Engine Oils

[aargee]

No that's not alright

+100
Use something that is equal to 40 or more & 20W or less. Something like 5W-40, 15W-40 etc.

[HellsFury]

No that's not alright you should go for recommended oil 20w40 not 10w30 its a thin oil and will not stick to the wall of engine..

+100
Use something that is equal to 40 or more & 20W or less. Something like 5W-40, 15W-40 etc.

Thanks for your replies. Funny thing is, the Honda service center guys themselves filled the 10W30.

[udayrrr]

it seems everybody confusing with grading and i to confused for some time (mainly with manufacturer shifting grades)
but with my experience i can firmly say its "Ambient weather temperature " that affects oil performance mostly.
if u look at Europe mostly a w20 is used mostly but u cant even try that

so even if manufacturer specifies a w30 u can used a w40 at hot conditions(read as summer) or harsh riding conditions

some for w40 too if it is too cold weather u can happily shift to w30
for better cold performance
but remember there is no "must" in all these

and regarding manufacturer shifting grades
if look closely for hh specify grade there is one common thing for old one and new one ie., API SJ grade and hope this will explains better
so lets stick with this grading not completely saying xxWxx is shit
wisely following with weather and riding rabbits makes more sense to our bikes.

[aargee]

With a little understanding & my confusions cleared up this is the best I can contribute now & hope someone to correct if I've misunderstood something. All I need to say Thanks to Safebiker & Uday as they've provoked me to read more on this subject. It doesn't mean others didn't help, but to say others helped me in a different way.

Type of Oil
In the 50's the engine oil was to be changed during summer & winter to keep the engine in good shape as no single oil could withstand both the summer & winter temperature. The oil suitable in summer used to freeze in winter & the oil suitable in winter used to lose its viscosity in summer. This was called monograde oil.

To overcome this difficulty, the technology was improved to multigrade oil that can withstand between certain ranges on temperature which is marked in terms of oil viscosity (15W-30). The technology was to simply add few chemical compounds to change the natural behaviour of the oil for convenience & needs.

Oil Viscosity
One needs to look in for the viscosity level that is in form of 5W-40, 15W-30 or 20W-40. The "W" denotes Winter & the numbers denotes the temperature. 5W-40 represents that 5 degree in Winter & 40 degree in summer. This is denoted to specify that the oil is capable of retaining its viscosity (ability to stay thicker) between these temperature.

Standards
Next one is the oil standards that are represented in terms of API/ACEA/JASO/OEM derrivatives. This simply means the following
API - American standards
ACEA - European standards
JASO - Japanese standards
OEM - Though not printed as OEM (printed as BMW/MB/Renault etc) but these are specific for the manufacturers.

The standards was introduced to specify as to which types of engines the oil can be used. Adding few additives to the multigrade oil can make it usable on both diesel & gasoline engine, however by using the same additives, the engine oil can be made to suit only for specifics, say only diesel or only gasoline engine.

What to Look
First thing to look for is the type of oil recommended by the manufacturer in the owners handbook. This is must & should match the type of oil in terms of 20W-40 or 5W-40. This is required to retain the engine in good shape & the manufacturers have come out with this spec out of great R&D to be adhered.

Next is the standards. The standard specifies if the oil can be used both on Diesel & Gasoline engines or only one of them. This can be identified using a special code that is already explained in this post.

I'm glad that I've shared my little knowledge on what I was able to learn today. Pls do correct me where ever my points are irrelevant or anything needs to be added further.

Disclaimer - I've not copied any of the above contents from any website, book or any other source; all of the above are my understanding after going through several websites & have written completely from my point of view.

[madhav krishna]

+100
Use something that is equal to 40 or more & 20W or less. Something like 5W-40, 15W-40 etc.

you should be using only 40 & not more or less. If more the oil will be too thick & will jam the oil pump. If it is less then the oil will be thin & will not stick to the walls of the engine cylinder.

[FranklySpeaking]

you should be using only 40 & not more or less. If more the oil will be too thick & will jam the oil pump. If it is less then the oil will be thin & will not stick to the walls of the engine cylinder.

Negative. The viscosity of even an oil as thick as SAE 20W50 at 100 degree celcius (hot) will be less than say, a much thinner oil like 10W30 at 40 degree celcius (ambient temperature). So there is no question of oil pump issues or anything like that.

However, if you are using mineral oil, in general, 20W40 will lead to less sludging problems than 20W50. Because in effect both of these oils are 20W oils at cold temperature but 20W50 uses more viscosity improvers than 20W40 to maintain relatively more thickness at higher temp. Viscosity Improvers shear down with time creating sludge. That is why most companies do not recomment grades like 10W40 or 5W40 because a lot of viscosity improvers will have to be added to the oil.

I hope folks do not have misconception that in an oil, say 20W40, the oil thickens with increase in temp just because it says 20 W and then 40 for warm. Oil thins with increase in temp., no matter what.

See the graph:

[FranklySpeaking]

Not sure if this has been posted before.

[enfro]

simplified, nicely explanied ..good post Franklyspeaking

[abhilashabhi12]

guys it seems Shell has finally come up with Semi Synthetic & Fully synthetic Engine oils for Bikes.

Anybody has already used this here ? If yes please put in your experiences.

Shell Advance - Products - India

Looking to use Shell SS in my next change..

[mrsrini]

guys it seems Shell has finally come up with Semi Synthetic & Fully synthetic Engine oils for Bikes.

Anybody has already used this here ? If yes please put in your experiences.

Shell Advance - Products - India

Looking to use Shell SS in my next change..

I changed to shell vsx4 at 8200k kms in my gs150r. Earlier oil used was castrol power semi synth. Recommended grade for GS150R is 20w40, but this grade also seems to be working fine. Noticed that engine revving is much better than earlier, and gearshifts are quite smooth. Have done almost about 1300kms with the oil, incl one 500kms outstation trip.

Srinivas

[shyamsharma]

hi bhaiya

main apni bike pe SYNTHIC oil use karna chatta hu ?

because my driving is very ROUGH so will it be better to use a synthic oil or Hp RACER 4

i have a TVS Apache 180 .

[suhail]

Guys a small update the bajaj 10000 oil which i was using suddenly seems it has lost all its viscosity only after 300kms gear shifts have become damn hard and a big noise come when downshifting to 1st gear.
Any advice.

[shyamsharma]

tooo good bhaiya

I don't have this much knowledge about ENGINE OILS thanks for the DETAILS .........

[FranklySpeaking]

hi bhaiya

main apni bike pe SYNTHIC oil use karna chatta hu ?

because my driving is very ROUGH so will it be better to use a synthic oil or Hp RACER 4

i have a TVS Apache 180 .

Synthetic may be better for the engine, but to what extent? Do the math before you spend 4-5 times the cost of mineral oil. IMHO, it is not a good idea to spend so much on oil when you can buy new engine/bike itself with the money that you will eventually save on synthetic oils over a period of time. But that is just me. You make a decision based on your need and the moolah that you have.

Apache is not a vintage bike or something that you wouldnt get piston rings/cylinder kit etc. over at least few years to come. So, just save money. Use mineral oil, change it at 2500 km instead of 3000km if that gives you some assurance. Or, just use synthetic if so you please.

[abhilashabhi12]

I changed to shell vsx4 at 8200k kms in my gs150r. Earlier oil used was castrol power semi synth. Recommended grade for GS150R is 20w40, but this grade also seems to be working fine. Noticed that engine revving is much better than earlier, and gearshifts are quite smooth. Have done almost about 1300kms with the oil, incl one 500kms outstation trip.

Srinivas

Thanks for the Info dude.

Btw can you tell me how much did it cost you ?