Castrol Synthetic Motor Oil Choices

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Fugi Snow

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What's the major difference in the 3 types of synthetic motor oils from Castrol: Professional (most expensive); Extended Performance; and Advanced? Is this difference significant enough to warrant the higher price tag when doing oil changes every 7,500 miles? Atlantic British sells and promotes the Professional.
 

ryanjl

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There are several different oil threads on here that go on and on about oil nerdery, but, suffice to say, the Professional is the only one that, on its face, meets the required Land Rover specification (Ford M2C925-A). It's what the dealership uses if you bring your Rover in for an oil change.

There has been some documentation found that states this spec has been superseded by STJLR.03.5004, which a lot more oils meet.

The general consensus, however, is that if you use a good quality synthetic and change every 6,000 miles, you're okay.
 

avslash

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Damn, I hate talking about oil at this point....;)

There are similar ad infinitum debates in the gun community about weapons lube.

There was one well known trainer that ran several thousand rounds through his AR using nothing but Vagisil as lube with no issues. That was funny to watch.

I personally use Mobil1 on the recommendation of 2 separate Rover shops and change it every 5-6K miles. It is still running, and still on the factory chain guides and tensioners. Although I probably just jinxed myself by posting this....
 

cperez

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Then there's the question of the weight. I called one of my dealerships recently to get a price on Castrol Edge Pro OE 5w-20. I was told they only get that in bulk for shop use, and they only sell 0w-20 by the quart ($14/qt LOL). She told me that a couple of her techs refuse to put anything but 0w in the 5.0L V8's.

There are threads on this forum about 0w vs 5w. Hard to know what to do or who to believe, so some of us opt to just stick with what's printed in the manual.

That said, I have also used Mobil1 and more frequent changes. Still not sure if I'm ready to use 0w or what it would mean in practical terms for my engine.
 

Cthehentz

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I use mobile 1 and change oil every 4K miles. I find it hard to break old habits when it comes to oil changes.
 

gsxr

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There are several different oil threads on here that go on and on about oil nerdery, but, suffice to say, the Professional is the only one that, on its face, meets the required Land Rover specification (Ford M2C925-A). It's what the dealership uses if you bring your Rover in for an oil change.

There has been some documentation found that states this spec has been superseded by STJLR.03.5004, which a lot more oils meet.

The general consensus, however, is that if you use a good quality synthetic and change every 6,000 miles, you're okay.
What Ryan said: ^^^

Use top-quality synthetic 5W-20 and change early, and don't worry about it.

As I mentioned in one of those oil nerdery threads, my local LR dealership no longer even carries the 5W-20, they only have 0W-20 (and I personally prefer the 5W-20 which is what the engine was designed for). Changing at 5k makes for easy reminders as to when it's due... 75k, 80k, 85k, etc etc. If you're trying to extend the interval, I wouldn't go beyond 7.5k miles. Too much circumstantial evidence that extended intervals may be related to the in-famous timing chain failures.

:eek:
 

cperez

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As I mentioned in one of those oil nerdery threads, my local LR dealership no longer even carries the 5W-20, they only have 0W-20 (and I personally prefer the 5W-20 which is what the engine was designed for).

I forgot to mention that the parts guy at my dealership said that there had been a service bulletin about 2 years ago saying that all 5.0L V8s (Jag and LR) should now get 0W-20. But I'm with you. It's like that saying in sales: "The confused mind says no." As long as I'm unclear on why I should switch to 0W, I'm sticking with 5W.
 

gsxr

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JLR determined that the 0W-20 should work fine in the V8 engine, and dealers prefer to only stock one 55-gallon barrel instead of two different ones. I'm sure the 0W-20 is fine but I like using what the engineers originally specified, not something that was likely done out of convenience.

I've always been allergic to super-thin oils, I'm still working through the trauma of pouring in 5W-20, lol... baby steps! I'm not ready for 0W-20 yet.

:stickyman
 

ryanjl

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To me, it seems like the move to the super-thin oils is borne out of trying to eek every last bit of fuel economy out of an engine and not out of thinking about what's best for the engine.

When I had my guides done at my dealership last December, they put the 0W in. I'll change back to the 5W when my next oil change comes up in a month or two.
 

gsxr

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To me, it seems like the move to the super-thin oils is borne out of trying to eek every last bit of fuel economy out of an engine and not out of thinking about what's best for the engine.
100% correct. It's not just Land Rover doing this, seems to be a trend across most of the passenger car industry over the past 10-15 years or so.

Under most "normal" operating conditions, the super-thin stuff approved by the manufacturer SHOULD be fine. It's the severe-service corner cases that worry me. At least most everyone is moving to synthetics, even a Group III stuff is a substantial improvement over dino.

:stupido2:
 

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