Yes, 20/50w oil is fine for the engine. And as a new owner, get yourself a workshop manual so you know where / what everything is, how it works and how to fix it. It will also show all of the greasing points and how to carry out regular maintenance. Knowing where to put the oil, water & petrol is a start though! Good luck
Sadly the 'inexpensive' 20W50 oil seems to have pretty much disappeared at the moment. Biggest help tip I offer is - to change the filter and make SURE the support plate and spring are present and correct inside the filter casing. Many get thrown away over the years with the filter at oil change time = no more filtering....... The engine doesn't like that.
ESM do castrol 20/50 which is very reasonable if you spend over the £60 needed for free shipping.
I'd also do the gearbox oil too at the same time. get 2 gallons so you have some for topping up.
That takes 20/50 too. No filter on this.
The diff is the only thing to take ep90.
Ignore any oil with Synthetic or Semi Synthetic on the label, go for the good old fashioned 20/50 stuff. If it says for basic or classic engines then it is good enough for Minor engines.
Also get a decent car jack and axle stands, do not use the standard jack which comes with the car.
Do not go under the car unless it is securely supported on stands
I use the asda cheap oil and find its fine for the minor never had any problems and recommended by members from here.
Not by all members!!
Oil that has no ratings on it (API or ACEA rating) is probably waste oil that's been recycled. I wouldn't touch it unless you just wanted to do an engine flush...
For about the ame price it's possible to get a 20/50 with a half decent rating. I think the ESM oil is rated SF (ie. about as good as oil got in the 1980's) and worth choosing everytimne compared to one without a rating.
Ray. MMOC#47368. Forum moderator.
Jan 06: The Minor SII Africa adventure: http://www.minor-detour.com
Oct 06: back from Dresden with my Trabant 601 Kombi
Jan 07: back from a month thru North Africa (via Timbuktu) in a S3 Landy
June 07 - back from Zwickau Trabi Treffen
Aug 07 & Aug 08 - back from the Lands End to Orkney in 71 pickup
Sept 2010 - finally gave up breaking down in a SII Landy...
where to break down next?
2013... managed to seize my 1275 just by driving it round the block