By jmon on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 11:57 am: Edit

hello all...i am curious as to what kind of oil everyone is running in their truck (disco1) i would also like some advice on what kind i should be putting in mine...i have been told anything from 10w40 to 20w50...now i am reading 5w30...i am going to be going on my annual baja trip soon and would also like to know what would be the best oil to run for a desert offroad trip last three months....?

next question is what kind of differential oil should i put in when changing the oil?

thanks for all your responses in advance

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 01:14 pm: Edit

Land Rover Disco glove box, p. 139:




Hope that helps....

-L

By JEEPETR on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 02:29 pm: Edit

Hello,

Okay, this is an area that is subject to much opinion, so keep in mind that at least some of what I am going to say is based upon mine.

That being said, I highly recommend synthetic lubricants, and REDLINE brand in particular. Yes they are expensive (~ $8/quart, depending), but my favorite by far. For the differentials, I would recommend to you 75W90 RedLine Gear oil (or possibly 80W140 if you do allot of heavily loaded travel, or towing in conditions above freezing). Transfer case same recommendation (75W90, or 80W140 depending upon load/conditions). Transmission (You don't mention auto or manual) I Would recommend RedLine's High Temp ATF for an autobox, or RedLine's MTL (highly) for a Manual box.

For the engine, again, allot is going to depend upon load/conditions and temperatures. Many believe the Rover V-8 (Myself included) benefits from a higher viscosity oil. I myself wouldn't recommend an oil below 10W40, and would be perfectly happy with 20W50, assuming you are not dealing with temperatures much below freezing. Redline also has a racing oil line that is quoted as a straight weight oil, but meets the specifications for multigrade oils (Ex. Race 40WT is equivalent to a Petroleum 15W40. I also like and Use K&N Oil Filters (P/N: HP-3001).

Myself, I run Redline 40WT Race oil (Because of its availability to me, but would run 15W50 otherwise) in the summer and I am considering switching back to 10W40 for Winter. As for the Drive train, I run 75W90 in the differentials and Transfer case, and MTL in the gearbox (I have a manual).

Interesting side note for an manual transmission owners: I was hesitant to switch to MTL in the gearbox because of the internal pump, even though the flow characteristics of the MTL seemed (on Paper) to be as good as or better than petroleum ATFs. However, I found some information on an Australian Oil manufacturer (Caltex) that markets a product called MTF-94. It is apparently approved by Land Rover for use in the R380, LT77 series manual boxes, and its specs are very similar to the RedLine MTL. Both of these lubricants are gear oil rated and will provide much increased protection for the manual boxes in the Land Rovers..

www.caltex.com.au/prods/caltexmtf-94.html

~Scott T.
'95 D-90 (JEEPETR)
'96 Discovery (5-Speed)

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 02:37 pm: Edit

With traditional oils, the narrower the range of your oil, the more reliable... ie., a pick 10w30 or 20w50 over 5w50... Single-weights, ie. 30wt, would be great if you could still find such... But, the ranges help give you a bit of elbow room for start-up conditions. Now, the synthetics, they've begun to offer what appear to be single-weights, but are probably better at wider ranges than traditional oils.

I use 10w40 in my Series year- round, will probably migrate to 20w50 for summer use next summer.

For the Disco I'm using 5w30, for now. As I put more miles on, I'll go heavier... on to 10w40, and later to 20w50.

I like the idea of synthetics, but if you change your oil as often as you should, that's gonna get expensive fast... I use regular oils, but change 'em....

IMHO, YMMV....

By Jeff Bieler (Mrbieler) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 02:54 pm: Edit

I use 20W50 in both my wifes D1 and my IIA. Thanks to the oil filter adapter, they share a common filter as well. I don't use synthetic, but I do change the fluids every 3~4k miles. Here in Los Angeles the temp changes are mild so I use the narrow range oil.

The Disco gets 80W90 Mobile synthetic in the diffs. The Series gets tradtional 80W90. Have not had to change the Disco gear box or t-box yet as it got new fluids from the dealer just after we bought it last March.

Also, I have started to use Lucas Oil Additive in the Series. It was done WONDERS to quiet gears, the diffs, and has reduced smoke on start up (leaky valve guides). We use it in the tanks at the armored museum I volunteer at. I am not aware of anyone using it in a more modern vehicle.

By jmon on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 10:01 pm: Edit

thanks for all of the responses...so for desert trips in baja where the temp will range from high 90's to mid 50's at night..20W 50 or 15w 40..are either of these good choices? also for the differentials i will be doing a lot of wheeling with added weight (in general besides mexico)so if i read the posts correct the choice would be either 80w 140 or 80W 90...now when using full synthetic in the differentials do i need to "clean" all the regular oil out of the differentials?

also i currently am running 20w 50 synthetic blend in my truck at the moment..if i want to go full synthetic then do i need to "clean" out the regular oil as well?
thanks guys for all your help..

By jmon on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 10:02 pm: Edit

oh yeah i have 95 disco 1 with automatic trans..and 98k miles...

By JEEPETR on Wednesday, October 24, 2001 - 12:40 pm: Edit

Hey jmon,

If It were me, I think I would run the RedLine 80W140 in the differentials and transfer case, RedLine High Temp. ATF in the tranny, and RedLine 40WT race oil in the motor (15W40) or RedLine 20W50 (about the same really).

You do not "need" to "clean" out the old oil. The differentials and transfer case, as well as the engine will tolerate the slight mixing of the left over dino juice just fine. It may take a change or two to rid the systems of the original dino juice, but it will not effect the performance of the new synthetic fluids. Same goes for the auto tranny, though you may want to consider having it flushed, I would if it were not prohibitively expensive.

~Scott T.
'95 D-90 (JEEPETR)
'96 Discovery (5-Speed)

By Bill Bettridge (Billb) on Wednesday, October 24, 2001 - 12:58 pm: Edit

Jmon/Scott - Thhe only area I would be wary of is synthetic ATF in the ZF box. I'm a big believer in synthetics, but I also notice the large empty spot in my bank account after a new trans at 55K - about 10K after switching to synthetic. No definite proof that synthetic caused the failure, but I did alot of checking on MB and BMW boards afterwards and similar problems were discussed there.

Dexronn III is cheap enough to change often - just leave the filter alone and change the fluid frequently.