120 V6 Oil Recommendations

[don logan Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close don logan]

Hi,

I've just picked up a 2006 V6 120 with 185000 kms on the engine. I'm gonna change the oil and filter as I always do when changing cars, but am finding differing info on which oil to use. I know it's subjective to the climate, day to day use of the vehicle, age, etc., but does anyone have any recommendations considering that its main use will be as a short journey commuter (8kms each way) during the week, with longer trips at the weekends?

The oil will be changed again before summer, so I don't know if there's a better grade to use while temps are a bit lower or not (i'm in Perth, WA)....

Is there really much to it or shall I just put a decent branded 10w40 in there and stop reading too much into it?


Thanks

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

Mate, you'll get plenty of advice to use what anybody's personal favourite is which probably won't be of much help to you as you'll get many different recommendations. All I can say is don't worry about anything too expensive if you don't really want to spend a lot on oil every 7,500-15,000km, and think you're selling yourself or your engine short if you bought a cheaper brand/bottle. 15w-40 mineral grade oil is perfectly fine and a very safe go to for most cars which covers just about all climates in Australia. 10w-40 is a slightly better choice for your young engine and if you get pretty cold winters. 185,000km on the clock is nothing for a big V6 like yours. Just don't be too worried about being too anal with engine oil. At the end of the day it's all the same base product, just that different companies add their own addictives and clever boardroom marketing description to the labelling and website. And what a lot of people don't realise is that all engine oils sold in Australia are compatible with one another. It does no harm whatsoever to add two different brands or viscosities together. Any engine oil has to be fully compatible with no reactions or side effects with any other brand on the market to be able to be sold in this country. They've all been tested with each other. Lubricant companies just all try and make you believe if you mix engine oils then you'll contaminate, Morph your oil into something else or deteriorate your oil & potentially not protect your engine if you do so. They do this to make you loyal to keep using the engine oil you've got from them or stick with it for longer than you normally would. It's clever and many people have bought into this bulls*t.

Spend $60+ on a bottle of oil if that makes you happy, or buy what's on special or cheaper if that makes you happy too. You don't need to be loyal to one brand or viscosity. The only thing I'd recommend is not to use 20w-50 until you've got high kilometres on your engine or it's got leaking rocker covers or something and you want to limit the leaking until you get it fixed. It's too thick for an engine without super high kilometres on it. I believe it's been the cause for many oil pump failures in 4cyl engines. A lighter weight oil is better. 10w-40 is good, 15w-40 is good. Up to you if you want to use mineral grade, semi-synth or full synth. I've used mineral grade oil in mine for most of it's life and it's been fine. Changed at 10,000km intervals up to 270,000km and at every 6,000-7,000km after then.

It's not rocket science even though the lubricant companies try and make it seem like it is and over confuse and over-populate the shelves with so many different products, just make sound decisions in your best interests as a consumer and what you prefer.

Much to the modern diesel owners envy with the high maintenance issues their engines have going on, I'd be pissed if my motor developed problems or kicked the bucket less than 500,000km. I wouldn't expect any less than this as a 6 cyl petrol owner.

[BiLLz0r Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close BiLLz0r]

I have always used Penrite Fully Synthetic 10w-40. I'm 1 that does believe the better the oil the better the protection long term. I also only change mine every 10k whilst others are more anal at 5-7.5k.

[Guest Close Guest]

I only use ULX110 Change every 10k, sometimes earlier.

[don logan Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close don logan]

Mate, you'll get plenty of advice to use what anybody's personal favourite is which probably won't be of much help to you as you'll get many different recommendations. All I can say is don't worry about anything too expensive if you don't really want to spend a lot on oil every 7,500-15,000km, and think you're selling yourself or your engine short if you bought a cheaper brand/bottle. 15w-40 mineral grade oil is perfectly fine and a very safe go to for most cars which covers just about all climates in Australia. 10w-40 is a slightly better choice for your young engine and if you get pretty cold winters. 185,000km on the clock is nothing for a big V6 like yours. Just don't be too worried about being too anal with engine oil. At the end of the day it's all the same base product, just that different companies add their own addictives and clever boardroom marketing description to the labelling and website. And what a lot of people don't realise is that all engine oils sold in Australia are compatible with one another. It does no harm whatsoever to add two different brands or viscosities together. Any engine oil has to be fully compatible with no reactions or side effects with any other brand on the market to be able to be sold in this country. They've all been tested with each other. Lubricant companies just all try and make you believe if you mix engine oils then you'll contaminate, Morph your oil into something else or deteriorate your oil & potentially not protect your engine if you do so. They do this to make you loyal to keep using the engine oil you've got from them or stick with it for longer than you normally would. It's clever and many people have bought into this bulls*t.

Spend $60+ on a bottle of oil if that makes you happy, or buy what's on special or cheaper if that makes you happy too. You don't need to be loyal to one brand or viscosity. The only thing I'd recommend is not to use 20w-50 until you've got high kilometres on your engine or it's got leaking rocker covers or something and you want to limit the leaking until you get it fixed. It's too thick for an engine without super high kilometres on it. I believe it's been the cause for many oil pump failures in 4cyl engines. A lighter weight oil is better. 10w-40 is good, 15w-40 is good. Up to you if you want to use mineral grade, semi-synth or full synth. I've used mineral grade oil in mine for most of it's life and it's been fine. Changed at 10,000km intervals up to 270,000km and at every 6,000-7,000km after then.

It's not rocket science even though the lubricant companies try and make it seem like it is and over confuse and over-populate the shelves with so many different products, just make sound decisions in your best interests as a consumer and what you prefer.

Much to the modern diesel owners envy with the high maintenance issues their engines have going on, I'd be pissed if my motor developed problems or kicked the bucket less than 500,000km. I wouldn't expect any less than this as a 6 cyl petrol owner.

Great advice mate, thanks very much. I did kind of think that at the end of the day, it's all slippery stuff that makes metal rub together more easily...

I'll just go with a decent brand of 10w40 and change every 7.5k kms.

Thanks

[Daza Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Daza]

I have always used Penrite Fully Synthetic 10w-40. I'm 1 that does believe the better the oil the better the protection long term. I also only change mine every 10k whilst others are more anal at 5-7.5k.

Have to agree with Billzor- I use Penrite full Syn 10-40. I change mine on or before 10,000k. I have had sludge issues in the past with mineral oils (I have a 2003 Grande 290,000ks). If you get oil light flickering and oil level is fine- use an oil flush, drop the sump and physically remove sludge build up. :mrgreen: