engine oil

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dsopoci
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Location: St. Marys Kansas

engine oil

Post by dsopoci »

I always keep an extra quart of oil with me, as I have used up my quart I went to the dealer to buy another quart. It turns out that Mini has switched to valvoline instead of the castrol. The parts guy told me that if I still have the castrol in my car, it will not hurt to mix the new valvoline. I was always told not to mix manufactures of oil. If I buy a quart of castrol synthetic from a parts store, will any of the castrol synthetics work as long as the same viscosity is used?. Any thoughts of castrol verses valvoline synthetic? I have always had the dealer change my oil.
2009 Cooper S, AEM intake,six spd, chili red with mini challenge stripes
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Minidave
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Re: engine oil

Post by Minidave »

It won't hurt a thing, modern oils are built to a standard, and they're all miscible.....just make sure you're using a full synthetic, not a blend. I use Mobil 1, I buy it on sale at Walmart for $22/5 quarts.....that and change it on a schedule that matches your driving situation. If you do hundreds of miles on the highway every day you can go a lot longer on an oil change than if your daily drive is 3 miles.

The main thing is to use the correct viscosity.....also, there is absolutely no value in using the long life formulas used in Europe if you're going to change the oil every year/10K or less. Those formulas are for doing the long distance changes. It doesn't hurt anything to use them, but they usually cost more so why waste the money if you're going to change it early?
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dsopoci
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Posts: 77
Joined: Sat May 31, 2014 8:45 am
Location: St. Marys Kansas

Re: engine oil

Post by dsopoci »

Thank you for the info, hopefully I will be moved back into a house soon with a garage so I can just change it myself. Working on a car in a parking is not fun.
2009 Cooper S, AEM intake,six spd, chili red with mini challenge stripes
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