Author Topic: Oil & Cold Starts - Good Advice from Opie Oils  (Read 7824 times)

Offline oilman

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Oil & Cold Starts - Good Advice from Opie Oils
« on: 18 November 2010, 16:28 »
At this time of year, it’s beneficial to use an oil that has good cold start flow properties as it will get to the parts of the engine that need it far more quickly when you turn the key on those sub zero mornings.

The "w" number which means winter is the key here and the lower it is the better cold start performance the oil will have.

A 15w or 20w rated oil will struggle to get around the engine in very cold temps and we would strongly recommend using a 10w, 5w or 0w for better cold start performance.

It is a fact that around 90% of all engine wear occurs on cold start because the oil is at its thickest. The colder it gets the thicker the oil becomes and this affects the rate of flow which affects the rate of wear.

These numbers help to explain the oils thickness and therefore cold flow performance at various temperatures.

Grade.................At 0C.................At 10C..............At 100C

0W/20.............328.6cSt...............180.8cSt............9cSt

5W/40.............811.4cSt...............421.4cSt............14cSt

10W/50............1039cSt...............538.9cSt............18cSt

15W/50.............1376cSt..............674.7cSt............18cSt

20W/50.............2305cSt...............1015cSt............18cSt

Centistokes (cst) is the measure of a fluid's resistance to flow (viscosity). It is calculated in terms of the time required for a standard quantity of fluid at a certain temperature to flow through a standard orifice. The higher the value, the thicker the oil.

Winters in the UK are fortunately not too cold but, below zero temperatures are regular features in some parts of the country.

Compare the thickness of the oil at 0degC and 100degC and you will see the big difference.

Just something to consider on those frosty mornings.

The Opieoils Team.
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Offline sharki786

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Re: Oil & Cold Starts - Good Advice from Opie Oils
« Reply #1 on: 18 November 2010, 23:16 »
nice one mate.

i have that prob with mine in mornings. when i start my car in the morning the top nocks for a little while then it goes away. at the moment i am using 10w 40. i was told that i should not go lower then 10w 40 but instead go higher. so main thing is. my topend has been rebuilt. its due for it oil change. what would you recomend? i thought that if i used anythign below 10w 40 e.g 5w 40 the oil is very thin and in summer time the oil will get thinner and then you can hear all of the engine noise?

the milage was 118k when rebuild now stands at 125k what do you recomend?

Thank you for your help

p.s i dont like to be risky as i always end up forking out more
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Offline Khare

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Re: Oil & Cold Starts - Good Advice from Opie Oils
« Reply #2 on: 18 November 2010, 23:41 »
Thinner oil is for turbo cars or high performance vehicles.

An ABF runs best with 10w-40. If it knocks then that's an issue apart.

Offline sharki786

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Re: Oil & Cold Starts - Good Advice from Opie Oils
« Reply #3 on: 19 November 2010, 00:53 »
its an agg 8v gti. im thinking its oil problem, not getting to top end quickly. might flush it next week and see what happens
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Offline Agreeable Slick

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Re: Oil & Cold Starts - Good Advice from Opie Oils
« Reply #4 on: 19 November 2010, 08:17 »
To also ensure the life of your engine on cold mornings, it is worth investing in an oil filter with a non return valve in it. I.E. when the engine is stopped the oil will not drain from the cooling channels in the head and will reduce the tapping on cold start.

Offline oilman

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Re: Oil & Cold Starts - Good Advice from Opie Oils
« Reply #5 on: 19 November 2010, 09:57 »
The best option to try and stop the noise is an ester based 5w-40, expensive, but they are the best oils on the market.

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-656-5w-40.aspx

Out of those, the ester ones are the Fuchs/Silkolene Pro S, Millers CFS, Motul 300V, Redline and Gulf Competition. Ester oils leave a layer of oil on metal parts (like the Magnatec ads on TV show, but a whole lot better than that). So when you start the car, there is already oil in place. Also a 5w oil will get around quickly from cold, so the oil is doing what it should be as quickly as possible.

It won't be tto thin when the weather warms up, just like a 10w-40, it's a 40 when hot, so the same viscosity. Also, ester oils are very good at absorbing sound, so they should keep the engine nice and quiet.

Cheers

Tim
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Offline sharki786

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Re: Oil & Cold Starts - Good Advice from Opie Oils
« Reply #6 on: 19 November 2010, 11:39 »
To also ensure the life of your engine on cold mornings, it is worth investing in an oil filter with a non return valve in it. I.E. when the engine is stopped the oil will not drain from the cooling channels in the head and will reduce the tapping on cold start.

can i get that from gsf or carfarts?
The best option to try and stop the noise is an ester based 5w-40, expensive, but they are the best oils on the market.

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-656-5w-40.aspx

Out of those, the ester ones are the Fuchs/Silkolene Pro S, Millers CFS, Motul 300V, Redline and Gulf Competition. Ester oils leave a layer of oil on metal parts (like the Magnatec ads on TV show, but a whole lot better than that). So when you start the car, there is already oil in place. Also a 5w oil will get around quickly from cold, so the oil is doing what it should be as quickly as possible.

It won't be tto thin when the weather warms up, just like a 10w-40, it's a 40 when hot, so the same viscosity. Also, ester oils are very good at absorbing sound, so they should keep the engine nice and quiet.

Cheers

Tim

i just need semi synthetic dont i? which is best out of all of them?
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Offline sharki786

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Re: Oil & Cold Starts - Good Advice from Opie Oils
« Reply #7 on: 19 November 2010, 11:47 »
also would it be good or ok to use an engine flush? if so which is good?

p.s topend has been rebuilt just over 7k ago.
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Offline oilman

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Re: Oil & Cold Starts - Good Advice from Opie Oils
« Reply #8 on: 19 November 2010, 14:24 »
I don't think a semi will give the same results as a proper ester oil, but fresh oil may help. Fuchs XTR is a good one for the money

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-990-fuchs-titan-xtr-10w40-high-performance-semi-synthetic-engine-oil.aspx

I know GSF don't sell fuchs anymore, no idea about anyone else as I sell oil, so tend not to go looking around for it.

Cheers

Tim
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