthetic grade for the TS.However, if it satisfies some folk, fair enough.:):
 
#11 ·
I disagree with Symonh as well. When I tried Mobil 1 0W/40 the engine sounded incredibly 'hammery' - to the extent that it sounded as if it was causing itself damage - and it used oil like you wouldn't believe. With 10W/40 I was averaging about 1ltr/1500miles whereas 0W/40 was something like 1ltre/500miles before I quickly switched back. It's simply too thin.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Unless you've stripped the engine, examined all the parts and compared it with it an engine run on 10W/40 for the same mileage during the same conditions, it's impossible to conclude that 0W40 "will be fine." As for the "Oilman", for all his talks of "esters", he's no chemical engineer is he? He's just some guy who posts on practically every single car forum on the internet trying to sell his expensive oils. I'd rather follow the manufacturers recommendations who have tested their own engines over millions of miles with vastly superior engineering and R&D backup rather than an "Oilman" who hasn't.
 
#14 ·
If you stripped the engine after a given time you would probably find there would be less wear. 0w will protect better on a cold start and this is where 80% of engine wear occurs.

Also Mobil would not have spent millions developing the oil if it wasn't going to be suitable for the job. It is specifically designed to give the protection of a SAE 40 oil when hot as well as the cold start fluidity of a thinner oil. If the oil wasn't any good it would ruin their reputation.

I wouldn't trust Alfa's recommendations as gospel either, I seem to recall them recommending changing the cambelt every 72K miles... :rolleyes:
 
#17 ·
I used to use Mobil 1 0W40 - the car drank it, and later on Mobil 1 5W50 (normal Mobil 1 in France/Portugal) which was slightly better. I am presently using Mobil 1 15W50 (which is available from Halfords) and am getting far more miles/litre and my variator is making less noise. When my present stock runs out I will probably change to the recommended for hard driving Selenia Racing 10W60 which is available for £37.46 for 5 litres + £8 carriage from Shop4Parts. At this price the Selenia racing is just slightly more than Mobil 1.
I tried Mobil 1 0W40 because this is what I had used on my previous 3 cars with excellent results, but the 2 litre Twin Spark does not like it, I would recommend that you do not use it.
 
#20 ·
Ha ha, to revive this thread and cause some more disagreement :D


symonh2000 is right that a 0Wxx rated oil will not be too thin.
I don't know how any of you lot can think it will be 'too thin'. Just to clarify, I think you mean when operating normally. If you look on the Mobil website, you will see the viscosity is about 14cSt at 100°C (10°C off normal operating temperature). If you compare this to any other xW40 rated oil, you will find that they also have a viscosity in the 13-15cSt range (cSt stands for centi-strokes and is the measure of viscosity if you use the test specified in the SAE standard - which all engine oils do). So to say the oil is too thin is cobblers.

You may find that the engine oil lubricates just too well (although I would love to know how)? A friend of mine is very into racing pre 80's trials bikes, and some of the engines he uses must use a mineral oil because the synthetics oils are that 'good' they cause bearing skidding, rather than protection by allowing the bearing to roll.

What you may also find is that the 0W part of the rating (i.e. the bit when the oil is cold) is too thin. I have this problem with the Volvo, because when the car is cold, the oil is that much thinner (than, say 10W40) and it leaks due to worn engine seals. This gives the impression on my car that the oil consumption is high, when infact, my car is just loosing the oil due to worn engine seals (these will be replaced in the next few weeks, and when the synthetic 0W40 oils still get used at a rate of knots, I will eat my words :cry: )

On thing is for sure though, the rating at the beginning should be as low as possible to give the best cold-start protection.
They don't bother with this on really high end racing engines, as hot oil/pre-heating the oil is used before start because a higher viscosity grade is needed. Because you can't get really big gaps in the ratings (e.g. 0W60 does not exist) the oil is too thick at low temperatures to provide adequate protection. The reason a high rated oil (e.g.60) would be used is because the engine would be operating at a higher temperature (e.g. 105°C) than a normal road car. The high viscosity oil would be chosen to MATCH the viscosity of oil the engine would need at 90°C (normal) so for example, if the viscosity required at 90°C was 20cSt, then the same engine at 105°C would need a more viscous oil to also provide a viscosity of 20cSt at the higher temperature. This way the fluid flow rates will be the same.

Unless you always thrash the knackers off you 2.0 TS, I would doubt a 10W60 is the best choice (too thick at 90°C i.e. the temperature of YOUR engine) - but this is only a guess, and if Alfa say otherwise, don't listen to me :lol:
 
#22 ·
I started using mobile semi synthectic from halfords, and it made hell of a difference in performance, mind you it is a performance oil! It still uses about the same amount of oil as gtx magnotec though. I think I'd like to try a 10w 60 next though as I find my car uses a quite a bit of oil. Another thing is I get really low temps were I live, so which would be better?
 
#23 ·
If you need cold start protection and have oil consumption issues a 5w-50 fully synthetic would be a good choice, and within spec for the engine.
 
#25 ·
I have stopped using that now, as my local Gulf Garage (Yarnton) sells 5w-40 fully synthetic Formula G at £15.99 for 4 litres. It is the latest API SM, and ACEA A3 /B3 / B4 specs.
 
#27 ·
Thats the thing, these oil threads do rattle on and opinions vary, but if you look up oil info on the internet the fact are there.

Oil and tyre threads always seem to bring up more heated debates than most other things.
 
#28 · (Edited)
It's hilarious isn't it.


Good posts to get involved with after a few beers of an evening :cheese:



The moral of the story:
Don't listen to what someone tells you (when they may (or may not:rolleyes: ) have an agenda to sell) but instead, just do a quick bit of research on that big wide web thingy, and all is revealed. Amazing :rolleyes:


Plus, surely doing a seach on this forum for info on what oil to use will pull up in the region of 20,000 individual threads, all saying something similar. No need to start another one.....






....not unless you start these oil threads as a sport :eek: :thumbs:
 
#30 ·
The fully synthetic is better. It will flow better when cold and is still the correct grade when hot.

Simon.
 
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