Oil Pressure

[Tim Smith]

I run what ever is on sale at the moment. So there!

I figure that these 2.25's were never made to run fast or hard or on premium. So why spend up to $10 a quart for high end racing fluids if you are just driving a road going tractor?

Maybe I got too caught up in the WRX/Audi/VW comments... cause I'm all revved up now.

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By the way, I switched my Mercedes 300d with around 225,000 on the clock over to Mobil 1. And I think that was one of the worst decisions I ever made. After it got run in, I lost compression. I can't point my finger directly at the stuff (as the car did have a lot of miles on it) but I can at least wave my hand in the direction of the empty bottles of Mobil 1 and say I don't like it.

If your motor has a lot of miles on it and things are going just fine, then I suggest you stick with what works.

Cheers,
Tim

[Jim-ME]

I have been reading this thread since I started it and figured I owed it to everyone to let you know what I ended up doing. I drained the 10W-40 Valvoline and changed to 20W-50 Castrol GTX. I stayed with, but replaced with a new one, the K&N oil filter. As a result my idle oil pressure never drops below 20 psi and I'm content with that.
Jim

[TedW]

Tim: Isn't the 2.25 supposed to run on premium?

I don't have the owner's manual in front of me but that is my recollection. Does anyone have a manual handy to check?

[Tim Smith]

I don't have the owner's manual in front of me but that is my recollection. Does anyone have a manual handy to check?

Not as far as I know, but I don't have the book handy to quote it.

Any one have it handy?

[greenmeanie]

With 8:1 max compression and more likely 7:1 there is really no need to shoot for the high octane numbers. My emissions figures have always been a little better on 87 than 91 (AZ grades.)

Cheers
Gregor

[yorker]

4 cylinder petrol. This engine is seriously overbuilt (TerriAnn has 300K+ miles on hers). Compression is low so it runs on just about any type of petrol. It has a single downdraft carb, circular intake ports, roller cam, 20 Amp generator. The engine gets about 15 to 18 MPG and runs smoothly under load below 1000RPM. Some 2l engines have a multi-fuel capability whereby the engine can burn a petrol/diesel, or petrol/ kerosene mixture by adjusting the distributor. Some owners manuals state not to burn petrol with an octane rating of under 63 in the engine for performance reasons.

http://www.lrfaq.org/Series/FAQ.S.Engines.html

But didn't octane ratings change? I thought they did or they just figure them differently with an average or something...

[jac04]

My original owner's manual from my '63 states that the distributor is factory set for 80 octane, and the timing can be retarded as required using the vernier dial to eliminate pinging.

I also remember the same as yorker - I believe that the octane rating is calculated differently now.

[rovertek]

if your using a smiths combo guage i wouldnt go by the reading (they never read correctly anyhow) i would use a test guage such as mac or snap on for a correct reading you can also buy a SW guage for about $20 from your parts store and connect to the banjo fitting just be careful you have the proper thread pitch adapter, i have never seen an old engine read more than 45 and usually they are about 15 or 20 at idle, i allways use 20/50 castrol all year around, and remember when the LR was new it called for( sae 30 ) oil which is thicker cold then the 20/50 because it was not a multi grade oil ,the first number is the thickness of the oil cold, when the engine oil temp rises the the molicules of oil expand to the second number of the rating resulting in greater protection at higher temps, and if its not rapping i wouldnt worry about bearings, or pump unless your press test is lower than specified.

[jac04]

... and remember when the LR was new it called for( sae 30 ) oil which is thicker cold then the 20/50 because it was not a multi grade oil....

This is not an accurate statement.
For example, let's take a look at the specs for Exxon Superflo SAE 30 versus SAE 20W-50.

SAE 30:
Viscosity at 40 C = 100 cSt
Viscosity at 100 C = 11.5 cSt

SAE 20W-50
Viscosity at 40 C = 162 cSt
Viscosity at 100 C = 18.1 cSt

As you can see, the straight 30 weight oil actually has a lower low temp. viscosity than the 20W-50.
Here are the specs:

http://www.exxon.md/USA-English/Lubes/PDS/Pds_Files/glxxenpvlexsuperflo.pdf

[rovertek]

octane rating v timing

Not as far as I know, but I don't have the book handy to quote it.

Any one have it handy?

i have a late 2a manual and it reads for the 2.25 4 cyl, 8.0:1 comp: TDC when using 90 octane fuel, 3 deg ATDC when using 85 octane fuel,for 7.0:1 comp: 3 deg BTDC when using 83 octane fuel ,TDC when using 75 octane fuel , for the 2.6 six cyl., 7.8:1 comp :2 deg ATDC when using 90 octane , for 7.0:1 comp: TDC when using 90 octane, 2 deg BTDC when using 83 octane, so my take is dont use more than 90 octane and remember if you use lead additive (which most called for unless you have hardened seats) they usually raise the octane rating... should pinging develop move the vernier adjustment (octane selector) clockwise to retard slightly if needed.

[yorker]

I still meet old timers who swear by straight 30 weight oil... I'll stick to multigrade myself- I've tried to run 20w50 year round but this winter it really proved to be too thick for jan-fab use. The 88 still starts at -20F but it took a long time to build oil pressure.