CMC Forum on Oils & Fuels
Monday, 26th October 2009
The Castrol Hot-Line number is 1300 557 998.
COUNCIL OF MOTOR CLUBS
FORUM TWO / 2009 - OILS
Held at the Western Suburbs Australian Football Club
26TH October 2009
President, K. Toovey welcomed delegates and club members to the meeting.
DATE: 26th October 2009 TIME: 7:30 pm
IN THE CHAIR: K. Toovey, President
ATTENDEES: 76 Delegates and members attended.
K. Toovey welcomed delegates and members to the forum and advised that Joe Tiberti of the Ex Military Vehicle Collectors, and Keith Kellum, ?? of the Hudson Club, had passed away. A card for Joe Tiberti's family was provided for members to sign.
K. Toovey handed the meeting to T. De Luca, who introduced the guest speaker, Mr Tony Bolous of Castrol.
Mr Bolous addressed members and gave a brief overview of his credentials and experience within the field, explaining that his background is in motor mechanics, not chemistry.
Tony is also a volunteer for Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol vessel on weekends.
He advised the meeting that he was happy to field questions from the floor during and after the presentation.
Tony advised members that Castrol has an excellent website and phone hot-line, which have been set up to benefit the motoring public. A panel of experts man the hot-line and can offer advice on oils for all types of vehicles, including, vintage and veteran motor vehicles, as well as modern.
The website is at www.castrol.com.au. The phone hot-line number is 1300 557 998
Tony then proceeded with a Powerpoint presentation, which outlined the meaning of the letters and numbers displayed on oil products.
A hard copy of this presentation will be available at the November AGM.
In summary main points to come out of the Forum were:
Don't use additives. There is a modern oil to suit every vehicle.
Castrol has a type oil for any car on the road. Oils, which are no longer in production, would have a modern equivalent. Older oils have been replaced with a more efficient product. All modern oils have a detergent dispersant pack.
Workshops can no longer run just 2 oils, the must now use in excess of 2 engine oils.
80% is base oil 20% is add pack.
If you use supplementary additives in you will void the warranty on your car.
The engine design controls the amount of oil in the sump to run between 92o-110o, the point at which oil reaches its optimum level of protection. At 100o C all systems are in line to protect the engine. It takes approximately 15kms of constant running for the sump to reach 100o.
Oil Nitrates in cars which run shorter trips, which means the oils needs to be changed more often.
If your car is burning a lot of oil, using thicker oil may not fix the problem. Some models will burn more oil if thicker oil is being used and can, in fact, exacerbate the problem. Monograde oils will be thicker at cold start than Multigrade.
Multigrade oils can be better for cold-crank starts in older cars. Older cars need to change oils more frequently. 1 litre of oil burnt generates 1 litre of water.
Always check the manufacturer's specifications for the correct type of oil to use in your vehicle.
The kms noted in the manufacturers' specifications is the maximum you should do between oil changes.
Current Specifications are available on the Castrol website. Some salient points of note are:
SM = was introduced in 2004 and meets the specifications on all U.S. vehicles.
All oils are backward compatible.
Don't use low SAP products in older cars. It's better to put detergent oil in older cars and when swapping brands, shorten the time between changes for a couple of changes.
CJ4 = is a heavy-duty Diesel oil low-SAP product designed for heavy-duty trucks. The air now coming from diesel engines is cleaner than that, which is going in, with virtually nil carbon monoxide emissions.
Japanese engines produce smaller particles than the U.S. due to piston designs.
Changes in filter technology are keeping pace with new oil production.
Castrol are currently developing OW20 oil to suit new Japanese cars; one oil worldwide.
Group 1 - base oil ( basic mineral oil) has not been used by Castrol for its Multigrade engine oils for 5 years,
Group 2 - Hybrid Mineral oil (mildly hydro-cracked molecules are reshaped to slow down thickening oil under duress). All oils are now based under Group 2. Group 1 is now mainly used for 2-stroke engines.
Group 3 - Full hydro-cracked - now synthetic oils.
Group 4 - Synthetic, chemically enhanced mineral oil molecules.
Magnatec 10W30 is part synthetic; 5W40 are all Group 3 oils; 10W40 are the same as 10W30.
Everything beyond CF is now obsolete although it is still used by the Japanese.
RX Super is CI-4is not suitable for use in some light trucks and will eventually damage the DPF.
Plan oil changes around the manufacturer's specifications and follow the manufacturer's recommendations regarding regular servicing.
Modern cars should change oil every 6 - 12 months.
Castrol does not recommend flushing in cars as it can cause flaking of carbon, which in turn can cause bearing problems. It is better for older cars to remove the pan and drain it!!
It is better to change the oil, take the car for a long run and then change the oil again to clean it out.
The shelf life of sealed oil containers is 5 years if kept out of the light. After that time the Ad Pack may start to drop out. If the seal is broken and then resealed properly, the same period of time will apply.
It is a good idea to roll the drum every now and then.
K. Toovey asked for questions relevant to older vehicles, specifically those for vehicles represented by the delegates to the Forum.
The meeting broke for 20 minutes at 9pm
T. Boulos took questions from the floor. The following are the replies to the questions asked.
- ACEA Specifications are "revamped" every 2 years at a cost of $400,000 per test, per oil.
- Most special oils can be purchased from Castrol.
- Catalyst compatible oils: Do not use low SAP oil in older vehicles. Look for ACEA C1/C2/C3 on the pack.
- 80% of Castrol oils are blended in Australia. Fully imported products come from Germany, England and Singapore. Wherever the greatest need applies for a particular blend, is where the oil is blended. If less than 10,000 litres of a particular, blended oil is required for Australia, it is fully imported. Any requirement over 10,000 litres is blended here.
- Australia exports oil to New Zealand.
- Oil rating for V8 race cars is a specific product, which has many variables and is built for each individual car and the prevailing conditions. There are specific oils for motor sport. Oils developed for motor racing usually filter down for general use.
- Different chemistry is applied for oils used in motorcycles than for that used in cars.
- 20W50 is best for old military vehicles.
- Old Minis should use 20W50, GTX 2.
- Australian formulation is different from the USA.
- Australian Ad Packs are one of the best in the world.
- Power Steering oils are available at spare parts outlets.
- Old steering box use EPL00.
Please contact the CMC via our website (Contact Us) if you would like a copy of the Powerpoint presentation used at the Forum .
The meeting closed at 10:30pm