Purchased 1990 420SE - and I think I may have come a cropper

[Madmax]

Hi all.

I am new to the forum, so would like to introduce myself. My name is Max and I am a happy owner of a 420SE I purchased 9 months ago. It has done 176,000 miles, but it has been looked after very well, and the body work is in good shape.

However, I understand absolutely NOTHING/ZILCH about engines and oily bits.

I have forgotten entirely to check the dipstick and fill the car with oil. My 'oil low warning light' didnt flash up and only today I noticed that oil was at 0!

My questions are

1. how much damage have I done by driving aroudn with 0 engine oil for the past 4 months or so?

2. i panicked and rushed to my nearest Esso and purchased 4 litres of some Esso oil (sorry, not an expert) - can somebody suggest exactly what engine oil I should be using? I drive VERY quitely UNTIL the V8 warms up but when it does, I do give it some stick when, so is there a particular oil I should be filling the car with, as opposed to £20 Esso muck? (incidentally, the car swallowed up ALL the 4 litres in one go now when I topped it up today which shoes just how littel there was! )

many thanks in advance to you all.

regards

madmax

 

[jaques2k]

Hi! First of all - congratulations to a great car! =)
It´s not good to drive "without" oil in the engine. But if you´re lucky (and of course u are), the V8 has a big oil sump, and even if it´s very little oil left (yes - you can drive some engines with no sign of oil on the dipstick, but of course NOT recommended!!) - as long as it can maintain oil pressure in the engine, not a lot harm is done (the oil pressure shouldn´t drop below 1 - 1.5 minimum, and not fluctuate - that´s an emergency sign of too little oil). If the engine runs smooth (or as it always been running) after the refill of oil, and temperature and power is normal, then you´ve got away easily, and should not worry too much. Of course, a oil and filter change maybe would be recommended in this case (sorry for the 4 litres you´ve poured in). As for oil quality, I´d suggest Mobil 1 or Mobil S, but that´s just my opinion (and the opinions are as many as there is car owners...). It´s the SAE-range on the oil that´s most important. A wider range (ex. 5W-50) gives better lubrication in different temperatures (e.g. when the motor is cold or hot) than a oil with smaller range (ex. 10W-30). And almost every new oil is synthethic, but some crap shops may still sell mineral oils, wich is to avoid.
Good luck with your car and happy driving!!

 

[Madmax]

thanks very much for your reply

so mobil1 is the recommendation, yes? can i mix the mobil 1 with the cheap crap ie. esso's 'performance' oil by topping it up with the mobil when i get some today?

the car cost me like £3,000 and its faultless. yes, it is high on petrol, but its safe, enjoyable to drive, not to sluggish and is is comfortable as i am 6ft 3, and when i drive smaller cars, my head hits the ceiling

is there anything better than mobil 1? os is here no point?

 

[Madmax]

thanks very much for your reply

so mobil1 is the recommendation, yes? can i mix the mobil 1 with the cheap crap ie. esso's 'performance' oil by topping it up with the mobil when i get some today?

the car cost me like £3,000 and its faultless. yes, it is high on petrol, but its safe, enjoyable to drive, not to sluggish and is is comfortable as i am 6ft 3, and when i drive smaller cars, my head hits the ceiling

is there anything better than mobil 1? os is here no point?

 

[Mr Fridge]

Mobil 1 is a good oil, but I would be more concerned where the oil is going ! Do you have any major oil leaks on the engine ? when you move your car is there a big damp patch of oil on the drive ? Does your car smoke like a chimney ? If your engine seizes it would probably be cheaper to scrap your car and if that is NOT what you want, identify the oil usage instead of keep topping up.

 

[jaques2k]

Yes, Mr. Fridge has the point here, if you have to refill very often, then there may be a leak somewhere. I got the impression that you didn´t check it at all the first time... But follow up the oil usage after you´ve topped it up! Yes, in my (and others) opinion you can mix (top up with) the Mobil 1 with the cheaper oil. Good luck!

 

[mjtray]

Eh?..........mixing semi synthetic with fully synthetic????

I was always told never to mix the two.

If you really want to use Mobil 1, then I would have thought that an oil change + filter would be needed to get the best results.....bix like mixing a nice Claret with a nasty old Vin de Table

In terms of your car with the mileage it has, I would personally just stick to a good 10/40 semi synthetic and keep an eye on the oil level...you may find that by using Mobil 1, which is very thin by the way, that your car with its mileage starts springing leaks everywhere.....you could end up spending ££'s on oil which just ends up leaking out of old gaskets etc etc.

 

[jaques2k]

Of course the best thing is - as I pointed out earlier - to make a full oil and filter change. But if you pour in, say a ½ to 1 litre full synthetic with the semi-synthetic oil (is it semi-synthetic?? what SAE did that Esso-oil have?) it doesn´t make that big difference, except that the thin oil creeps in and eventually lubricates (and brings some debris with it) better in some places in the engine (though the rest of the oil is another viscosity, the thinner oil also still is pumped around)... But of course the best thing is to have the same oil! =) As mjtray says, IF you have oil leaks you can try to change to a thicker oil. But if the motor is in quite good shape, it can hold the thinner oil (wich I still claims is a better oil to use! =). The Mobil 1 is a very good (and expensive) oil that gives better lubrication to the engine. But if you don´t use your engine in a lot of minus degrees or on tough driving at high speeds, then you can use a cheaper oil, ex. 10/40 and be sure that you don´t get a messy engine compartment...

 

[Francois]

Just my two cents worth:

If you only had to add 4 litres of oil then the sump was still halve full...

I suspect the damage would be negligable(sp?) if any.