60’000 miles on cheap supermarket oil...

[Ruairidh Dunford]

No crank wear to speak of.

No idea.

Yes - about 0.010" of wear, as an average on the four bores.

I was surprised at how little, almost all the sumps I remove from A7s are deep in sludge - the pan above is well below what I normally find.

[Charles P]

The sump had about 3mm of sediment at it’s deepest.

This is over 19 years of use and 64’000 miles.

I'm mildly surprised that you hadn't dropped the sump for a cursory wipe around and clean of the gauze in that time. 
I doff my cap to your confidence!

Charles

[Ruairidh Dunford]

I had surmised that if the engine was cleaned thoroughly at outset and the oil changed regularly, I would not need to do so.

This is first engine I have stripped after such mileage that I knew for sure how built, how driven, what oil went in and how often it came out.

I was expecting to see much more wear and much more crud in the sump.

Almost all of it can go back together as is.

I have never, ever, altered the crank oil troughs on Pheonix shafts. Many have advocated this to me as they feel the design, as produced, is inadequate. The big ends on this engine are in very good condition as can be seen - despite no mods.

[Bob Culver]

I am surprised. In the 1960s with the engine in various states, and using various oils including the very cheapest produced no sludge but did do a lot of long open road running.
In the 1980s used jap imports which had done a lot of traffic running were notorious for goo, and developed the same here with the same use. API SG oil was introduced as the cure.
Maybe instead of exotic oils we should all be considering thermostats. If someone marketed a simple neat in hose fitting could sell well.
Would expect high oil consumption with .010 taper

[Tony Griffiths]

As for the "sealed for life" auto box, what a load of rubbish. Change the fluid every 40k

DSG gearboxes need regular changes - every 40,000 miles. Although the DSG box is a conventional gearbox (and not the slush type) with computer control of gear selection, it has many small valves and orifices that need clean oil. I've seen the oil out of a DSG gearbox at 30,000 miles and it was much darker than the new oil and appeared to be thicker. So, 40,000 miles might well be far too long for the private owner, but ideal for the fleet man who moves cars on before big service bills hit home.

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Has anyone tried using synthetic oil, such as Mobil 1?

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Would expect high oil consumption with .010 taper

Not particularly - possibly 500-600 miles to the pint at the end, certainly no smoke. It was beginning to develop a rattle at tick over and when first starting however, hence the reason I pulled it.

[Bob Culver]

Hi Ruairidh

If car is .010 taper and lip never removed it must be considerable. Perhaps a bout of high revs on the overrun overloaded the ring land.
If the mains lasted 60,000 something is working well. My father used to replace one or all about every two years, less than 10,000!
What API rating is claimed for the 20W/50?

[Ruairidh Dunford]

No idea Bob - I have simply used the cheapest 20/50 oil I could find and put it in, then replaced it again after about 2000 miles.

I have had several engines come in over the years where bore wear was exceptional but with no obvious smoke or oil loss, just clatters.

Quite a lot of smokers come in with almost no wear but rings that are not bedded in correctly.

This particular engine was run in on 6 week tour that covered around 5000 miles - continual driving and load most likely help set it up for long service.

The pistons I use require at least 3000 miles of careful bed-in before they work efficiently - this was certainly the case with the cars replacement engine on our 2018 tour. Oil use reduced to almost nothing after this figure with gradual improvements each day to that point.

[John3528]

Hi Ruairidh,

Do you bother to angle the oil jets to better hit the troughs in the crank - a la Forrest mod on Page 253 in the Austin Seven Companion?

[Ruairidh Dunford]

I always position the jets to suit each crank in each crankcase. However - Phoenix cranks are not symmetrical so you often have to aim in the middle point and that can be some way from the trough.