Rover V8 engine lubrication

[jdbinnington]

I've opened a number of these engine up over the past few weeks and they all seem to choke their internals up with what seems to be lubricating oil which has changed back to it's geological state

 

ie coke, coal, soot and gritty bits

 

has anyone tried running these engines on diesel engine lubricanting oil, with it's greater detergent properties?

 

jonathan

[Rob from Brum]

Hi Johnathon

I change my oil on both of my V8's every 3000 miles never had your problem.

On my daily driver I use Castrol magnatec on my other Castrol GTX. Flush it out a couple of times should do the trick.

[jonlar]

Hi Jonathan, for flushing purposes, I use 80% (4L) diesel and 20% (1L) engine oil. Thoroughly heat engine up - 10 mile thrash, drain old oil, then refill with the flushing mix, run engine for 10 mins with occasional light revving - do not drive it, drain flush and re-do it if still very dirty and leave to drain - then change oil filter and refill with a good quality oil.

 

I used to drive coaches and was on National Express Relief in the summer in a Ford engined coach which had literally been finished the night before with a brand new engine. After about 50 miles a puddle of what seemed to be engine oil appeared on the steps. I immediately stopped the vehicle, contacted base requesting a replacement vehicle, fearing that I'd do damage to the un-run in engine if I went any further. The chief fitter came out with another coach and berated me for calling for a replacement as all that was wrong with the engine was that an injector pump was leaking fuel into the sump causing level to rise and be expelled. He later told me that diesel is heavy oil and also a lubricant in its own right and was regularly used as a flush in engines - it dissolves muck and washes it out very efficiently, cleaning bunged up oilways. I still use it (but as a 4:1 mix - insurance!), and my everyday car which I use for work (405TD) gets this treatment every 6,000 and has now covered 206,000, driving like a 25,000 miler.

[rayjones]

I believe that the lubricating properties of diesel fuel are the main reason that diesel engines get ruined if you put petrol in the tank. If you do that, and most diesel drivers will sooner or later I'm told, do not run the engine, if you do then it will sieze it and write it off.

 

Ray

[jonlar]

Hi Ray, I always used to put 1 gallon of petrol to 10 gallons of diesel to avoid any waxing of fuel, but either we don't get the same cold these days or the fuels have improved to the extent of not needing it, but I wouldn't want to run a diesel on much more than 10%.

[Cinnobar]

I've opened a number of these engine up over the past few weeks and they all seem to choke their internals up with what seems to be lubricating oil which has changed back to it's geological state

 

ie coke, coal, soot and gritty bits

 

has anyone tried running these engines on diesel engine lubricanting oil, with it's greater detergent properties?

 

jonathan

The reason they're all choked up is they never see oil changes! Range Rovers sem to be the worst. My V8 was out of a defender that had reputedly done 60K & was immaculate inside with no wear at all.

Mine runs on Valvoline VFR 15-50 & is still nice & clean after it's rebuild. They don't need detergent oil if they run on clean oil with regular changes.

[mikehardwick]

Got it in a nutshell, Jim! In 15 years of Triumph ownership, I've never taken dirty oil out of an engine. If you change oil and filter at 3000 you should not have a problem.

 

Mike