Oil

[keith455]

What Kind of Oil do you use in your vehicles? Reply with a reason if you'd like.

Syclone/Typhoon - Mobil 1
H/O - Now Mobil 1. Had dino untill i changed it 2 weeks ago. 7 qt's is expensive
SE-R - Dino Pensoil
Sierra - Dino Pensoil
Rendezvous - Dino Pensoil
Sunbird GT - Will be Mobil 1 on the next oil change.

[psquare75]

I'd vote but I can't pick both..

Cougar gets 5w/40 Rotella Synthetic
F100 gets 15w/40 Rotella dino
Cavalier gets 5w/30 whatever is on sale
Cutlass has whatever I parked it with back in 99
:rolleyes:

Edit:Nevermind you fixed it.

[442MUCH]

For me synthetic is a waste of money. I don't drive my car enough for it. If it was a daily driver then I suppose (one oil change a yr). So I change dino oil every three months because I don't put 3000 miles on the car in a year.

[brad75]

Ditto, Ken

[damaged442]

05 TrailBlazer - 4.2L I6 Mobil 1 synthetic 5W30. I change the oil every 8-10K and it still looks clean. I got it new, figured I'd try it out. My bro works at Auto Zone and I get good deals. It has improved my gas mileage too, about 2-3 mpg. If any of you have TrailBlazers, you know the mileage sucks.

01 Impala LS 3.8 V6
73 442 350
77 Cutlass Supreme Brougham 350

I use Quaker State 10W30 in all. They all have higher miles, I wasn't going to switch to synthetic and have it leak all over. If I knew it wouldn't leak, I'd use it. Unfortunately, each vehicle tends to "mark it's territory".

89 MasterCraft boat- F--- 351
Use F--- M----craft 10W40, previous owner used it, he was a F--- mechanic. I figured not to change now.
(Remember the Christmas Story? The F dash dash dash word?)

I think if I get any other new vehicles, I'll use synthetic. My bro beats the living shit out of every vehicle he has ever owned. He uses synthetic, I've seen the insides of his engines and they are like new and 60 and 80K.

To each their own I suppose. I do know it's a pain in the ass buying as many different brands of oil that I do. Maybe I'm just stupid! :D

[ragz442]

Valvoline 10w30.

[zodiacblue442]

`73 442 - Brad Penn Grade 1 racing oil 10w30 (synthetic blend)
Broke the engine in on dino. Valvoline in the 442, then switched to Mobil 1 full synthetic (engine had approx. 2,500 miles on it when I switched). Engine was 100% leak free. Drove the car to the Seattle nats. and the Mobil 1 found it's way through the gaskets. Now that's real nice... :mad: Leaking problem all but gone with the Brad Penn in there. It will be interesting to see the extent of the leaks when I get back from the BG nats. I knew Mobil 1 would leak in an engine with older gaskets, but not a freshly rebuilt one.

`75 Supreme 4 dr. drag race car, DONUTRUN - Broke the engine in on dino. Valvoline, then switched to Brad Penn Grade 1 racing oil 10w30.

`74 Supreme - still has dino. Pennzoil 10w40 in it because I haven't driven the car in over a year.

`01 Sierra - ran dino. Pennzoil 10w30 in it for 30,000 miles then switched to Mobil 1 full synthetic mainly for a little longer oil change interval and a little increase in mpg. (Didn't really notice an increase in fuel economy, but I do a mix of city and highway driving. City driving really kills the economy.)

[73hurst]

I'm running Mobil 1 in my daily drivers, and Castrol Syntec in the '73 H/O. Only problem I had with leaks was in the '73 just after I bought it. Checked the valve covers, tightened them, and that solved the problem.

[gmkarguy]

I run conventional in my cars unless they've come from the factory with a factory fill of synthetic--normally I've seen that if they do, Mobil 1 or the like is recommended. Heck, changing oil and filter every three or 3,000 seems to be enough in my mind to keep the daily drivers in good shape--but with the gas mileage on my '07 Avalanche, might just take damaged442's advice. Also, I've experienced the little drip on the driveway from my collector car that becomes the big drip when synthetics are used.:(

I just read an article in one of my club mags. written by a retired assistant chief engineer from GM who specialized in powetrains. He recommends one oil change a year (assuming you drive 3,000 miles or less per year) whether you use conventional or synthetic!

So this brings up another question; how often do you guys change the oil in your weekend rides? Over the last 10 years I seem to have fallen into a pattern of one change in the spring, then another in late fall before my cars get less use over the winter months.

What say y'all?

[ragz442]

I run conventional in my cars unless they've come from the factory with a factory fill of synthetic--normally I've seen that if they do, Mobil 1 or the like is recommended. Heck, changing oil and filter every three or 3,000 seems to be enough in my mind to keep the daily drivers in good shape--but with the gas mileage on my '07 Avalanche, might just take damaged442's advice. Also, I've experienced the little drip on the driveway from my collector car that becomes the big drip when synthetics are used.:(

I just read an article in one of my club mags. written by a retired assistant chief engineer from GM who specialized in powetrains. He recommends one oil change a year (assuming you drive 3,000 miles or less per year) whether you use conventional or synthetic!

So this brings up another question; how often do you guys change the oil in your weekend rides? Over the last 10 years I seem to have fallen into a pattern of one change in the spring, then another in late fall before my cars get less use over the winter months.

What say y'all?

I've always changed the oil in my weekend rides in the spring. Some say to do it in the fall, but I've been doing it in the spring for many years and never had a problem.

[73CS]

I have read several articles saying that the automotive standards for engine oil have changed, due to roller cams and all the new engineering, and that the oils have less additives that our older flat tappet cam engines require. They say the race oils like royal purple etc, still have the additives but are expensive. They also say that Rotella still has the additives.

[gmkarguy]

I have read several articles saying that the automotive standards for engine oil have changed, due to roller cams and all the new engineering, and that the oils have less additives that our older flat tappet cam engines require. They say the race oils like royal purple etc, still have the additives but are expensive. They also say that Rotella still has the additives.

That original piece I mentioned above also hits these concerns, specifically the reduced quantities of zinc phosphate additive in today's oils. The concern is around wear (cam/lifter and rocker arm) in any pre-1986 GM engine with flat lifter camshafts and non-roller rocker arms.

The retired GM Powertrain engineer who wrote the piece recommends use of GM Engine Oil Supplement part #1052367 (basicly a zinc supplement) in any pre-1986 GM engine, one pint at each oil change. He says that he has used this routine for 20 years and 30,000 miles in his personal 1966 Riviera (Super Wildcat 425--sweet engine) with "satisfactory results", but concedes that some "oil experts (engineers)" indicate that it's not necessary feeling that excessive zinc may be harmful. In the end he suggests using "some" of the Oil Supplement at each change if a person isn't comfortable with a full pint. Personally I'll chew on his opinion until fall rolls around.:)

[mrblackwell17]

Ok, I am going to show off my "newbie" status to the group.

I've seen the word 'dino' used a lot in this post. Can someone explain for me.

My 76 442 always got Valvoline 10w40, as did my 95 Monte Carlo Z34. My 03 Trailblazer gets whatever the guy at the station has in his big vat of oil. :p

[damaged442]

Dino = conventional oil = taken from the ground = made from dead dinosaurs :D

[mrblackwell17]

Thanks....thought maybe it was an off-the-wall Flintstone's reference that I wasn't picking up on.

[GT73]

I use 10W-40 Castrol GTX, thicker than 10W-30 and slightly thinner than 20W-50 racing oil (I live in a cold climate - Toronto) despite no winter driving.

I don't recommend synthetic unless its a fresh engine and even then its best to break it in with conventional due to sealing issues (gasket leaks).

Even my Olds dealer recommended conventional on my '04 Bravada when it was brand new, up until the first 10,000 miles.

I agree with the other's... synthetic is a waste of money for cars that see less than 3,000 miles a year. Besides my 455 Rocket leaked like crazy when I put in Red Line 20W-50 racing oil last year, never had that problem before, went back to conventional for good.

[gow589]

I am not on the full synthetic bandwagon yet. I know the breakdown and heat advantages of synthetic but there are other issues. Synthetic only works so well because our gas is quite clean; much cleaner then it used to be. Without the removal of lead for example we would not be able to use synthetic.

As an example, the aircraft industry tried moving to synthetic a few ysears back. Shell came up with a full synthetic oil. The primary fuel for small piston powered airplanes is 100LL (LL=Low Lead). It still contains lead in the gas. They soon found aircraft were making it to about 1/2 of their scheduled overhaul because the full synthetic oil could not break down the lead. There are still lawsuits over this today. You will find synthetic blends in Aviation but no full synthetic oils. If they do the additives to breakdown these components will simply leave less oil.

Do you remember engine breakdowns when we had leaded fuel? You needed a chisel and a hammer to get the crud off everything. I believe clean gas allows us to run full synthetics but I am not fully convinced it's best.

Idealistically a blend may be best but reality is as long as you use a good oil and keep it clean, I doubt you will see much difference in any of them.

[gow589]

I should clarify that. The turbine I fly uses full synthetic so their is synthetic in aviation just not in small piston airplanes. The difference is the oil is not exposed to the exhaust gas such as a piston powered airplane and the fuel is different.