Castrol Magnatec thoughts?

[Albius]

Hi there guys

I will get an oil change soon as a part of my scheduled maintenance and test the compression before adding oil, so I would like to know if anybody of you guys has had a good experience with semi-synthetic oils and especially with the Magnatec variation of Castrol?
Any additional benefits/noises reductions with this oil?
I always have been using Mobil/Mopar 15W40 as a recommendation of the last workshop I used to get my services and I don't get rid of the "piston slap" noise. I would like to be in the best route talking about the oil I am buying for the car.
I know the owner's manual claims for 5W30. My 05 has 130,000 kms (80ish k miles) and my driving is 80% around the city.
Never snows here in winter. Probably the coldest would be 32ºF on winter and max temp could be ~105ºF in spring

Thanks for your help and suggestions guys!
Warm regards from Mexico!

[occasional demons]

I can't say i have any experience with it.

[jonnymopar]

I have never used the Magnatec. Actually I have never heard of it. But I've used Castrol Edge (was called Syntec) for many many miles with great results.
I've had better luck with Castrol than Mobil1, so that's what I run in all of my cars now.

[BlackRoseRacing]

15-40wt !!!!
Holy crap thats thick!
The last time I used that thick of oil was to help cushion the bearings of my old 2.2 Turbo from rod knock! And that was using conventional oil.
My SC 2.0 Magnum engine ran Synthetic 5-30w even with the massive intake temps. The 2.0 is known for piston slap as the engine was designed to have a slightly off set piston to help reduce restrictions in the cylinder walls. If you were told the heavy weight oil will reduce piston slap, I don't personally think the shop knows what there talking about as the only way the piston gets oiling is by splash or oil squirters and the 2.0 does not have the squirters.
I wouldn't recommend running that thick if an oil unless you know your engine has over 150,000 miles and there is some bearing noise, and even then the thicker oil will be just a band aid.....

PS - 15-40wt is mostly used in Diesel engines and not Gas engines.....

[occasional demons]

More viscous oil is also harder to pump, so it can take slightly longer to get oil pressure, and it can also have lower pressure at idle, especially when cold, as it doesn't flow into the oil pump as easily.

In my Jeep XJ, it had better idle oil pressure with synthetic 0w 30 than it did with synthetic 5w 30, both cold and operating temp. I never had an oil pressure gauge in the neon, so I can't say if it made a difference there.

But with minimum spec being 4 or 5 psi, I would want something that pumps as easily as possible. If you can boost that lower end of the spec window, by just using a different oil, that is part of regular maintenance, it's basically a free upgrade.

[JeremyJ]

I only run Mobil 1 full synthetic in everything. 5w30 in my Neon with a new shortblock and 10w30 in my 235K-mile Jeep XJ. I've run as thick as 15w50 in a high-mileage Neon. Never had an engine issue with anything I've owned, that got regular oil changes with synthetic. Honestly, as long as you're willing to change a little more often, even conventional oil will be just fine for a daily driver, so a synthetic blend will be more than adequate. Don't use cheap filters and pay attention to your oil change intervals. I pay extra for Mobil 1 oil and filters for everything, but I'm not exactly easy on my vehicles and I like the extra insurance that synthetic provides.

[occasional demons]

FWIW, Magnatec states it is fully synthetic.

It is available in the US, but IDK when it became available.

Castrol GTX MAGNATEC®, a leading Castrol engine oil brand, is now available in the US.

https://www.castrol.com/en_us/united-st ... r-oil.html

It's supposed to be at AutoZone, and the like. Even Walmart. I don't recall seeing it, but then I wasn't looking for it either.

I have used various brands over the years, Castrol, Pennzoil, Kendall, Mobil, etc, and the only one I had issues with was Valvoline. It was consumed pretty rapidly in that particular engine (a 383) when everything else was fine. Literally 3 quarts within 5 days.

I switched back to what I was using at that time, and it was back to normal oil consumption.

[BlackRoseRacing]

I your looking for something like what Castrol GTX Magnatec is claiming, then spend an extra couple bucks and use "MOA" from BG Industries.
https://www.bgprod.com/catalog/engine/bg-moa/
And no this is not some syrup you poor into an engine and assume it works. When I had work training I had to go to a few classes in Rochester, NY to learn about BG products. This MOA additive boosts the needed chemicals for engine protection and lubriaction. A can of this added to a conventional oil change will give you the same benefits as a synthetic oil change. When I asked the instructor about adding it to (at the time) my AMSOIL oil change the instructor got a little snippy with me...lol
Apparently AMSOIL products are made so well, this oil additive does nothing to add any benefits but when it comes to other oil manufacturers it enhances the protection qualities of even the best synthetic oils on the market.(except AMSOIL )
Years ago I ran this additive in my wife's Intrepid with a 3.5 in it, the motor had constant cooling system issues and she would over heat all the time when delivering mail for the USPS. There were many times she would keep going while the motor was overheating and puking coolant everywhere because she had to keep moving to deliver the mail. As many times the motor cooked itself, there was never any internal damage due to any type of oil breakdown or lubrication. And this car I was using the recommended conventional oil.
Another oil weight example.....
My mothers old 2000 Jeep Cherokee was having oil pressure issues where the idiot light would come on all the time. The motor had over 200,000 miles on it and it always ran 10-30w oil. It was finally getting to the point where I decided to go synthetic and a thicker oil. I ran 15-40w in her 4.0 and she never complained about the oil light anymore. Long story short her cam bearings were shot and she was losing oil pressure between the cam and bearings. The motor lasted about another 60,000 miles before it started to misfire and then the cam broke.
My old Slant Six Volare', I ran 15-40w in that car because it slowed down the rear main seal leak. This motor had the old school "rope" seal as a rear main gasket(yes it was actually rope from the factory) I actually ran for the longest time "used" tractor oil from a farm because it was free and the oil leak was getting to expensive.
Other than that, I have not seen any need for anything thicker than 5-30 in the past 10years. At one point I even switched to 0-20w synthetic in my SC Neon because at that time thats what the SRT's were using, but I figured with the heat generated I was better off switching back to a thicker oil to be safe......

These are my experiences and everyones opinions or preferences may be different

[racer12306]

Way too thick especially for your climate (assuming Canada because of KMs). You could possibly kill the engine on a really cold winter day without a block heater.


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[occasional demons]

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Albius
2GN Member
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Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2014 11:06 am
Location: Mexico
Contact: Contact Albius

The other northern border.

[racer12306]

Still learning tapatalk lol

[rondert]

I only use Mobil 1 full synthetic and my engine seems to like it so I have no reason yet to try a different brand.