re: What's the best oil?

["Elie Spiesel" <elie@domain.elided>]

Doug writes:
> My question is about motor oil type and viscosity.  Last 
> summer, I bought a beautiful '77 Spider.  It has only 29,000 
> actual miles on it. 
> ...
> The Spider FAQ lists (i) 10w50 as the "factory" specified 
> weight, (ii) 10w40 for winter and 10w50 for summer 
> as "common," (I suppose that means commonly used),
> and (iii) 15w50 synthetic as "recommended."
> I'm told that since my engine is not high mileage, I don't 
> need to go to the 20w50 that some guys run. 
ahhh, religion comes up again :-)
I'm no expert, just a longtime Alfa owner, but *your* alfa
was definitely not designed to run on 10w30.  Most people
I know use 20w50 in the summer, and 10w40 in the winter
(if you have a real winter).  There's no shame in 20w50 -
unlike most modern cars which were engineered to run on
lighter weight oils for fuel efficiency, alfas of this 
vintage want thicker oil.  I won't take a position on
synthetic, except that If you're making a tradeoff, I'd
PERSONALLY prefer more frequent changes with less expensive
oil than the other way around.  Others may (will) disagree.
As for the 10w50 that was factory-specified in certain years,
I've HEARD that this technology has with time been 
discredited - the additional viscosity-index modifiers added 
to non-synthetic oils to create the wide range tend to break 
down, leaving you with insufficient viscosity at higher 
temps/loads.  (Assuming this is true, could be a counterpoint
to the Spirax/always use what the factory recommended thread)
(oh no, I'm in trouble now!) 
Best of luck, and enjoy your Spider!
Elie
Connecticut USA
'76 Spider




Have you seen http://www.norada.com/tour ?

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