Synthetic,diesel,blend or regular oil?

[oldmanolds]

I noticed on one of the other forums the question of what kind of oil to run in an old school motor.(one with a carburetor)This is for a regular oil change after break in.I'm running a sb ford with 6000 miles on it.I'd like to see 100,000 on it before I have to take it apart.What's everyones opinion on all the different oils?Should I stay with Valvoline for gas engines or switch to the synthetics?I've even heard of going to the Shell Rotella oil for diesel engines.Hell it's just like shopping for beer...so many to chose from,so little time.

[1FATGMC]

The motor in my truck has over 120,000 miles on it since it was build and it is running fine (probably shouldn't of said that :cry:  ).  It burns less oil, but leaks more than at 10,000 miles.   This is the first motor I've ever had that 95% of the time have changed the oil every 3000 miles.  

Up until a year ago I've been running valvoline's syn. blend.  A year ago I switched to the high mileage (15,000 mile) Mobile 1 and so far really like it and have switch one other vehicle to it.  My oil pressure is up, I go about 500 more miles on a quart than before and I think my mpg has increased at least 1/2 mpg.  It isn't cheap, but with the extended use, more miles per quart and more mpg I think it comes out to be cheaper than what I was using.  I change it at 12,000 miles vs. the advertised 15,000 miles.

Except for the break-in period it is what I'll use in the future.

One note though is that I used the shell for breaking in the 383 I recently build and will use it for the break-in period.  If I had a motor that had a higher lift flat tappet cam I would use it all the time for the added zinc it has.  My next motor will be a "roller" motor, so that won't be an issue.

c ya,

Sum

[Dave]

I guess im still old school. I coulda put synthetic in the Harley but i was told unless i was riding in texas all summer that regular oil would be ok . I chose the regular stuff :?: I may change next oil change at 5000 miles. Ill decide then. My regular cars all get valvoline with the 32 getting 10w40 and the wifes car and my truck 5w30 i think is what they take.. I change every 3k . I really should go to 5k  because the car and truck see 60 miles a day to and from work. 3k is kinda stupid. they get fully warmed up and it shouldnt be a problem but the book says
Dave    

[Fat Cat]

I noticed on one of the other forums the question of what kind of oil to run in an old school motor.(one with a carburetor)This is for a regular oil change after break in.I'm running a sb ford with 6000 miles on it.I'd like to see 100,000 on it before I have to take it apart.What's everyones opinion on all the different oils?Should I stay with Valvoline for gas engines or switch to the synthetics?I've even heard of going to the Shell Rotella oil for diesel engines.Hell it's just like shopping for beer...so many to chose from,so little time.

I had to look it up but there was a good discussion about this topic last year. Here it is http://www.roddingroundtable.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4657 Steve Jacks offered up some good information about using synthetics.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

my VW Jetta TDI has factory recommended oil change at 10k miles.

Oil used is a syn blend with a 505.01 spec rating that VW requires.  Owners manual spells this out and says engine damage will result and possible crash on the highway .

Have I mentioned the car gets 43 - 46 mpg?

[hotrodbob]

This was sent to me by a GM engineer from the powertrain division.

While at dinner at Pigeon Forge this past weekend, we had an interesting conversation about problems with cam wear with flat tappet lifters and today's oil quality. The bottom line is that zinc dialkyl dithiophosphate (ZDDP) has been drastically reduced in today's oils.
 
Zinc in combination with phosphate has been used in the past to help protect cam lobes and lifters from extreme pressure wear factors. Beginning in the mid-90's the manufacturers asked the oil companies to reduce the ZDDP in oil because it was causing emissions problems. When higher mileage engines began to develop some blowby, it would cause problems with oxygen sensors and catalytic converters. Since all the manufacturers had gone to roller lifters on their engines they did not need the zinc protection.
 
The resulting reduction in ZDDP has been causing cam and lifter failures in flat tappet cam use. An article in the June issue of Hot Rod magazine covered this in detail, but the bottom line is that oil with a rating above SH has significantly less additive. For example, SH oil had .130 zinc and 120 phosphorous. Today's oil, SL, has .087 Zinc and .080 phosphorous. It is believed that further reductions are expected in the future.
 
So what do we do? Comp Cams claims that Shell Rotella T oil is great for engines with flat tappet cams and no oxygen sensors or catalytic converters. Rotella T is a diesel truck oil, but meets today's SL as well as CI-4+. CI-4 is the designation for Diesels and relates to the zinc and phosphorous content. The zinc is .140 and the phosphorous is .130. Because of the two chemicals, it is not recommended for engines with oxygen sensors or catalytic converters. Another solution, if you are going to use today's oil, is to add a 4 ounce bottle of GM camshaft and lifter lube to each oil change. It is part #12345501. When breaking in a new cam, GM EOS Assembly lubricant, part#1052367 is recommended. It is in a 16 ounce bottle. The cam manufacturers may have their own break in oil as well.
 
Starting in 2007, trucks will start getting catalytic converters, so Rotella T will likely begin reducing the ZDDP content. So, the other suggestion is to use racing oil. It may be marked for off road use only, because it has ZDDP and is not recommended for todays emission controlled vehicles. However, for our use, it is a good solution when Rotella T changes. Pennzoil 20w-50 racing oil has .196 zinc and .180 phosphorous. Quaker State Q racing oil has .200 zinc and .180 phosphorous. Quaker State racing oil has a variety of viscosities that may be more suitable.
 
If you think this would be useful to others on your distribution list, please forward it. In the meantime, Shell Rotella T is readily available at Wal-Mart and is inexpensive.

With all that said, I started using synthetic oil after getting involved with SCCA racing (H/Prod Bugeye) in the 70's. I use Casterol Syntec in all my old stuff and Mobil 1 in the new stuff.

Under race conditions we picked up 10 PSI oil pressure and had no main or rod bearing issues all season. With dyno oils we had to change bearings after every race due to wear. Two sets all season with Amsoil because we didn't beleive our measurements. No wear measured and no failures all year.

Two weeks ago I changed my 1000 mile old Ford 200 inch 6 banger from regular oil to Casterol 5w50. This weekend I had to lower the idle.

[Leon]

Everything I see is to change to the synthetic after break-in, but haven't seen an actual mileage.  I assume 3000 miles is enough break-in to switch?   I did the first change right after fireup, and again at 500 miles to get rid of anything left from machining, maybe more than needed but I figure better safe than sorry.  I'm nearing the 3000 mile mark and would like to go to synthetic before leaving on vacation.

[hotrodbob]

I've gone 1000 miles on the last 3 rebuilds before I changed and have had no problems. On the new stuff I changed at the first recomended oil change per the owner's manual.

[Fat Cat]

This was sent to me by a GM engineer from the powertrain division.

Two weeks ago I changed my 1000 mile old Ford 200 inch 6 banger from regular oil to Casterol 5w50. This weekend I had to lower the idle.

The contents of your post were posted on the forum in September of last year right here http://www.roddingroundtable.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5404 and discussed as well. It was another of the many oil thread that are actually in the archives of the site.

I have started to run synthetic blends in my cars. I am not ready to switch over completely yet but I am working that way.

[Bib_Overalls]

I run Rotella in the roadster.  My 92 Dodge Dakota with the 318 V8 and 186K gets what ever is cheapest at Sam's.  I buy a case and add a quart every month or two.  It's called an incremental oil change.