Too add to the confusion of which oil is best for a mini penrite have revised thier oils to meet the new SM spec and have released some literature on the zinc myths.

http://www.penriteoil.com.au/images/PENR0138_Penrite_Zinc%20Tech%20Bulletin.pdf

Basically they have come out with full synthetic, Australian sourced, ester grade base oil with zero friction loss and the highest legal (emissions wise) zinc level.

If it does what is says on the box this could be the holy grail of mini oils.

Thoughts?

Only independent testing would confirm their product statement

I remember a good while ago someone on here deciding to make sure there was enough zinc in the system by putting in a teaspoon of zinc sunscreen every time they changed the oil , sounded bonkers but as far as I know the car still runs , they never posted back any negative results

Me , I,ll just keep an eye out for a Zinc Dithiophosphate additive if at anytime I believe that the oil I,m using is damaging the engine/ bearings / gears etc

.

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confusion over the name & acronym - that's the first time I've seen it written as ZDTP, not ZDDP. Are they trying to bullsh!t us by talking about a different chemical?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_dithiophosphate (if you trust a wiki)

from elsewhere




other than that, it's an interesting read - especially:



Doing some searching, there are some suggestions that the sulphur can become corrosive to some metals (maybe bronze/brass?) but nothing conclusive, and nothing that says the costs outweigh the benefits.

I've been putting molybdenum disulphide (mos2) in my engine since I rebuilt it earlier this year, also running it on Fuchs Formula 60. Prior to the rebuild I had been using KMX.

When I had it apart to rebuild, I found the cam *quite* worn and had GR freshen it up. GR recommended I put mos2 in it to look after the cam & followers. Will be interesting next time I pull it apart.

I did neglect the mos2 for one change, and by the next change I needed to adjust the rockers - may have been cam wear, maybe not. I keep meaning to look in there with my guru's remote camera dealie, but I always forget.



a guy in my local car club owns the local Gulf Western Oils distribution; the guy who does the rally prep for the ex-London to Sydney GT Falcon (KAG001) uses GW diesel oil in it - specifically because it has a flat tappet camshaft the same as a mini. Prior to using the diesel oil, it had been wearing the lobes off the camshaft

I think next rebuild I'll use diesel oil, phatkat is doing a test on a new engine but I haven't seen any reports

I considered dropping the Fuchs and mos2 in favour of the diesel oil straight away, but I do want to see what it looks like when I take it apart next time.

The oil I use in my Mazda Capella supercharged diesel is Penrite 40 - 70 , I don,t think using an oil from a 22:1 compression engine on an A series with less than 10:1 would be a great idea , now if it was tested that the engine had a longer life with less wear and ran with a 4 deg lower oil operating temperature I,d use it but until then

.

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why would a lower compression ratio would worry you? are you concerned about the big-end & main bearings not having to work as hard to keep the oil film intact?

The only "problem" I know about with diesel oils is the use of detergents. If you put a high detergent oil in an old engine, it'll clean all of the gunk out from under the rings, which is likely to start letting oil through, and it'll blow smoke... but that's not an issue for a new motor is it

here's an interesting page

http://www.memphisbritishcars.org/newsl ... 200702.htm

this bit made me smile - not sure if the dates match though, the penrite "article" is 2010, this page is 2007

Ive got no reason to defend penrite but its hardly un-substantiated they cite plenty of times the chemistry and the appropriate standard that they adhere too. Frankly its one of the best pieces Ive read on this old engine oil saga (albeit best of a bad bunch)

un-substantiated is people using kmart brand oil "coz GR said it was good"

Slightly off topic but you must be brave to use a friction modifier additive in a freshly rebuilt engine. Not concerned about the rings bedding in correctly with the mos2?

Unsubstantiated? how about the 1000's engines he builds and gets raced each year? seriously where do people get this crap from?

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

Thanks kirby,

Interesting. I raised some of the points bought up by Penrite in their technical bulletin, here, back in 2009, but as usually, was shouted down by the ex-spurts here

But, if anyone is unsure how good or appropriate their oil is, what ever brand, hve it tested - properly - it only costs about $60 to have done.

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Penrite used to recommend the use of ATF in the Minimatic and Morris 1100 Auto.
But I suppose they are the oil experts and you should trust everything they say without any doubts.

I have mixed feelings on Penrite, we have used HPR30 and HPR40 in our Mini K for the past 17 years, my daughter drives it every day, it has just been taken off the road in the past few months as my daughter has bought herself a Subaru, the Mini is still on its original un opened motor/gearbox and still runs fine, so I guess it has been doing its job ok.

On the other side of the coin I am on another forum which is into performance V8 Commodores, some of the guys on there are a bit anti Penrite as they have discovered when pulling down engines that have been run on the Penrite even with regular 5000km oil and filter changes they have come across a distubing amount of sludge build up, the feeling is the detergent package in the Penrite is a bit light on.

So maybe it suits some applications and not others. Who knows?

Why I changed from Penrite was the amount of mayo and condensation in my old Morris 1100 motor. Others here have also noticed this
After the change I noticed less oil leaks from the seals. (clutch and timing cover)

There are things that can be a problem that you won't always find in a wearcheck oil analysis.

+1

As SimonK posted earlier the detergents/ additives in a diesel oil like 40 - 70 would be fine in a fresh rebuild and would probably need a little longer to run in

With a motor with more than a few km,s under its belt switching to a diesel 40 -70 would most likely loosen carbon deposits in the engine which could block galleries and the filter etc , which makes me think you could get away with a blend , if the system is 4.83 litres put in 2.9 of your standard oil then top up with 1.9 of diesel rated oil , you could rotate the services so that every third is the blend to give the engine a light carbon flush without too high a risk of blocking galleries and the filter etc

.

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I don't think that's right...

I know it isn't right but it was on their webpage for five years.