Oil type - weight - etc

[Fergusonic]

My 2.8 V6 with new Comp Cam has been Broken-in with Conventional oil that has ZDDP in it and Break-in additive. So now it is oil change time. I have my shorty WIX Filter 51348.
My questions are:
What brand of oil and what weight of oil would you recommend in the 2.8?
Conventional or Synthetic?

 

[260Alpine]

Interesting oil report, I use Castrol Edge 10-30 in the cars and Valvoline 10-40 High Mileage in the F150.

http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthr...nds-offer-the-best-protection-***Good-read***

 

[Bill Blue]

What does Comp Cam say to use? It's their product that you have to protect. I don't believe any of the hype in the consumer oil market. A lot of Snake Oil salesman that would make any politician blush. I used Rotella in the turbo charged Pinto 2.0 with turbo cam and no problems. Would put it in a 1725 or 2.8 in a heart beat. I would use it in the Duratec but it is a bit thick and leads to high engine oil pressure. High as in 100 psi cold engine. But it is damn good oil in a slider cam engine.

Bill

 

[65beam]

It all boils down to the basics. Current spec oils carry an SN classification. Look at the starburst and if it carries that classification use it. I don't know what viscosity oil was speced for your engine but it would still perform well today due to the much better built oil. Just use some extra ZDDP to bring the level back up to old specs. I use 10/40 in the Beams and my Ford 302

 

[Fergusonic]

Does anyone recommend Synthetic?

 

[Barry]

Does anyone recommend Synthetic?

Define "Synthetic".

 

[sd_pace]

I use the diesel Rotella T5 Synthetic 10-40 much cleaner

 

[65beam]

Early synthetic engine oils were blended using a PAO base oil which was what we could call a man made oil due to the fact that this base, unlike base oils of that time could far withstand things such as high temps and shearability of the molecules along with other items. It's still used but we see it mainly used by specialty blenders and in many industrial oils. Anyone remember Castrol's adds saying they created an opposite charge of the oil to the engine block in order to lubricate better? Anyone ever think why we no longer have a TURBO specific oil in addition to a regular spec oil? It's due to current oil having a much higher and better spec. Things change. We now have a group 3 base oil which can compete with the synthetic base oils and is widely used based on the application. There really aren't any set in stone procedures or definitions of what can be termed as a synthetic oil. Due to current technology an oil can be termed synthetic based on a high percentage of group 3 base oil and a small percentage of group 2 base oils. These oils are capable of performing as intended for automotive use just as a PAO based oil can.

 

[Barry]

.....
There really aren't any set in stone procedures or definitions of what can be termed as a synthetic oil.
.....

Exactly my point about "Define Synthetic". A definition of "Synthetic Blend" is even more nebulous.

IIRC, the American Petroleum Institute gave up and removed all mention of "synthetic" from the API group guidelines.

IMO, a motor oil with 100% Group IV (PAO) base stock (everything except additives) would be "full synthetic", but I have no idea if such a product exists.

 

[Fergusonic]

ok... thanks to all.

 

[65beam]

Exactly my point about "Define Synthetic". A definition of "Synthetic Blend" is even more nebulous.

IIRC, the American Petroleum Institute gave up and removed all mention of "synthetic" from the API group guidelines.

IMO, a motor oil with 100% Group IV (PAO) base stock (everything except additives) would be "full synthetic", but I have no idea if such a product exists.

Barry,
PAO's are the group 4 base stocks. Widely used for industrial lubes because of the wide operating temperature range.

 

[Mike Armstrong]

Whenever the subject of which oil to use comes up it always reminds me of that Consumer Reports article from several years ago (if not many years ago now) that really opened my eyes as to motor oil. I ‘was’ buying the most expensive oil because it was the ‘best’ and changing the oil every 3000 miles because ‘that’s what your supposed to do’.

From what I can remember....CR spec’d the engines of something like 60 New York City cabs, used different oils and additives, also different periods for oil changes, ran the crap out of them thru hot summer and freezing cold winter, then disassembled them and spec’d them again for microscopic changes. Turned out the cheapest oil performed just as well as the most expensive, additives made zero difference and it made zero difference how often the oil was changed up until something like 10 or 15,000 miles!

The only thing I do is to make sure to stick to the viscosity recommended by the manufacturer.

Perhaps even more important is the right oil filter. Google that subject for videos of just how crappy and substandard your favorite ‘top o the line’ oil filter is. Made me stop using my once trusted Fram filters years ago.

 

[Bill Blue]

Sometimes we fail to understand that "running the crap" out of a machine is one of the nicest things you can do for it. No dry or cold starts, no condensation to muck up everything, always proper running clearances, and a nice supply of warm, clean oil and gasoline.

Bill

 

[65beam]

Whenever the subject of which oil to use comes up it always reminds me of that Consumer Reports article from several years ago (if not many years ago now) that really opened my eyes as to motor oil. I ‘was’ buying the most expensive oil because it was the ‘best’ and changing the oil every 3000 miles because ‘that’s what your supposed to do’.

From what I can remember....CR spec’d the engines of something like 60 New York City cabs, used different oils and additives, also different periods for oil changes, ran the crap out of them thru hot summer and freezing cold winter, then disassembled them and spec’d them again for microscopic changes. Turned out the cheapest oil performed just as well as the most expensive, additives made zero difference and it made zero difference how often the oil was changed up until something like 10 or 15,000 miles!

The only thing I do is to make sure to stick to the viscosity recommended by the manufacturer.

Perhaps even more important is the right oil filter. Google that subject for videos of just how crappy and substandard your favorite ‘top o the line’ oil filter is. Made me stop using my once trusted Fram filters years ago.

Back in my days as a street rep selling Valvoline I carried a filter cutter in the car. Fram has always been and still is a big seller. I would cut open the Fram and the Valvoline and show the customer the difference. Fram had a cardboard base plate versus the Valvoline metal base plate for the filter element. The amount of filter paper was very easy to notice. Valvoline at that time was a relabeled WIX. Fram has been forced to improve for various reasons. We pull a lot of bulk oil out of a blend plant in Indianapolis that blends several labels. The same for the blend plant in N. Carolina. Each company has a tracer element added in order to verify that's it blended to their spec. Most engine oils now carry the SN spec so that pretty much makes them equal in that they meet the current standards. Some far exceed those standards so I look at that as over kill. As far as drain intervals you need to understand that one function of the oil beside lubricating is to hold contaniments in suspension. Think of it this way. You can't put 5 gallon in a quart bottle. When the oil can't hold any more contaniments it drops out into the pan. That means it needs changed out. I sometimes go 6000 due to having all road miles on my Malibu. Around town driving I wouldn't go over 4000