Micra K12 engine oil

If that's true, the dipstick level should rise. Since for most people this doesn't happen, your theory is off.
Only if the "mayonnaise" thus formed, is below the level of the oil in the sump. Usually, it's in the top of the engine, so it doesn't affect oil level on the dipstick.
 
I use and like Castrol EDGE 5W-30 LL. But, castrol does not recommend this oil for a micra k12. The following is the nissan oil spec for the car. Anyone knows why I shouldn't use the LL oil? Castrol recommends edge 5w40 instead. I want to harmonise the oil for the couple of cars I am playing with.

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How many miles does the engine have on it? As others have said, 5w30 is a bit thinner than the 40 when hot. Personally, I'd use the thicker stuff unless the European engine was specifically designed for it, and if the engine is fairly worn, I'd use the thicker stuff anyway. However, it's really down to how much you want another fraction of a mile per gallon from the thin stuff, compared to how much you want your engine to last a long time.
 
I use and like Castrol EDGE 5W-30 LL. But, castrol does not recommend this oil for a micra k12. The following is the nissan oil spec for the car. Anyone knows why I shouldn't use the LL oil? Castrol recommends edge 5w40 instead. I want to harmonise the oil for the couple of cars I am playing with.

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How many miles does the engine have on it? As others have said, 5w30 is a bit thinner than the 40 when hot. Personally, I'd use the thicker stuff unless the European engine was specifically designed for it, and if the engine is fairly worn, I'd use the thicker stuff anyway. However, it's really down to how much you want another fraction of a mile per gallon from the thin stuff, compared to how much you want your engine to last a long time.
 
Only if the "mayonnaise" thus formed, is below the level of the oil in the sump. Usually, it's in the top of the engine, so it doesn't affect oil level on the dipstick.

No such thing in my 10 year oil interval 130k-miles engine. The drained oil is black, pure black with no lumps. The viscosity is somewhat thickish and the final drain drips would never end. Might work if I leave it draining for a couple of days.

Anyway, it turns out there are a lot of BS in oils. For the same oil name and 0w00, the oil spec changes over time. The only guaranteed spec you have is what is actually printed on the bottle. The identical looking bottles can have different specs on them, depending on what years and location of manufacture. The oil I need is ACEA A3/B4. The latest Castrol Edge 5w30 and 5w40 are ACEA C3. C3 is slightly worst for petrol engines with weaker endurance. But, for low mileage/duty cars, it won't matter.

I have used the thinner 5w30 (although with correct spec) with no problems. The engine will last because it is low mileage driven - not low mileage in total. I briefly tried mobile one 0w40 long ago. I did not like it. It made my engine sounded like marbles in tin can. The micra is low mileage in total.
 
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If running bangers they tend to burn and leak a bit anyway, so "10 year old" oil is probably like triggers broom and the filter will bypass when blocked. My old neighbour used to run bangers - old school petrol and mechanical diesels with big miles- never changed the oil. MOTs (rust or things like brakes) usually finished them off (he didn't work on them himself so if his £50 man couldn't fix it he'd just buy a new £200 banger with a fresh MOT - a service record of any kind in living memory was a bonus). I'm sure he once took the oil I'd just drained from my Fiesta for "topping up".

Obviously modern engines a different matter.
 
I suppose 2004 is antique engine as opposed to modern. I don't care, as long as it works and gives no hassle or cost.

Like I said in my last post, engine oil is just BS. I went on ebay to get the cheapest I can find. The seller very specifically stated in red the oil is no use for bmw's. When it arrived, it's good for bmw's. I don't think the seller is being deceptive. It's just that the previous iteration of the same oil wasn't good for bmw's. Looks like they have some fresh stock. There's no guarantee old stock won't be sent out for any other orders - it's very much a lucky dip. But I am satisfied. The oil has everything I need, and fresh. Even though it doesn't mention it's good for nissan, the micra is getting it. An ACEA A3/B4 oil would be good for 15k miles. This C3 can only do 12k miles. I thought after my last oil change the oil could do more than 10 years. For this oil, I would not go more than 10 years based on a quick gut calculation.

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No such thing in my 10 year oil interval 130k-miles engine.
If there was any, it wouldn't come out with the drained oil anyway. It usually condenses on the top surfaces of the engine - cam cover, crankcase breather pipes, etc. That's not to say it is definitely present in your engine. A lot depends on usage pattern.

The drained oil is black, pure black with no lumps. The viscosity is somewhat thickish and the final drain drips would never end. Might work if I leave it draining for a couple of days.
Gosh, you don't say?! "Somewhat thickish" - and after only 10 years! Amazing...:rolleyes:

Anyway, it turns out there are a lot of BS in oils. For the same oil name and 0w00, the oil spec changes over time. The only guaranteed spec you have is what is actually printed on the bottle. The identical looking bottles can have different specs on them, depending on what years and location of manufacture. The oil I need is ACEA A3/B4. The latest Castrol Edge 5w30 and 5w40 are ACEA C3. C3 is slightly worst for petrol engines with weaker endurance. But, for low mileage/duty cars, it won't matter.
Strange that you're willing to believe what the oil manufacturer prints on the can, but not what the car manufacturer prints in the handbook?

I have used the thinner 5w30 (although with correct spec) with no problems. The engine will last because it is low mileage driven - not low mileage in total. I briefly tried mobile one 0w40 long ago. I did not like it. It made my engine sounded like marbles in tin can. The micra is low mileage in total.
You need the correct spec and the correct viscosity. You can take tens of thousands of miles off an engine's life by using a viscosity the engine was never designed to use. Sometimes, for older engines, the correct spec is no longer available, in which case, the manufacturer's service info will be updated with the next most appropriate spec to use.
 
If there was any, it wouldn't come out with the drained oil anyway. It usually condenses on the top surfaces of the engine - cam cover, crankcase breather pipes, etc. That's not to say it is definitely present in your engine. A lot depends on usage pattern.

There aren't any, anywhere. You will find it in an engine with coolant leak. My pattern was short journeys only. Now I deliberately drive longer distances. Not because of oil, but because of battery going flat.


Gosh, you don't say?! "Somewhat thickish" - and after only 10 years! Amazing...:rolleyes:

I am quite sure you said oil gets thin. Maybe, it was someone else. Anyway it was thick enough to be good oil.


Strange that you're willing to believe what the oil manufacturer prints on the can, but not what the car manufacturer prints in the handbook?

The can maker never threatened me my car will blow as often, so I believe them more. In any case, I believe more of what I can see. I saw thickish black oil and I believed.


You need the correct spec and the correct viscosity. You can take tens of thousands of miles off an engine's life by using a viscosity the engine was never designed to use. Sometimes, for older engines, the correct spec is no longer available, in which case, the manufacturer's service info will be updated with the next most appropriate spec to use.

If the engine can do 200k miles, minus 10's k miles, I would still never reach it before MOT fails the car for rust. If I have a lift, I could do something about it. As it is, the car dies, when it dies.
 
I suppose 2004 is antique engine as opposed to modern. I don't care, as long as it works and gives no hassle or cost.

Like I said in my last post, engine oil is just BS. I went on ebay to get the cheapest I can find. The seller very specifically stated in red the oil is no use for bmw's. When it arrived, it's good for bmw's. I don't think the seller is being deceptive. It's just that the previous iteration of the same oil wasn't good for bmw's. Looks like they have some fresh stock. There's no guarantee old stock won't be sent out for any other orders - it's very much a lucky dip. But I am satisfied. The oil has everything I need, and fresh. Even though it doesn't mention it's good for nissan, the micra is getting it. An ACEA A3/B4 oil would be good for 15k miles. This C3 can only do 12k miles. I thought after my last oil change the oil could do more than 10 years. For this oil, I would not go more than 10 years based on a quick gut calculation.

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Why do you assume the BS is on the oil can and not simply in the eBay seller's description? Manufacturer-specific oil specs are a growing trend, as manufacturers struggle to meet emissions requirements, give longer warranties, and longer service intervals as well. Those are three very tough requirements to reconcile. Some manufacturers will have more than one oil spec that they recommend for a particular engine, depending on whether you want fixed or variable service intervals. The idea that a particular oil is or isn't OK for all BMWs is erroneous. SOME BMWs will need a particular spec of oil, others will need a different spec of oil.
 
There aren't any, anywhere. You will find it in an engine with coolant leak. My pattern was short journeys only. Now I deliberately drive longer distances. Not because of oil, but because of battery going flat.
Depends where the coolant is leaking. If it's a radiator, it won't have anything to do with it. If it's a head gasket or cracked head where water can pass from the cooling jacket to the engine, then yes, that's one cause of it. However, it is not the only cause. I bought my current old car about a decade ago. It had been stored for at least 5 years before that. My heart sank when the seller said "...but don't worry, I've run it up for 10 minutes every week to keep the oil well circulated". Sure enough, when I got it home and took the cam covers off, it was absolutely thick with mayonnaise. I was scooping it out with Mrs. Avocet's tablespoon! It's a horrendously cruel thing to do to an engine.

I am quite sure you said oil gets thin. Maybe, it was someone else. Anyway it was thick enough to be good oil.
I said oil gets thin when the engine doesn't get hot enough for long enough to evaporate the unburned fuel out of it. Other than that, cars that have been neglected when it comes to oil changes, tend to have yucky, thick, sludgy oil. (As you have just observed). It was YOU, in the other thread, who claimed that old oil was "good stuff and gave higher MPG"...:rolleyes:

The can maker never threatened me my car will blow as often, so I believe them more. In any case, I believe more of what I can see. I saw thickish black oil and I believed.
This was about the can maker vs. the eBay seller. I didn't mention the car maker. That's something you've just brought in now, despite it having nothng to do with your previous statement. However, sicne you mention it, I still see that you're not one to believe anything that you don't want to hear...:rolleyes: The car maker won't have told you that your car will "blow". He will have told you about a specific fault that DVSA consider serious enough to warrant a recall. You, of course, are bound to know better...:rolleyes:. Obviously, if the car does suffer whatever failure they were trying to warn you about in the recall and it takes you with it, that would be poetic justice or "karma" as the kid call it. My concern, would be if it caused the death or injury of an innocent person. It's thanks to people like you that DVSA will probably go ahead their plans for making ignored recalls an MOT fail. For the rest of us, that'll just mean some extra, irritating red tape. Take a bow...

If the engine can do 200k miles, minus 10's k miles, I would still never reach it before MOT fails the car for rust.
Don't see why? I got 248,000 out of my last car before I scrapped it. I still have the engine in the shed as a spare. But hey... it's your car...:rolleyes: On the plus side, I guess if your engine seizes as a result of your chronic neglect before the rust kills it, you could always go to a scrapper and get a good engine out of a rusty one that someone hasn't neglected so badly! I pity the poor sod who goes to the scrapper and buys the engie out of your rusty one as a spare...
 
Why do you assume the BS is on the oil can and not simply in the eBay seller's description?

I did believe the seller and was expecting something less than what I was hoping for. Since it was for a micra, I didn't care. Then they sent me exactly what I was hoping for. What am I to do, complain?

I was giving an explanation why the seller did what they did: they were sick of the oil BS with identical bottles showing different specs on them. So they decided to have some random descriptions of their own. It just goes to show the BS-ness of the situation when it comes to engine oils.


I was scooping it out with Mrs. Avocet's tablespoon! It's a horrendously cruel thing to do to an engine.

It's a case of your luck better than mine. I don't get such exciting drama in life. But I don't look for them. I had nothing exciting in the engine when I originally crowbar'ed it open to fix something. Year's later, last year I think when I found a £5 deal on gaskets from china, I could not resist going in to fix the leak caused by the crowbar. There was still nothing exciting in the engine.


I said oil gets thin when the engine doesn't get hot enough for long enough to evaporate the unburned fuel out of it. Other than that, cars that have been neglected when it comes to oil changes, tend to have yucky, thick, sludgy oil. (As you have just observed). It was YOU, in the other thread, who claimed that old oil was "good stuff and gave higher MPG"...:rolleyes:

It did give higher MPG. So, it can't have gotten thicker like sludge. Only a thinner oil gives higher MPG. The oil gotten thin enough to be good, and not thin enough to be bad.


This was about the can maker vs. the eBay seller. I didn't mention the car maker. That's something you've just brought in now, despite it having nothng to do with your previous statement. However, sicne you mention it, I still see that you're not one to believe anything that you don't want to hear...:rolleyes: The car maker won't have told you that your car will "blow". He will have told you about a specific fault that DVSA consider serious enough to warrant a recall. You, of course, are bound to know better...:rolleyes:. Obviously, if the car does suffer whatever failure they were trying to warn you about in the recall and it takes you with it, that would be poetic justice or "karma" as the kid call it. My concern, would be if it caused the death or injury of an innocent person. It's thanks to people like you that DVSA will probably go ahead their plans for making ignored recalls an MOT fail. For the rest of us, that'll just mean some extra, irritating red tape. Take a bow...

If it's so bad then they should make it an MOT fail. But, they don't. I respect their professional view on the car safety inspection matter.


Don't see why? I got 248,000 out of my last car before I scrapped it. I still have the engine in the shed as a spare. But hey... it's your car...:rolleyes: On the plus side, I guess if your engine seizes as a result of your chronic neglect before the rust kills it, you could always go to a scrapper and get a good engine out of a rusty one that someone hasn't neglected so badly! I pity the poor sod who goes to the scrapper and buys the engie out of your rusty one as a spare...

Don't see why the engine will seize with perfectly fine oil and filter.

My car rust was only seen by the MOT guy. Sometime he sees it, sometimes, he doesn't. Quite possible in the next MOT, there is no rust. I will go to a new place
 
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I did believe the seller and was expecting something less than what I was hoping for. Since it was for a micra, I didn't care. Then they sent me exactly what I was hoping for. What am I to do, complain?

I was giving an explanation why the seller did what they did: they were sick of the oil BS with identical bottles showing different specs on them. So they decided to have some random descriptions of their own. It just goes to show the BS-ness of the situation when it comes to engine oils.
Ah... so because the bottles looked the same to you, then the labels must have been wrong? Wow... eBay sellers must love you!:LOL: I've got some **** in a whisky bottle. I'll put it on eBay for £50 and tell you it's 50 year old single malt. You're bound to believe me....

It's a case of your luck better than mine. I don't get such exciting drama in life. But I don't look for them. I had nothing exciting in the engine when I originally crowbar'ed it open to fix something. Year's later, last year I think when I found a £5 deal on gaskets from china, I could not resist going in to fix the leak caused by the crowbar. There was still nothing exciting in the engine.
So the guy who considers himself "in tune" with things mechanical, takes his engine apart in a sufficiently cack-handed manner to cause an oil leak and then drives it round for "years" with the oil leak he caused?

OK...:rolleyes:

It did give higher MPG. So, it can't have gotten thicker like sludge. Only a thinner oil gives higher MPG. The oil gotten thin enough to be good, and not thin enough to be bad.
In Post#34 you said it had got "somewhat thickish", now you're saying it had got thinner? Make your mind up!

If it's so bad then they should make it an MOT fail. But, they don't.
It is under consideration right now. And if they do decide to make it an MOT fail, it will be thanks to people like you, who drive round with potentially dangerous faults...

I respect their professional view on the car safety inspection matter.
Ah yes... Of course you do... The guy who, not so very long ago, was telling us he didn't even trust them to carry out an MOT unless he was watching...

Don't see why the engine will seize with perfectly fine oil and filter.
It won't....

...with perfectly fine oil and filter....

...but we're talking about oil and a filter a decade old, of course...:rolleyes:

My car rust was only seen by the MOT guy. Sometime he sees it, sometimes, he doesn't. Quite possible in the next MOT, there is no rust. I will go to a new place
Well, if your rust fixes itself from one year to the next, maybe your oil will do the same?:LOL:
 
Can I ask one of my own potentially dumb ??????s Is it safe to put this fully sythetic car oil that I have left over, in my yam 4stke 250cc scooter? says for petrol or diesel engines
original_521776031.jpg

Specifications:

  • ACEA A3/B4
  • API SN/CF
  • BMW Longlife-01
  • Fiat 9.55535-M2
  • GM LL-B-025
  • MB 229.3/226.5
  • Porsche A40
  • Renault RN0700/RN0710
  • VW 502.00/505.00
https://www.racshop.co.uk/5ltr-triple-qx-5w-40-fs.html
 
It's not dumb at all! Oil specs are incredibly complicated these days. I've heard tales of high oil consumption when people have put fully synthetic oils in marine diesels or other older engines. When Mobil 1 first came out, I was working for a sports car manufacturer. We started using it and suffered horrendous oil consumption. In the end, Mobil told us NOT to use Mobil 1 until the engines had been fully run-in. In fact, it seemed the best results were achieved by running them in on one of Mobil's older mineral oil technologies and only using Mobil 1 after the first year. Sometimes newer isn't better. What does the Yam handbook call for?
 
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