Thanks to a number of people who responded to my oil posting. Some folks
pointed out that oil weights are actually table references which specify
*ranges* of viscosities, and that bad oil is not unknown either. Considering
that I have never seen such low pressure readings, especially with new oil and
even when it is cold, I can only conclude that this stuff is toward the low
end, even if it is spec'ed properly. It is going to be replaced right away,
probably with Castrol 10W-40.
When in doubt, check the book! So I did (he said sheepishly). The reprint
"Owner's Manual" doesn't say anything about the oil! The Haynes manual says
only Castrol GTX, multi-grade. (Thanks for the info, Haynes.) It does say
the oil pressure relief valve should be "53 lbf/in**2". (Well, it doesn't
actually say "in**2" but I can't write a decent superscript in ASCII.) I can
only suppose that "lbf" is some Britishism for pounds. Curiously, the pop-off
level is not that high, certainly near the range you might expect for cold oil
at higher rpm but (it is to be hoped) above what warm oil would show. So I
checked the Ultimate Authority, the Bentley manual. It gave viscosity ranges
for three temperature levels, interpreted to be something like:
-14F to 50F 10W-30
more normal range 10W-40 or 20W-40 or 10W-50 or 20W-50 or some such
combinations
hotter still something thicker yet but I am forgetting stuff now
So it looks like they really do want thicker oil rather than thinner. Okay,
I'll play by their rules (it's their game, after all). It still appears that
they don't care about the small differences between one grade and an "adjacent"
grade, but they do want it to be thicker. Learn something new every day...
Now about this stuff of converting a LHD car to RHD so you can take it home
to Jolly Ol'. In consider our LBC's to be a national treasure, so don't you
dare consider taking one back to Britain, thank you. :-)
Jim Muller
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