Ok Ive finally sorted the valve clearences and changed the coolant today :auto: and my 48k 1.3 Mpi engine is running perfectly. (They really are nice engines once sorted, quiet and revvy :hotdevil:)

My felly now gets 40mpg when crusing at 80mph <-- i think for an old petrol this is amazing.

With winter comming and it getting colder, I was thinking about using a good 5W-40 or 10W-40 to protect the engine better from cold.

I know the 1.3 is based on an old design so is fully or semi synthetic really necessary ?

Does anyone have any opinions on supermarket oil ? Tesco do 4L of 10W40 for £7.40 is this a bad idea ? It doesnt say its semi synthetic ... so for the price its probably not!!!

What is the difference between ACEA A2/B2 and A3/B3 .... all the supermarket oils are A2 and more expensice ones are A3 .... again with the engine design being older does this matter ?????

just thinking out loud hear. but, as the engines been developed over its many incarnations. the seals etc... may well have been modernized, thus the need for semi synth

Good point pinkskud, they probably have, as the original skoda 1.3 did not produce as much power.

I cant imagine either tesco or asda produce their own oil, could it just be rebranded castrol gtx ?

I guess if oil is anything like food then buying tesco engine oil is like eating tesco value pizza instead of a Dr. Oetker Ristorante pizza: yes the value pizza is technically still classed as a pizza, but you certainly wouldnt feed it to your children !!!

Always use the latest/highest spec oils available. The oil is all that stands between you and a bill for a new engine! :eek:

The missus's 1.4MPi Fabia gets Castrol GTX, which meets whatever spec it is that's listed in the manual - it's not all that much more than own-brand stuff, and like Ken's just said, you're risking a three-figure bill for the sake of maybe a tenner every oil change...

40mpg ain't bad too - SWMBO's car got 40mpg (on the computer, so maybe 37-38 is more realistic ) on our recent trip to North Wales, although as that's Sheriff Richard Brunstrom's territory, I was even more studious than usual regarding the speed limit. Still, for a mix of motorway / dual carriageway, and twisty A- / B-road I was still impressed! That and a clean MoT pass the other day (no advisories), I'm also a firm fan of the MPi unit!

the value pizza is technically still classed as a pizza, but you certainly wouldnt feed it to your children !!!

i was fed value food as a kid! never did me any harm :orb_bonk:

Mines due for a service.

Currently got semi synth 15w40 Magnatec but am going to change to a 10w40 semi.

I have been advised not to use Magnatec.

So far I could get 10w40 Castrol High Mileage up to £20

or a 10w40 AC Delco oil from a car spare shop. for around £15

The oil from a dealer/VW specialist is £20

But which should i choose?

Mines due for a service.

Currently got semi synth 15w40 Magnatec but am going to change to a 10w40 semi.

I have been advised not to use Magnatec.

So far I could get 10w40 Castrol High Mileage up to £20

or a 10w40 AC Delco oil from a car spare shop. for around £15

The oil from a dealer/VW specialist is £20

But which should i choose?

Why were you advised not to use Magnatec? Just wondering cause mines probably up for a change and I've got Magnatec in it at the moment.

Thanks

Read here... Car Bibles : The Engine Oil Bible it's long and boring but very informative.

The last oil I filled up with and bought was ASDA 10w - 40 which is A2 rated. I think the bigger ASDA's now have a semi-synthetic (light blue bottle) that is the better A3 rated. I think basically if you use A2 it's better to change it sooner than if you put in A3.

The ASDA Wallmart supercentres have Castrol High Mileage for £12.99 I think (could be wrong) and it's £14.99 in Wilkinsons. Read above link about High Mileage oils.

My engine, while not guzzling the oil down, needs maybe a litre every thousand miles, and there's a small leak I can't fix, so I don't really have the heart to put very expensive oil in. For my next fill I have some oil from Lidl which was £6.99 I think for 5 litres, is called Winergy 15w-40 and is A3 rated and says it has synthetic additives (not sure if this makes it officially a semi-synthetic). It was a special a while back but some stores still have it in stock. If you want exact specs I can fish a bottle out.

I can't see why not to use magnatec unless your car eats the oil and you'll just be topping up all the time.

I cant imagine either tesco or asda produce their own oil, could it just be rebranded castrol gtx ?

I'd imagine it's more likely a "comma" oil as they seem to do lots of things that pop up in different brands. It will definitely be produced on behalf of asda though by a bigger MFR who gives them a good deal on the vast volumes of bottles they sell.

The last oil I filled up with and bought was ASDA 10w - 40

I saw this and chickened out last minute (almost reached the checkout) :sofahide:

I did run my 158k 1.3 VW polo on tesco own brand 10W-40 for 8000 miles before i wrote it off!

all it needed was new brake pads ... and i was meaning to do it the next weekend ... honest!

Anyway Ive now bought 5L of Texaco Havoline semi-synth 10W-40 A3 B3 B4

(£12.98 - morrisons petrol station, or £13.44 in asda)

I was told Magnatec runs quite thin at high temps

I've been running Magnatec in there since 2006

It's had 2 services once in 06 and another in 07 both times had Magnatec without an issue.

I'm guessing it's just personal preference.

I can't comment on oil chemisry in detail, but the link from ANewman in post #9 confirms my opinion that an oil basically is not and can not be magnetic or ionic. Even if it were magnetic, just how much use will it be in an engine where the only ferrous reciprocating parts are the crankshaft and camshaft?

And in this context I've never opened up a valve chest on a used (and dead cold) engine and not found the interior oily anyway.

That looks nasty!

What did you hit/hit you? a bollard

I wrote my Astra 95 off back in 2005

castrol magnetec should not be any different.

its SAE rating is the truth as its tested.

so 10w 40 for example,

would still be fine at higher temperatures due to the fact it can change its viscosity to a thicker type! :P

also a thinner oil, 0w 30 wouldn't be so good and would degrade and loose its viscosity at high tempreatures! :eek:

However what rating would you use SJ or older version maybe SG?

or CG for a diesel?:confused:

If no one know what im talking about - its for the year of engine manufacturer, containing serveral additives to help particualar motors.

semi sythetic should be fine because it uses a mixture of mineral and sythetic.

they arn't really old motors are they.

Was following a rental transit doing 47mph on a 60mph road ... because i am very impatient and easily made cross, i instantly want to overtake, assuming it was being driven by someone not used to driving a van.

Had a look around (following at about 7 metres) there was nothing ahead (thought it could have been a moped doing 45ish) but no moped just one slow van ahead.

I started to go for it 3000rpm ... 3500rpm ... then i saw a lorry comming the other way and indicated back in, i was pulling back in behind the van.

The following happened in about the space of 2-3 seconds:

Then the van driver actually STOOD on his brake pedal, going from 47 to 25 in the space of a few metres, his brake lights blazing in my face... as fast as i could I stood on my brake pedal managing to get down from 47 to about 38. Initial bite was poor, pressing harder locked the front wheels at 38. I made contact HARD with the back right corner of the van, after which my car slewed sideways onto the opposite side if the road. I ended up looking head on at a 10 ton lorry, i managed to regain control and pullover onto the verge.

In a tense state i banged on the window of the van, when the driver got out I said "what the f**k were you doing" ... "why did you slam on the brakes" ...

Van driver: "I didnt brake"

Me: "Why was the last thing i saw before hitting you your brake lights blazing in my face ???"

Van driver: "I didnt brake"

later on he said "he was slowing down to let me past" WTF ???

Anyway due to the way insurance claims work ... it was my fault for not leaving enough braking distance, but overtaking with a 55bhp car means you have to be close to the car infornt before you start a manauver.

Anyway due to the way insurance claims work ... it was my fault for not leaving enough braking distance, but overtaking with a 55bhp car means you have to be close to the car infornt before you start a manauver.

I had a similar event happen to me before, someone tailgated me inches off my

back and they swiftly undertook me and squeezed in front of me then braked

hard close in front of me, not sure if it was because they were at a speed camera

or trying to annoy me or both, but it shook me up at the time.

As for overtaking, I don't think a poorly powered car means you need to be close

to another vehicle before overtaking. It's best to keep your distance as you can

see better ahead, especially past vans and lorries etc and wait for a long straight. You can then

down shift a gear or build up the revs whilst you get closer to the van and

overtake. Although you would of course have to be close behind the van if you

abandoned an overtake manouevere.

Ufortunately the way insurance claims works opens up the world to insurance

scamsters who slam on the brakes in front of you at roundabouts or motorway

slip roads, in some cases disconnecting brake lights. You go into the back of them

and they claim for the car, whiplash for all passengers and everything.

OUCH!

Thats harsh

On fast roads I tend to leave not so much a large gap but enough so I look a fair distance ahead as the brakes on my Felly although good the pedal lacks bite meaning I have to apply let go then reapply to bite properly.

I have had a few hairy overtaking moments though!!!

My Dad doesn't like my Felly brakes.

We were on a 40mph road with my Dad driving enough distance to the car in front approaching a speed camera and the car in front was doing 40mph as the distance didnt increase then the guy brakes - hard - to scrub his speed to 30mph

My Skoda nearly ploughed straight through his boot!! needless to say he got treated to a nice blast of Skoda horn.

The ASDA Wallmart supercentres have Castrol High Mileage for £12.99 I think (could be wrong) and it's £14.99 in Wilkinsons. Read above link about High Mileage oils.

Asda do indeed have the Castrol high mileage stuff for about £14

Think i may give that a bash.

Thing is they have a Castrol 10w40 and then the Castrol high mileage 15w40

I can get Millers 10w/40 for £20 though.

Although 15w40 seems cheaper than 10w/40 why is that?

I can get Millers 10w/40 for £20 though.

Is that Millers Light? :dtp:

The higher the viscosity of an oil, the cheaper it is to "crack" from crude, maybe that's why lighter oil is more expensive.

The higher the viscosity, the longer it will take to break down into thin, useless stuff & lumps of gunk, though it does impede performance a bit - imagine putting treacle-like oil in! :eek:

There's a useful thread in the tech area from the OILman that explains a lot more. http://www.briskoda.net/forums/technical-guides/oil-advice-recommendations-here/22016/

Well my oil cost £7 from Morrisons and is full fat non of this synthetic stuff!!

Carlube 10w40 is the one you can't go wrong as it has the same APi spec as more expensive oil!!

At the end of the day the oil needs to be dropped every 5-6k on a 1.3 so this stuff is more than up for the job

:P

My Felly 1.6 is "mayonnaising"

I'm thinking about having my head gasket replaced

But the Car Bibles sugests the Scavenger hose is blocked

But where is the Scavenger hose?

pic of my engine bay

I had this recently. Apparently this time of year + short trips can make it happen, and before getting the head gasket replaced it's a good idea to get it pressure tested to check if it is the head gasked.

It looks like by "scavenger hose" they mean the exhaust gas recirculation hose. I know where it is on the 1.3, but my guess is in your case it's obscured by that air filter box that says Skoda 1.6mpi.

:iagree:

My Felly 1.6 is "mayonnaising"

I'm thinking about having my head gasket replaced

But the Car Bibles sugests the Scavenger hose is blocked

But where is the Scavenger hose?

pic of my engine bay

And I think they probably mean the crank case scavenger hose. On the 1.6 there's a big black plastic box on the back of the engine below the inlet manifild with hoses running up to the air filter or possibly the inlet manifold. Pull the hose off & check for blockags. If the oil separator (the actual box) is clogged up, it cannot be dismantled, tho if you do take it off - not sure how, it says it's "sealed" to the crank case - it may be possible to swoosh some solvent (petrol?) round the inside to clear it a bit.

i had a similar problem on an old triumph acclaim which got to the stage of it looking like a merangue every time i opened the filler cap!

there are other reasons for mayonnaise though that have nothing to do with the head gasket so i wouldn't worry unless there is more evidence there. Short trips, moisture and breathing can all contribute.