Selenia Racing 10W/60 oil query.

[Yugo_Turbo]

Hello to everyone.
I have '90. Zastava Yugo with '88. Fiat Uno 1301ccm turbo engine and I'm planning to use Selenia Racing 10W-60 oil...is it going to be good?
Could that oil brake my engine because it's so thin?

Sorry on my bad English.

[Guy Croft]

Selenia is not thin at high temp. 10W/60 means that the oil is thicker at high temperature than a 10W/40. What we're interested in for racing is the right-hand figure - the viscosity at high temp. The lef-hand figure is the low temperature viscosity and has no relevance to warmed-up race engine conditions.

I - GC - consider Selenia Racing to be the finest race oil ever made. Very expensive and quite rightly so too.

GC

[sumplug]

Depends what the application is for.
If as i assume you are doing is running a road car, then i think a 15w/40 or a 15w/50 is best. Also remember, if the engine has high mileage and no overhaul, i would not put fully synthectic in. Use a good semi synthectic like Castrol 15w/40 magnatec. I have used it for years, and it always comes out nice and clean, so i know it isn't breaking down under hard use! The Castrol will be fine for your needs.
:)

AC

[Yugo_Turbo]

The engine is(for now,much more to come) completely stock,boost will be(sometimes) upped to 0.9-1.0bar.
It's been completely serviced...and it's in VERY good condition.
The car is used rarely,like a road car but not for driving on holidays,school or something like that...

Over here in Balkans we have big problem with copies of motor oils)?

[Snakeman]

Hi Sumpplug,

refering to your comment " I have used it for years, and it always comes out nice and clean, so I know it isn't breaking down under hard use! "

I an not an oil expert but have spoken to many engineers who are. One of the main purposes of oil is not only to lubricate but to also act as a detergent cleaning the engine componets as it lubricates.

The best modern oils clean the engine and hold the microscopic waste material in the oil. When the oil is drained it should be black not clean. If it's clean when you drain it, then all the waste is still sitting in the engine.

For the record I use Selenia Racing oil in my Monte. It's expensive but then so are engine rebuilds!

Kind Regards,
Geoff

[Julian]

Engine oil is a very complex beast.

The first and foremost job is the obvious one - to provide lubrication and hence prevent wear between moving surfaces andreduce the frictional energy losses.

The second job and only just behind the first is to act as a thermal buffer for the engine. Most systems use a water based cooling circuit to carry heat out of the engine but the water never comes into contact with the hottest areas - that job is handled by the oil.

The third job is to act as a housekeeper for the engine internals - removing undesirable compounds from the surface of components and carrying it to the sump. This last job is twofold, while hot the oil must carry debris out of the way of moving parts but while cold it must also contain and isolate potentially hazardous chemicals.

A serious chunk of the wear and tear on an engine occurs in the first five minutes after starting from cold. This is not down to friction and abrasion, rather it is the result of extremely caustic chemicals being pumped around the engine in the cold oil. A good oil will isolate and neutralise those chemicals while cold and allow the chemicals to be broken down while hot.

The life expectancy of an oil comes down to two factors:
1) How long the oil chains are and much time it takes to chop those oil chains.
2) The capacity of the oil to contain the caustic chemicals.

High performance engines tend to cause a lot of damage to the oil chains while road cars tend to do less damage in this respect but generate far more of the caustic chemicals.

A good road oil therefore would need a higher capacity for containing the caustic compounds while a good race oil needs to have a higher capacity for physical damage to the oil chains.

An interesting aside to this is an experiment performed (some ten years ago if I remember correctly) by one of the major oil brands.

The experiment was to prove just how good the additives are in oil and consisted of adding the same additives to different grade oils and then testing the results. The baseline was their own premium brand oil base.

Each of the other oils showed a minor decrease in lubrication but the stunner was when they applied the additives to ordinary coca-cola. The results from this basically prove that the oil itself wasn't actually doing much, it is just a base to hold the additives in and the additives do all the work.

[Guy Croft]

See also my latest post in GC V/W, under ancillaries.

GC

[dvv]

Engine oil is a very complex beast.

The first and foremost job is the obvious one - to provide lubrication and hence prevent wear between moving surfaces andreduce the frictional energy losses.

The second job and only just behind the first is to act as a thermal buffer for the engine. Most systems use a water based cooling circuit to carry heat out of the engine but the water never comes into contact with the hottest areas - that job is handled by the oil. ...

I couldn't agree more! Especially so on point No.2, which I know to be far too often all but overlooked.

Which is why I installed a Valeo oil cooler in both my and my son's Yugo. With some 150 HP from a 1.6 SOHC engine, the oil WILL get very hot. Not all the time, true, that's a road car, but still, I do like to see it is still jolly viscous when changing it (every 5.000 miles - call me mad, but I strongly believe in well oiled engines).

I paid 150 euros for each of those coolers, say 100 pounds or so, and I feel that was a good investment in the engine's longevity. Though at present, my son's car doesn't actually need it, we do plan on changing engines and getting 100-110 HP from a 1.6 SOHC engine (same as mine, Fiat/Lancia 159A block).

This despite the fact that my car has digitally controlled engine temperature regulation; keep it well oiled and you'll be driving it for a long, long time.

thank you,
DVV

[sumplug]

Hi Snakeman.
Yes generally you are right, but Castrol's Magnatec never seems to get "black". Oil tends to go dark when it starts to lose its viscosity and when it picks up all the waste material. But with Magnatec, there never seems to be any waste. The cam housing for example is like new even after 100000+ miles. I run a Fiat Coupe 20VT with 107000 miles and unlike other fellow Coupe owners who are frequently topping their oil up, i hardly put any in in 2000 miles of driving recently!! So the oil is not burning, is cleanish, and oil pressures and temps are spot on even when gunned hard, or sat in heavy traffic. I have used Castrol's products for 25 years, and found them always to be excellent. Incidently, i was once told by a Castrol chief blender [Bill Whitley], that they use Shell oils for blending!!

Andy.

[Yugo_Turbo]

I agree completely sumplug.
I even had some problems on my mother's 1996. Fiat Bravo 1.4 12v on checking oil level.
The oil is so clean that I can't even see it on the "stick".

Almost same thing was happening on other semi-syntethic oils,because they really clean engine up.

[Snakeman]

I sort of guessed my post would produce some more informed veiws on oil.

Andy I guess your engine is very clean. I am still not so sure about Magnatec though, I can't say for why, I just have an nagging doubt as though someone in the past has warned me against it...

As for my Monte.
It is, for the main part, used on the track or fast road. My last oil and filter change was completed after 800 miles of use. I use Selenia Racing oil (from a Fiat dealer). The oil filter is an OEM Fiat one. It has a thermostatically controlled oil cooler on a GC St II TC engine.

I would be interested in opinions as to whether my oil changes are too frequent or not?

Regs,
Geoff

[Guy Croft]

I'm OK with the oil discussion until someone starts recommending anything other than RACE OIL for competition engines.

GC

[Guy Croft]

Geoff, hi

you I imagine have access to oil sampling, do some tests on it.

I don't want to comment on change interval, 800 miles interval - well there is certainly nothing wrong with it, not at all, but it may not be necessary.

If you test the oil, be pleased to hear about it.

GC

[simon-spanner]

well , sorry i havent been around for a while folks, been kind of busy building the morgan aero 8 24 hr car which completed the wilhire at the week end YAAY!!!!
just to add my five pennis worth
i would never ever use magnatec in a race engine- my experience with this tuff is that it burns as fast as you can pour it in on a well sorted engine
oil is supposed to lubricate and cool as it moves throught the oil galleries not stick to stuff!
having recently(like yesterday) finished a 24 hr race i also believe that a thicker (ie 10w60) or such oil is better in endurance specification- we were showing lower oil pressures with no increase in temp after 4 or 5 hrs of racing simply because the 5w40 i had ben tld to use by the engine builder wasa simply not enough under full bore racing condition

[Snakeman]

Guy,

Unfortunately any perceived power or influence that I may have does not extend to the unlimited use of the companies resources - especially anything relating to the Monte! In any case all commissioned oil analysis would be completed by oil companies or their UK contractors.

For me I will stick with Selenia Racing oil, or 2nd choice maybe Mobil 1 Racing. I might extend my oil changes to 1500 miles, and certanily every 12 months.

Kind regards,
Geoff