Engine Oil
#2
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No offense,
You'd be best to research that area of info yourself and decide on what you will use.
There are more OIL DEBATE threads than the grains of sand in the Sahara and frankly none of them actually come to a conclusion.
You'd be best to research that area of info yourself and decide on what you will use.
There are more OIL DEBATE threads than the grains of sand in the Sahara and frankly none of them actually come to a conclusion.
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That's my point the searches on here are hard work and as with many forums the longer they operate the more difficult it is to find good solid opinion.
I know what oil I use but I'd like to know what others use?
I know what oil I use but I'd like to know what others use?
#5
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I have turbochargers. Turbochargers create an extreme enviroment with lots of heat. Synthetic oil has much better shear properties and tolerates high heat way better than traditional oil. That reduces coking in the turbochargers and their oil supply and return lines. My car still has the original turbos with 128k miles that don't smoke and function as designed. YRMV. My .02
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All RX-7s were produced with water-cooled bearings which reduce coking. There are many RX-7s with over 200k miles on the turbos that don't smoke and function as designed even though the owner used regular mineral oil. Synthetic oil will not make a significant difference unless the car is operated under extreme conditions or if the original turbo(s) were replaced with a cheapie dry bearing turbo. If you do feel a need for synthetic oil, be sure to do your homework as many of them are not truly synthetic.
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I have turbochargers. Turbochargers create an extreme enviroment with lots of heat. Synthetic oil has much better shear properties and tolerates high heat way better than traditional oil. That reduces coking in the turbochargers and their oil supply and return lines. My car still has the original turbos with 128k miles that don't smoke and function as designed. YRMV. My .02
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So was the full synthetic oil or semi synthetic? and what grade
#13
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Feeling the need. This is after all, the fun car. And switched to, IIRC, a group IV not all that long ago.
Last edited by Sgtblue; 09-15-16 at 07:03 AM.
#18
I think Castrol GTX 20-50 (white bottle) is the best conventional to use. I wouldn't use synthetic stuff unless I had just finished breaking in a freshly rebuilt motor.
It all comes down to personal preference and previous experience for oil, I think.
It all comes down to personal preference and previous experience for oil, I think.
#20
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I also use GTX, and it's good for 3-5k miles on the street. If your plugs don't last at least 10k miles then there is something very wrong with your engine or you are using the wrong plugs.
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I have run a couple of different weights of oil and mineral and synthetic in the rx7. Yes I fell into the hype at first.
This is what I found out over time.
I went with the recommended weight of 10W-30 and 20W-50 in the summer. the 20w-50 seemed too thick (the car had to warm up some to idle smoother and oil pressures were very high) so I was switching between 15W-50 synthetic (summer) and 10W-30 (winterish).
After a lot more research and combining my own logic I ended up running a synthetic 5W-30 oil and this is what I will be running for the rest of my life in my rx7.
Viscosity of the oil depends on the temperature of the oil, and lower temps need thinner oils, once the car reaches operating temp for the oil you want the pressure to be 60-70PSI to redline, you choose the thinnest viscosity oil that can get you there. thinner is better in terms of cooling the engine and bearing protection (higher flow). I am running low pressure drop 25 row oil coolers ducted and the temps stay very cool for my engine as its a street car. Most wear comes from cold start and that is why I chose the 5W-30 oil (thinner at colder temps). I chose synthetic oil as rotaries run a little hotter and we have turbo's and such. Synthetics are made to this exact spec and mineral oils "dope" additives to make the oil behave a certain way with temp, over time those additives reduce and the oil becomes more of a straight weight, quicker if they see higher loads.
BW also recommends synthetics, as they keep their properties. I am running 2 cycle through the oil metering pump so I am not injecting anything into the engine.
I had dug into oil filters as well. I chose denso oil filters for the flow over filtration. there is a big debate about this but I say flow is more important than filtration. Honda oil filters flow well. so They also agree with the flow category. Bosch Premium filters are probably the best bang for the buck for filtration and flow as they are in the middle of the road for flow and filter very well and what I run on my regular daily driven cars which are Honda's.
This is what I found out over time.
I went with the recommended weight of 10W-30 and 20W-50 in the summer. the 20w-50 seemed too thick (the car had to warm up some to idle smoother and oil pressures were very high) so I was switching between 15W-50 synthetic (summer) and 10W-30 (winterish).
After a lot more research and combining my own logic I ended up running a synthetic 5W-30 oil and this is what I will be running for the rest of my life in my rx7.
Viscosity of the oil depends on the temperature of the oil, and lower temps need thinner oils, once the car reaches operating temp for the oil you want the pressure to be 60-70PSI to redline, you choose the thinnest viscosity oil that can get you there. thinner is better in terms of cooling the engine and bearing protection (higher flow). I am running low pressure drop 25 row oil coolers ducted and the temps stay very cool for my engine as its a street car. Most wear comes from cold start and that is why I chose the 5W-30 oil (thinner at colder temps). I chose synthetic oil as rotaries run a little hotter and we have turbo's and such. Synthetics are made to this exact spec and mineral oils "dope" additives to make the oil behave a certain way with temp, over time those additives reduce and the oil becomes more of a straight weight, quicker if they see higher loads.
BW also recommends synthetics, as they keep their properties. I am running 2 cycle through the oil metering pump so I am not injecting anything into the engine.
I had dug into oil filters as well. I chose denso oil filters for the flow over filtration. there is a big debate about this but I say flow is more important than filtration. Honda oil filters flow well. so They also agree with the flow category. Bosch Premium filters are probably the best bang for the buck for filtration and flow as they are in the middle of the road for flow and filter very well and what I run on my regular daily driven cars which are Honda's.
#25
Rotary Freak
If we're talking about filters too, what exactly is wrong with Fram?
I am currently using a Fram and it seems okay. I have an extra one too, but it says that it has some kind of a "high mileage engine" additive in it, and I haven't any interest putting that into my oil without knowing exactly what it does.
Castrol GTX by the way, only because it is cheap and available anywhere. Synthetic might be better, I wouldn't know because there aren't any high-quality ones sold near me so I haven't tried it.
I am currently using a Fram and it seems okay. I have an extra one too, but it says that it has some kind of a "high mileage engine" additive in it, and I haven't any interest putting that into my oil without knowing exactly what it does.
Castrol GTX by the way, only because it is cheap and available anywhere. Synthetic might be better, I wouldn't know because there aren't any high-quality ones sold near me so I haven't tried it.