Sorry to ask "noob" questions!! I have read through the various engine oil threads, and i am now more confused that i was to start with, as they all recommend a different oil, for different reasons, so ill just ask! Is Mobil 1 New Life 0w40 suitable? (its quite cheap in Costco at the moment) (for an '84 Mondial QV) from what i can figure, its "more than suitable"
I use mobil 1 15w50 the only thing is I had no oil leaks before using this oil and now I do. After talking to a MB wrench he said that Mobil is such a good oil at cleaning up your engine and removing engine deposits it will show all your bad seals.Replacing a couple seals is a small price to pay to have the piece of mind that you have the best oil in your car.
Same thing happened to me on my gt4 after switching from Kendall 20w-50 to a full-syn Mobil 1 0w-40. I now run Swepco 15w-40 with zero engine oil leaks, but I have had a major in the past 2 years. What seems to be of utmost importance for our older engines is a high zinc content.
Here's a discussion we had in the 308 section on zinc content (ZDDP) in oils last year: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=361329&highlight=Swepco
It is what I use. You'll have to look to see if it's the same product on both sides of the pond. Over here as you will see it says "European Car Formula" My research showed that this particular product on the Mobil 1 line has more zinc and phosphorus that is required for our flat tappet cams compared to modern formulations. I've been running this in my car for the last 3 years and 20K miles. Car had oil leaks when I purchased it, I fixed all leaks, after 3 years it's leaking a bit again but appears to be different locations. I chose to go with this, but each person has to chose for themselves. I know the factory called for a 50 weight on the top end, I chose to be ok with a 40 for various personal reasons. Our costco here doesn't have the 0W-40. Only what is standard usage over here so I'll continue to pay a bit more. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Edit to my previous post. I did use this weight when I lived in Louisiana with high temperatures and city driving with traffic. In the colder months I switched to the 0W-40 and never changed back given that I moved to a cooler part of the country with little traffic. IIRC this weight also has the higher ZDDP levels.
