I did a search, but came up empty. I was wondering what oil do you guys use in your cars and if you use additives, zddp, boosters? Heard a BUNCH of stuff about some oils being bad for the older cars, or not being thick enough. I have a '68 with the 390fe. I always ran Syntec 10w30, in my other cars but now I'm having second thoughts. Not trying to start an "oil war" just would like some advice. Thanks for and help!
Most oil now is for cars with roller lifters, which came about in the mid 80s. A flat tappet engine needs additives not available in most oils of today. I have 1 vehicle with a flat tappet cam and I use diesel oil in it, as it still has the ash and other stuff these engines need. I am useing Chevron Delo, I think it is. I have also used Shell Rotella. All our other cars, I usually use Wally World's Super Tech. For the most part, engine oil is like gas, it is basically the same, except for the additives.
The issue is primarily zinc, which has been removed from motor oils for environmental reasons. Note that even Shell Rotella no longer has the zinc content. On the other hand, I've been using Castrol GTX forever in my old cars with no ill effects. I would suggest that additives are only good for the companies that make additives.
It is easy to find out what was taken out of oil for environmental purposes, and as I remember Zinc and ash were mentioned. About the only problem is crown wear from flat tappet lifters. I experienced this personally on a new Lunati cam and lifter package I installed in my old Volare. In a few thousand miles, the crowns were concave on the lifter bottom. Then, I heard about others with the same problem, so did some research. Even the Diesel oils are short on needed additives, but are still better than conventional motor oils.
thanks for the reply guys. I spent some time on a few other forums and Mobil 1 15w50 kept comming up as being the most used(right off the shelf). The guy I purchased the car from told me that he used whatever was on sale. That explains the gunk under the valve covers I guess. Gonna try the Mobil 1 for a while.
I always thought the gunk under the valve covers was because of too infrequent oil changes, and that even "on sale" was fine for 3k miles
Well...I'm a new convert. I bought my 96 Cappy wagon from a nit picking owner. It had 130K on it but looks like new and the engine ran perfect. Well....until I pulled it to install a brand new engine. To make a long story short....the previous owner used Mobil One from day one and changed it regularly. I cannot TELL you how good the inside of that 130K engine looks. It looks almost as good as the NEW engine. OK...it's an LT1 and they don't show much wear inside but...this 130K engine is CLEAN. I mean really CLEAN. Never seen and engine with this kind of mileage that was this clean. And I've seen the inside of a LOT of engines. Not a single spec of sludge anywhere. Parts still gleam. I will definitely use Mobil One in the new engine. With that said....I'm not sure I would switch an older engine over to a synthetic. The LT1 has a roller cam and most older engines do not. My dilemma right now is...what will I use to break in the new engine? I am NOT well versed in synthetic oils but I am of the impression that the Mobil One may be TOO slippery for a break in. I may use a regular oil to break it in and then switch to Mobil One for the duration. Or use a break in oil designed for that purpose.
