oil

that is the best oil to run in my 225 . i was going to use 10w30 and a friend said it would be to thin for colo. he thinks 15w40 and i don't know
if that will work good in the cold , i think it would be good no a hot summer day or off roading i just don't know . maybe 10w40 all around .the engine is rebulit so i want to stay with a good all around oil
what oil do some of you guys use .

 

My favorite oil is Castrol. I run 10-30w.. I think that 10-30 has more lube in it than 10-40.. because they put more additives in the 10-40 so it'll strech. But, im not sure.. im not a oil techican. I just go by from what I hear and sounds right. I think its a good idea to stick with one brand of oil in a motor.. and weight if you can.

 

I used 10-30 as well.. I use mobile oil and have never had an engine fail due to oil failure(sometimes due to operators big foot, but never due to oil). I agree with finding the brand you like and sticking to it. I learned from an independant study in 2004 that castrol was one of the first to break down under EXTREME heat. No offense castrol guys, The conditions in this test are far and beyond what your engine will ever see. Even under extreme off roading conditions, Use the brand you like, and stick to it. I agree with 10-30. It does great for me.Good luck

 

I used to use 20-50W Valvoline when I changed my own oil. Now I use 10-30 Pennzoil becasue that's what the Jiffy Lube uses... it's too hard to change your own oil when you don't have a driveway. Plus, $19.95 is worth a lot less to me now than it used to be.

I'd say pick a quality brand that's easy to obtain, and a viscosity appropriate to the weather. I'm skeptical that the mixing of brands matters at all. JMO it's way more important to change the oil regularly and often than which brand you use.

 

I use 5/30 synthetic, but then again it doesn't get that cold here. I'm really bad about oil changes (let my daily driver go for 8 months ) That's not recommended by the way.

 

I use the least expensive oil from Wal-Mart a brand called Super Tech, foolish name for an 87 cent quart of oil. Ever wonder who makes it for Wal-Mart. MOBIL!

 

use shell rotella 15w-40 in jeep and truck.

 

I use 10W-30 in everything...my truck, jeep, tractors... It does get pretty cold here in the winter (usually into the -20's) so I guess I could run 5W-30 during the winters, but I just keep it simple and stick with the 10-30.

 

Mine is pretty worn out, and 20W50 is what it is living on.
If yours is new, then 10W40 should be fine. Stick with one brand, and keep it clean.
-Hill

 

I prefer Kendall GT1, but use Castrol a lot because it's more availabe here. 10-40

 

Mobil 1 10W-30 synthetic.. the only way to fly....



BUBBA

 

I think synthetics are great for daily drivers but you got to be carfull with synthetics exspecially with high preformace motors that run over or around 215 , they dont break down for a reason. They do not asorb the heat like standard oil hence there more durable. Case in point the super truck racers were having alot of problems with droped valves but physically there was no sign of the cause. one of the engine shops in farmville va took it apon there selfs to get to the bottom of it. they put one of there motors the built for the truck series on the dyno and opened her up to 8000 rpms (800 to1300 rpms more then they turn on the track) wih a quick 1000 rpm drop and raise once a minute they had no problems running the standard 20-50w castrol for 2 hours, they tried it again with valvilin then agian with union 76 no problems with any one of the motors. They made a call to the race shops they deal with that were having the valve problems and told them they couldnt simulate the problem in the shop and ask was they doing any thing differnt to there motors every one of them said not really we drop it in put oil in it and jet the carb to wwhat ever it needs to be for the race night temp and thats it. Of corse the shop ask them what type of oil were they running they all were running some brand of synthetic 20 50 so the shop tried there test with a syn then , no prob. They pulled the motor down to check over it saw no apprent damage untill the checked the valve spring pressure ..The springs had lost 30% of the strength compared to the standard oils. So they called all there racing custormers and explained to us the problem. On a side note they told us valvaline broke down the most followed by castrol then union 76 and the synthetics showed no sign of breaking down . They said all the oils lubracated very well in the test with no sign of crusting up or clumping . They used them 3 because thats what they recomeed in the motors ,but the only funny thing is the only one they tell us not to use is quakerstate because of crusting and clumping. so I guess the others are not used just do to personal prefrence.

 

Interesting thread. I used quaker state in high school in a small block chevy. When it finally gave up the ghost at about 130,000 hard miles I tore it down and found crusty carbon throughout the motor. So Hawk, my testing matches yours.

There is a lot of info out on the web on this stuff. Everyone has to make their own decisions.

For my part, I had an old engine builder tell me not to waste money on oil. Buy the least expensive store brand that carries the proper "SF/DD" or whatever that latest rating is (and doesn't say recycled or reclaimed on it), in the proper viscosity (10W-30 is a safe bet 90% of the time), and change it every 3000 miles.

He gave me the same advice on sparkplugs--he said standard autolite or whatever is cheapest for a clean running motor, but try champion for a motor that uses a little oil. He thought they sparked a little hotter but didn't last quite as long. Again the key was maintenance, change them on the recommended interval (I forget what he told me now...I'm better at keeping the oil changed than the plugs I admit!)

 

Does anyone have any new thoughts on this subject? Weight? Brand? Additives? Someone told me I should use an additive for older engines because oil is not the same as it used to be. Something they don't put in it anymore. Thanks!
Andy

 

Holy ancient threads Batman R)

I wouldn't put any additives in. I think oil today is much better than it used to be. If your engine has a lot of miles you might just use a thicker weight oil.

 

the older design flat tappet cams like oil with zinc. Todays oil have little zinc due to emissions issues with catalytic convertors. In my 930 porsche and 67 CJ5
i use Cam 2 blueblood racing oil 20w50 semi synthetic. It has a lot of zinc in it and is not recomended for passenger cars with emissions control. I think you can also buy zddp zinc additive.

 

2x on fletcher. Over the last several years, Hemmings has had a running discussion on the removal of zinc from oils now available and the effect on older engines. Zinc additive is desirable in older flat tappet engines, especially during break in. Without it, camshaft failure is pretty common.

As for oil, I use 20-50 Castrol in the sbc in my Willys, along with a big block pump. I wanted full oil pressure at 500 rpm and 200 degrees. I run 15-40 severe service oil in everything else (tractors, trucks, cats) except the Subaru which likes it thin.

 

Wow, yes, old thread. There's a lot of controversy about the removal of ZDDP (zinc dialkyl-dithio-phosphate) from motor oils. ZDDP is an anti-friction additive that is reputed to clog O2 sensors and possibly catalytic converters. I suspect there is also pro-environment sentiment for removing any metals from exhaust, and part of the zinc gets into auto exhaust. Most engines today have roller tappets, and can tolerate much lower levels of ZDDP. Flat tappet engines, like our Jeep engines, may not.

I now run diesel oil in my Jeeps; 15W-40 Rotella. Delo is another popular diesel oil. Diesel oil used to contain a lot of ZDDP, but the new diesel standards call for less ZDDP. However, the diesel engines still have high piston pin loads that are similar to the loads seen by flat tappets, so as long as the oil works ok in the diesels, it should work ok in flat tappet engines. Diesel oil also contains lots of detergent, which should also be good for our engines. My Jeeps seem to like it.

ZDDP additives are another option. Supposedly STP oil treatment contains a lot of ZDDP, and you can buy pure ZDDP additives. Cam break-in additive is almost entirely ZDDP, according to some sources.

Google ZDDP and you'll find many, many articles to read.

 

anybody tried shell straight 30w for pre 1951 engines? i have some here that i bought at my local flaps. its in the freshly built f head still on the stand