CharlieCroker 353 Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 Evening all, my car is slowly coming back together and I would like to change all the oils, engine, gearbox and diif. What do you guys recommend for each? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LOTUSPOINT 5 Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 penrite hypoid 80w/90 for the gearbox penrite hypoid 85w/140 for the diff castrol edge 10w/60 only when the engine is completely cleaned and rebuilt with modern gaskets Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CharlieCroker 353 Posted June 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 (edited) Perfect thank you. How many litres per item? Edited June 17, 2014 by CharlieCroker Quote Link to post Share on other sites
910Esprit 531 Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 penrite hypoid 80w/90 for the gearbox penrite hypoid 85w/140 for the diff castrol edge 10w/60 only when the engine is completely cleaned and rebuilt with modern gaskets Interesting - Do lotus recomend a hypoid additive for the 'box'? - For the Esprit we all spend a lot of time fretting about the paradox avoiding lubricants that apparently eat the yellow metal (sulhur in hypoids...) but still protecting the diff. Its difficult to avoid it in a transaxle, but seems unneccesary for a box (as there is no hypoid or spiral bevel....). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dunc 412 Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 The elites and eclats and excels came with a few different boxes. Borg warner Auto. Lotus 5 speed (beans) Getrag 265 Toyota W58 I've never been all that fussy (and I am not saying this is correct) but I just use a normal GL4 gearbox oil from the motorfactors. Usually "Motorbase" or some other impressively generic brand name that I've never heard of till then. I use it in the diff and the box. edit: in case someone is searching through the archive for gearbox oil and getrags (apologies for thread-jack) some googling suggests you should not use a GL5 in the getrag. Other people are recommending GL3-4, with others saying a dextron II or III ATF. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don.Hasi 65 Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 The Oil recommendation of the factory stands on the plate on the inner wing under the bonnet... Live could be so simple... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LOTUSPOINT 5 Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 (edited) Penrite is a GL4 Oil, and is specially made for older cars so there are no dangerous additives in. But for the rear Diff you have to get an EP (extreme pressure) or a Hypoid oil, witch is more or less the same. Our Diff is a classic Salisbury Diff and its a Hypoid Type so you realy need that kind of oil! And yes ,for the gearbox a less sophisticated oil will do the job too. (But not into the Diff!!!) ------------------------ Sorry, for the gearbox Penrite Gearbox Oil 30 that is a GL4 and the right one!!!. The Hypoid is GL5 - Good in the Diff but extremely wrong in the Gearbox.... Edited June 17, 2014 by LOTUSPOINT 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LOTUSPOINT 5 Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 (edited) penrite hypoid 80w/90 for the gearbox penrite hypoid 85w/140 for the diff castrol edge 10w/60 only when the engine is completely cleaned and rebuilt with modern gaskets corrected: penrite gearbox oil 30 for the gearbox (Lotus 5 speed) penrite hypoid 85w/140 for the Diff castrol edge 10w/60 only when the engine is completely cleaned and rebuilt with modern gaskets Edited June 17, 2014 by LOTUSPOINT Quote Link to post Share on other sites
soldave 272 Posted September 22, 2014 Report Share Posted September 22, 2014 Slight thread resurrection, but would the Gulf Racing 10w60 Fully Synthetic oil (http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-79218-gulf-racing-10w-60-fully-synthetic-engine-oil.aspx) work too? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LOTUSPOINT 5 Posted September 22, 2014 Report Share Posted September 22, 2014 after a rebuild - yes. otherwise - no! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Clive59 115 Posted September 22, 2014 Report Share Posted September 22, 2014 An oil with extra zinc is recommended I believe, for the cam lobes especially. I have just put in Penrite Classic Light which is a 20W60 and was recommended. Not sure if this is available in the UK though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mikeeech 349 Posted September 22, 2014 Report Share Posted September 22, 2014 and not in the diff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
soldave 272 Posted September 22, 2014 Report Share Posted September 22, 2014 after a rebuild - yes. otherwise - no! So what would you recommend when not after a rebuild? An oil with extra zinc is recommended I believe, for the cam lobes especially. I have just put in Penrite Classic Light which is a 20W60 and was recommended. Not sure if this is available in the UK though. Not sure if it is actually. The Gulf recommendation was based on a list from Opie oils. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Clive59 115 Posted September 22, 2014 Report Share Posted September 22, 2014 We are probably being to precious anyway, the main thing is to change regularly. Have heard all sorts of horror stories with the trend to longer intervals between changes, especially with diesels. Back in the 70's it was pretty much Castrol GTX for everything wasn't it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
soldave 272 Posted September 22, 2014 Report Share Posted September 22, 2014 Yeah, I'm all for regular changes. My old Mitsubishi Evo (pretty highly tuned) had engine oil changed every 3,000km and mission & diff changed every 6,000km without fail. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
peter1707 0 Posted September 26, 2014 Report Share Posted September 26, 2014 So what oil in an Engine that hasn't had a rebuild I assume there are better options than what lotus printed in the manual 30 years ago Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LOTUSPOINT 5 Posted September 27, 2014 Report Share Posted September 27, 2014 (edited) So what oil in an Engine that hasn't had a rebuild I assume there are better options than what lotus printed in the manual 30 years ago Take a good quality mineral oil (not synthetic) 20W50 (as castrol classic or so) If you change to sythetic oil, it will free all bound carbon particles in the engine - which is not good! Edited September 27, 2014 by LOTUSPOINT Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don.Hasi 65 Posted September 27, 2014 Report Share Posted September 27, 2014 @Peter: the problem is, there will be not enough experience with modern oil although there are 30years gone. Why? Most of the cars drive not very high miles and if regular or occasionally a different oil was used... Nobody could tell you exactly if an engine fails wether the oil was responsible or not. I for myself are using 20W50 Classic Sports semisynthetic from Millers and are so far pretty confident with it. But it is only 1500 in use.... So No guarantee that it will work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
USAndretti42 308 Posted September 28, 2014 Report Share Posted September 28, 2014 Take a good quality mineral oil (not synthetic) 20W50 (as castrol classic or so) If you change to sythetic oil, it will free all bound carbon particles in the engine - which is not good! Really? I've never heard that before. I ran synthetic in my S2 Esprit for a few thousand miles without any issues. Having said that, the benefits of synthetics such as better resistance to oxidation at high temperatures and extended oil-change intervals and higher viscosities at high temperatures probably don't help us as we don't push our cars that hard so a mineral oil will do the job just as well as a synthetic. Quote S4 Elan, Elan +2S, Federal-spec, World Championship Edition S2 Esprit #42, S1 Elise, Excel SE Link to post Share on other sites
peter1707 0 Posted October 6, 2014 Report Share Posted October 6, 2014 Ok thanks, so the spare oil in the boot was Helix 10w40, seems completely wrong Quote Link to post Share on other sites
soldave 272 Posted October 6, 2014 Report Share Posted October 6, 2014 I've been advised to use semi-synthetic 5W30, and it's what the rebuilt engine has bee run on since being built. Seems to be so many opinions out there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don.Hasi 65 Posted October 8, 2014 Report Share Posted October 8, 2014 5w30 semi sounds too thin for me even with a rebuild engine. Back in the days the common built specs were less precise than nowadays, simply as there weren´t much computer added constructions and machines. I have had 10w40 in it from the PO and already heart attacks with it... but each to their own Quote Link to post Share on other sites
soldave 272 Posted October 8, 2014 Report Share Posted October 8, 2014 (edited) 5w30 semi sounds too thin for me even with a rebuild engine. Back in the days the common built specs were less precise than nowadays, simply as there weren´t much computer added constructions and machines. I have had 10w40 in it from the PO and already heart attacks with it... but each to their own Might try 10W40 synthetic or semi, and see how the car likes it when it comes to the next oil change. We'll see... Edited October 8, 2014 by soldave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don.Hasi 65 Posted September 29, 2015 Report Share Posted September 29, 2015 Getrag 265 I've never been all that fussy (and I am not saying this is correct) but I just use a normal GL4 gearbox oil from the motorfactors. Usually "Motorbase" or some other impressively generic brand name that I've never heard of till then. I use it in the diff and the box. edit: in case someone is searching through the archive for gearbox oil and getrags (apologies for thread-jack) some googling suggests you should not use a GL5 in the getrag. Other people are recommending GL3-4, with others saying a dextron II or III ATF.The factory recommends 20/50 mineralic for the S2 gearbox. Could a GL 3-4be right then? I thought, they are pretty much different from the 20/50, aren't they? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dunc 412 Posted September 29, 2015 Report Share Posted September 29, 2015 There are so many different factory recomendations for the getrag box because the 265 was used in numerous makes of car. The 262 is essentially the same box (without the 5th speed) and it was also used in lots of cars.Do some googling and you will find lots of different views from BMW, Jaguar, GM and Lotus owners. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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