Engine oil confusion

Engine oil has been discussed numerous times on the forum but this has led to a degree of confusion.
I have a 1984 series 3 2.25 diesel. One of the first things I intend to do is an oil change, but from this and other forum searches I've found I should be using the following:

10W-40
15W-40
20W-50

Among others :S

The engine is, as expected, very clattery, so I'm thinking thicker oil will ensure that wear is kept to a minimum, but what do people think I should be using?

Thanks in advance.

id find out why its clattery ,thicker oil wont save a crank if bearings are poor ,any of those oils will do

If the engine is "clattery", it needs sorting out (it shouldn't be expected coz it's a Land Rover)

OK, clattery was a poor choice of words.
It's how my other half described it when comparing it to a nice, modern, common rail, purring Diesel engine.
It's loud (going to give the exhaust a good check ASAP, might be some blowing) but there's no clattering on idol and it revs willingly with only a change in volume, no additional rattling noises from the engine.

Some of the noise can be apportioned to the loss of one of the exhaust hangers, the rubber strips which hang down from the chassis to suspend the exhaust and allow a little movement. I'd love to fit a new one but google searches turn up only metal brackets. Is it called an exhaust hanger? Exhaust strap? Flagellation strip?
If I could find the damned thing to buy one I'd replace it but it seems I'm missing some technical term to describe it.
Any clues?

Oh and back to the original, badly phrased question, thanks Jamesmartin. Is any one of them a better choice than the others?
I was going to go with Halfords own 15w-40 mineral oil for older Diesel engines.

One last dumb question on this front, how much oil for a full oil change? I found a suggestion it was 6 litres.

From an oil perspective I would use 20w/50. I've deliberated which oil would be best and in the end I contacted the tech team at Opie Oils. It was recommended to use Millers CLassic 20/50. This seems to be one of he few oils of this grade to contain detergents and therefore suitable for a diesel lump.

These? Rubber Strap - Exhaust - Land Rover Part 592778 There are a bunch of metal brackets which go together with that to form a full mount. Have a search on here for the series parts manual.

I stick 20/50 in as it's a bit old and oil burny.

According to the green bible (workshop manual), these are the recommendations for temperature ranges:

-20 to +30 = 10W/40 or 10W50
-10 to +30 = 15W40 or 15W50
0 to +30 = 20W40 or 20W50

HTH,
Robin.

Fantastic stuff everyone, many thanks!

Think I'll go for Halfords 15w40 for the moment. I'm hoping to do an minor engine overhaul in the not too distant future (should tax my rusty mechanic skills :S) and I'll put in the more expensive stuff once that's done.

I've ordered the Haynes manuals (and found a few manuals online) so hopefully that will help belay the newbie questions once they turn up.

Trax - those rubber straps look nothing like mine :S
Will try and get a picture later, but they are a long thin rubber strap, with a single bolt at the top bolting it to a chassis mount. The bottom end has a slightly curved metal plate which sit atop the pipe and is held in place with a U bolt.

Any idea on oil capacity for my oil change? The manual I found online seems to list every other capacity but not this one.

6 with just shy of another if you are changing the filter.

Do a search, you'll find a link to a lot of manuals and parts books.

20 50 mineral oil from asda cheap and chearfull a machanic we know swears by the stuff in older cars espicailly old landys £13ish for 5 litres
just done mine and the stuf that came out looked nuclear (20 years of crap)

I've been using 20w50 from Halfords (comes in a cool tin!) but £13 from Asda is quite a bit cheaper, I'll have a look there next time.

I was thinking about using this!Carlube Daytona 20W50 Motor Oil, 5010373896303

I'd be careful with some of the cheaper oils. They may be the correct grade but most 20/50's don't have the additives (detergents) for diesel engines. You don't want sludging!

lammy57 said:

I was thinking about using this!Carlube Daytona 20W50 Motor Oil, 5010373896303

Click to expand...

Then go for it.

Land Raver said:

I'd be careful with some of the cheaper oils. They may be the correct grade but most 20/50's don't have the additives (detergents) for diesel engines. You don't want sludging!

Click to expand...

Not needed anyway.