Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 73
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Yuck, hideous viscosities! Really shouldn't be running more than 10w40 in an RB, 15w50 at the most if you do a bit of track work or have loose/worn engine tolerances and blow smoke on a 10w40.

Why would I be kidding? I run it on my RB25DET & SR20DET and both engines love it.

10W40 seemed to 'go missing' on my SR which see's massively high revs and reasonably high oil temperatures. 15W60 keeps my RB happy and quiet.

Yuck, hideous viscosities! Really shouldn't be running more than 10w40 in an RB, 15w50 at the most if you do a bit of track work or have loose/worn engine tolerances and blow smoke on a 10w40.

thought you only blow smoke due to the car running rich...is it a different smoke you blow with bad oil?

are they very old engines?

The RB25DET is 12 years old, not rebuilt and ~150,000km old. The SR20DET is 13 years old, not rebuilt and ~90,000km old. Neither blow smoke. Both have excellent compression and make the power I'd be expecting from them.

I just find the thinner oils break down far quicker and end up thin and watery by the next oil change. The slightly thicker oil gives me a quieter engine and I drain almost exactly what I put into them out at the next oil change. A good number of 10W40 oils contain a lot of friction modifiers to achieve the desired viscosity, they're not fantastic for the engine.

to answer your question i use castrol edge 10w-60 since its been recomended by my mechanic...

Lots of people on this forum seem to be using this oil in there RB's, including some pretty serious setups.

The oil thing has me sooo confused.

thought you only blow smoke due to the car running rich...is it a different smoke you blow with bad oil?

That's smoke from unburnt fuel when the car is running rich. Yes, it is a different when you burn oil, and it's caused by worn seals/tolerances...e.g. piston rings or more commonly in these cars, turbo seals. The "solution" besides rebuilding, is to use a thicker oil which takes up the tolerances between moving parts. But oil does need to circulate around moving parts, particularly on startup where most engine wear occurs. Oil is at it's thickest here, so this is where a 10w is a nice balance for an RB engine.

If you're confused about the oil thing Harey, read and read and read this thread - it's lengthy but there's a bit of consensus towards the end.

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Go...&start=1760

thought you only blow smoke due to the car running rich...is it a different smoke you blow with bad oil?

I did type something earlier but lost it when my internet crashed.

Black Smoke = Unburnt Fuel, not too bad

Blue-White Smoke = Oil, bad. Worn rings, valve stem seals or blown turbo.

White Smoke = Water, bad. Blown head gasket.

That's smoke from unburnt fuel when the car is running rich. Yes, it is a different when you burn oil, and it's caused by worn seals/tolerances...e.g. piston rings or more commonly in these cars, turbo seals. The "solution" besides rebuilding, is to use a thicker oil which takes up the tolerances between moving parts. But oil does need to circulate around moving parts, particularly on startup where most engine wear occurs. Oil is at it's thickest here, so this is where a 10w is a nice balance for an RB engine.

If you're confused about the oil thing Harey, read and read and read this thread - it's lengthy but there's a bit of consensus towards the end.

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Go...&start=1760

More confused that some people strongly recommend 10W40 and others 10W60. Seems like a big difference to me!

More confused that some people strongly recommend 10W40 and others 10W60. Seems like a big difference to me!

have you spoken to your mechanic? talk to him and listen to him...thats what i am doing...peace of mind and you can trust they know what they talking about....everyone will have different opinion but oil is oil and if your car runs good with the one you using stick to that...thats what i would do.... :)

Most mechanics don't know a great deal about the finer points of oil. Well from my experience working in the industry, most get it very wrong and tend to use only the oils they have in stock (most mechanics keep 2-3 engine oils at the most) :)

But there isn't really such a thing as a bad oil, only a better performing or worse performing oil for your application. Thus what your mechanic recommends may not be perfect for you if he/she has never tried a different oil in your vehicle.

But I do echo what Harsh says in the latter...try a few different oils and then settle upon the one you feel is doing the best job, you won't kill your engine by doing this. 10w40 is a good place to start in an RB.

Most mechanics don't know a great deal about the finer points of oil. Well from my experience working in the industry, most get it very wrong and tend to use only the oils they have in stock (most mechanics keep 2-3 engine oils at the most) :(

But there isn't really such a thing as a bad oil, only a better performing or worse performing oil for your application. Thus what your mechanic recommends may not be perfect for you if he/she has never tried a different oil in your vehicle.

But I do echo what Harsh says in the latter...try a few different oils and then settle upon the one you feel is doing the best job, you won't kill your engine by doing this. 10w40 is a good place to start in an RB.

YAY!!! i was right in something :)

Thinner oil is better for turbo(s) as they are less likely to dried up and clog up inside the turbo and associated hose that running inside and out from turbo(s). so yeah I use Mobil 1 fully synthetic. Won't cost as much as Motul 300V.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Apologies for the long post, but needed somewhere to lay out the entire timeline of events and actions taken:   I've got an 89 GTR with a R34 RB in it. It's been running great all year, driven probably 500KM in the last month. It's not my daily driver, just a weekend fun car.    Build info: R34 RB26 - HKS 2.7 stroker kit, HKS adjustable cam gears, HKS turbo upgrades, Trust intercooler, R34 factory DENSO 440cc injectors, JUN chipped/tuned R32 ECU. All of this work was performed in Japan back in 2019.    Thursday 10/2/25 - It's a nice day and decided I'll drive it to work, I start it up in the garage and I notice it took a few extra cranks and sounded a bit funny. I figure maybe it was just because it was a pretty chilly morning. I pull it out into the driveway to warm up a bit before leaving. As I leave the driveway, it feels very off and sounds like a misfire. I pull it back in the garage to deal with after work and take the daily to work. I was able to diagnose it as a cylinder 5 misfire with the old spark plug test (unplugging each plug until a sound change with the engine running). I take off the whole ignition system, ignitor, plugs, spark. *Important note, it is still on the R32 ignition system with the separate ignitor system. I test each system with a multi-meter and nothing presents as a smoking gun. I put it all back together and it starts up no issue. I go ahead and order the PRP R35 ignition conversion kit. It should arrive today (10/13/25)   Friday 10/3/25 - Another nice day, car starts up great and drives great all day. Very pleased that everything seems to be OK   Sunday 10/5/25 - Decided I'll take it to play some golf, load up and drive to the course about 25 minutes away. Drives wonderful the whole way there, I pull in the parking lot and the engine completely comes to a stop. I do not recall if it sputtered at all, but just remember all of the sudden the engine was off. I roll it into a parking spot, try to crank it back on and nothing.  It'll crank and crank and not even try to start. End up getting it towed back to my house and push it up into the garage.    Items I have checked: Fuel in the tank Fuel Pump relay Fuel pump fuse  Spark Plugs & gap Coil packs Ignitor    I know the cylinders are getting fuel as the plugs smell like fuel after a start attempt. I tried spraying starter fluid into the manifold and cranking and not even a sputter.    I decided to do the live CAS test (removing the the CAS, ignition on and spinning the CAS stalk to see if the injectors pulse and spark is active). All of the injectors were pulsing and I have spark at the plug. The half-moon end of the CAS did seem very loose, I'm not sure how much play is supposed to be there, but it was more than I expected. There was no in/out play of the shaft, just the tip end that is pinned on had quite a bit of play.    CAS Play video   When I put the CAS back in, I stupidly did not re-time the engine. I know I need to do that tonight, however, I do not think it will start given it seemingly was not the issue. My plan is to do the PRP R35 coil kit and retime the engine at the same time.    I plan on ordering the Haltech Nexus Plug-in ECU once they are available again, but ideally would like to get this sorted before firing the parts cannon at it and potentially adding more variables.    Anything glaring that I am missing here, I'm a bit at a loss?          
    • Get it on a dyno. Get something logging Consult. Run it up and find out what is causing it.
    • Looking for a plenum for rb25 de+t neo  Not looking to push much power maybe 300kw at the wheels, is there much difference in flow for Freddy “Greddy style” compared to original Greddy or options like Proflow or Otaku garage?    I won’t be porting the de Neo head for now as I think it’ll be fine 280-300rwkw but appreciate the help and any experiences anyone has between them and any advice. Thanks  Looking at this plenum for now below 
    • engine wise almost no mods: stock ecu Greddy front mount intercooler Greddy forward facing intake w R33 TB stock fuel system, stock injectors, rail etc. Kakimoto racing hyper 3 inch exhaust system Apexi intake filter New NGK –R BCPRES (.8 gap) plugs  
    • Nice one @Pac - looks like a fair few 1600's there! 
×
×
  • Create New...