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Old 10th October 2021, 07:02   #1
bearhouse
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Default 2.5 V6 Official Oil spec & Engine Flush?

Hi All,

My Rover 75 2.5 V6 is due an oil service. Question, what is the official Rover recommended oil spec?

My engine (top) rattles. I have tried different oil specs in the past which have helped but I can remember what I used now. So any recommendations?

Also, should I use Carlube engine flushing fluid or something like Wynns. I'm assuming it won't hurt to clean out the hydraulic tappets?

Any and all advice greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Terry
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Old 10th October 2021, 07:19   #2
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Good morning Terry,

The official recommendation for your Rover KV6 engine is 10W40 meeting specification ACEA A2 (you will find that they all exceed this now so there's no problem there). 5W40 is also shown as suitable for localities where winter temperatures below minus 30˚C are encountered but nothing thinner than that.

It will be beneficial to flush the hydraulic tappets (I've done it successfully). I'm not convinced by additives such as Wynn's to already contaminated oil so I use Comma Flush Out which temporarily replaces the engine oil (at idle only) for the cleaning process. It is specifically designed for the purpose so is perfectly safe. If your mileage is high and the engine has had infrequent oil changes, you may need more than one session with Flush Out.

I hope this is helpful and don't forget to let us know the result.

Simon
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Old 10th October 2021, 08:57   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bearhouse View Post
...........

Also, should I use Carlube engine flushing fluid or something like Wynns. I'm assuming it won't hurt to clean out the hydraulic tappets?

Any and all advice greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Terry

Has your car been neglected to the extent that it needs an engine flush with a purpose made chemical?

Personally, I would only ever flush with oil meeting the manufacturer's spec.

Whenever I have bought a car, I have changed the oil and filter, driven between 100 and 1k miles and changed again.
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Old 10th October 2021, 09:15   #4
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... an engine flush with a purpose made chemical?
Hi Maninder,

Maybe you'll be somewhat reassured to know that Flush Out is mineral oil with added ... err ... Well, who knows, possibly nothing is added as the label doesn't admit to any other ingredient.

Simon
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Old 10th October 2021, 10:52   #5
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Morning Simon,

Therein lies the problem. It is the 'high performance detergents and cleaning agents' that manufacturers claim to be added to the oil that would concern me. By definition they must be more aggressive than the detergents in normal oil to be of value.

My thinking is that if an engine has had a regular pre-oil-replacement flush throughout its life then there is no harm in continuing with the practice or stopping it as the engine gets older.

It is when the engine has not had such a treatment from new or near-new that I would worry about using a dedicated flushing agent. My approach would be to use a mild flushing agent i.e. normal oil. But this is a personal preference as opposed to a statement that this is the best approach.

Amsoil, who produce oils and flushing agents, have a useful and I feel balanced write-up on their website here.

https://amsoil.eu/blog/is-an-engine-flush-good-or-bad/


Maninder.
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Old 10th October 2021, 11:24   #6
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Default Magnatec 5W30?

Hi,

Many thanks for all the replies. Looking back in my records, I was recommended by someone on here back in 2015 to try 5W30 rather than the recommended 10W40. This is because I bought a replacement engine which hadn't been looked after and rattles (possible hydraulic tappets) from the top. I'm not sure if 5W30 is thinner or thicker and what the thinking is.

Any advise appreciated.

Regards,

Terry.
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Old 10th October 2021, 11:55   #7
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Hi Terry,

You'll smile at this. The 'W' stands for winter! The figure preceding it indicates the oil's viscosity, or thickness, at low ambient temperatures (i.e. local climate conditions). An oil labelled 5 will be thinner than one labelled 10.
The figure following the 'W' indicates the viscosity at higher ambient temperatures. MG Rover doesn't recommend any oil below '40' in this category for the KV6.

You say that your replacement engine hasn't been looked after. In these circumstances it's assumed that more mechanical wear will have taken place and so it's usual to utilise the protection of a higher viscosity oil than 10W40 not a thinner one. However, if you consider that the only problem is noisy hydraulic tappets then I still recommend a flushing oil rather than changing to a grade not recommended by the manufacturer.

Is that any clearer?

Simon
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Old 10th October 2021, 14:10   #8
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I would support Simon's advice as articulated above - well almost.

Personally, I would still not flush with a flushing fluid but change over to a 5W40 synthetic oil for say 1k miles and note whether the tappet noise gets better or worse especially at lower temperatures.

Ultimately I would stick with either 5W40 (if better) or having used it to 'flush' the engine over 1k miles, start using a really high quality fully synthetic 10W40 oil e.g. https://www.millersoils-shop.co.uk/e...w40-engine-oil

Opie oils are selling it at a really low price currently. https://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-74220-m...waAqh3EALw_wcB

Last edited by MSS; 10th October 2021 at 14:13..
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Old 19th November 2021, 08:40   #9
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Default X-Flow Flush Out and 5W-40 Oil.

Just to update that I have had the engine flushed with X-Flow Flush Out and then used 5W-40 Oil. The rattling is MUCH improved. It still rattles a little on start-up when totally goes once warm when I assume the oil thins a bit. The noise was always present when using the correctly specified oil so the thiner oil has helped for sure. Thanks for all the advice.
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Old 19th November 2021, 09:29   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bearhouse View Post
Just to update that I have had the engine flushed with X-Flow Flush Out and then used 5W-40 Oil ... The noise was always present when using the correctly specified oil so the thiner oil has helped for sure.
Thanks Terry for coming back to report a successful outcome.

Since you used Flush Out followed by a lower viscosity oil than is usual, it is not safe to conclude that the improvement is due to the 5W40 engine oil. It is very likely that you'd have got the same result had you used 10W40.

At the next oil change I'd recommend another dose of Flush Out to try to eliminate any remaining hydraulic tappet noise. It's the removal of contamination which is important and Flush Out is specifically intended to achieve that. Don't leave it anywhere near as long as 15,000 miles though will you!

Simon
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