Which oil do YOU use??

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johnathan1

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Aug 19, 2005
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okay, so I was wondering which oil is best to use in our cars? I switched to from Pennzoil (dino) 10w-40 to Mobil 1 (synthetic) 10w-30, and the car seemed to be idling funny, (like not super smooth as it was before).

So, I switched it back to dino oil yesterday, and now it idles smoothly again...

But i could swear it isnt as fast with dino ( i read somewhere that synth oil actually gives you 1 0r 2 more hp??)

So,

Synth or Dino?

What brand and weight??
 

MDCmotorsports

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Mar 31, 2005
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Ian, you expect us Yanks to find that stuff up here in the states?

Any who, mobil one and mobil std are the only oils that I run.

Hopefully, you haven't ruined your 12+ year old seals in the engine....
 

souprat

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Mar 30, 2005
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yeah it's going to make a differance if you have a new motor or a 16 yr old motor. i use dinosaur blood in my 120k motor.
 

pb4ugotobed

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Dec 27, 2005
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hey man if you are not running any additives than pretty much all oil is the same i have tested it all on a friction break. the only oil that did like 1 more weight was that castrol syntec, and the lucas did not make any of the oil we tested it in do any better
 

johnathan1

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well, as for ruining the seals, umm, why would that happen, there has been some slight smoke coming from the left side of the motor (burning oil) after the car has been driven for a while, i believe it is leaking from the CPS, and falling onto the exhaust mani heat shield, though i can't be sure, hasn't become a problem though.

Also, the person I bought the car from (only had it a couple of months and didn't drive it) said that the person HE bought it from said that the engine had been rebuilt within a couple of years of the sale. I believe that it was, because i dont think the car could run so damn smooth with 200,400 miles on the odometer w/out a rebuild! How can i tell if the engine was rebuilt recently, I checked the valve cover screws' grommets, and the were still totally soft and pliable, indicating that they had been replaced recently? I remember on my N/A w/164,000 miles on it, these grommets were so hard (never been replaced) that they had to be dremeled off...

Seems to run perfectly now though...

PS: What about "ProLong"? I have heard lots of good stuff about it, and it always seems to be sold out at every parts store...(none of the other additives were touched)
 

Supra5MGTE

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Nov 11, 2005
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Mobil 1 10W-30 synthetic. if it ruins a seal, then it wasn't great to begin with. Synthetics are far superior to dino oil. I used to use AMSOIL, but mobil 1 is a much cheaper, 2nd best option. 5qt jug at wal-mart for $20. and a $5.88 Pure One purolator. in my 5MGTE after I break it in with 10W-30 Valvoline dino, I'll be switching to Amsoil being that car doesn't get driven on the street.
 

suprageezer

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Castrol GTX 40wt here in my 89 N/A 177k mile beauty. Chevron Delo 400 40wt. in my Dodge Van. In new engines I use 30 wt but I never use multi weight. I have never been caught up in the multi weight for the simple reason they don’t run it in racecars. Semi's that chalk up millions of miles run straight weight oils such as Chevron Delo 400 40 wt. or Shell Rotella. I've heard all the excuses about bearing tolerances that claim oil wont pump when cold, but believe me a mechanical oil pump moves oil even when thick and cold. I do let me cars warm up a bit before driving off in the morning. I've often wondered with all the motor and turbo failures I see folks talk about why folks continue to use multi weight oils. If I lived where it snows I might use 20-50, but I would never run anything thinner than that unless it was below zero. If you were to really study your Oil Recommendation Charts in your Owners Manuals you would see that in warmer weather they recommend thicker oils especially here in Southern California where it is mostly above 70 degrees and allot of times above 90. Does thicker oil rob you off a little HP, sure it does but its better to enjoy the HP you do have for 177k miles than enjoy a negligible amount of increased HP by running water thin oil. This is just my personal experience with many cars in my life that reached far over 200k miles.
Geezer
 

Nick M

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Sep 9, 2005
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mkiiSupraMan18 said:
20-50 till I die. :icon_bigg
You will get rodknock before that happens.

I use whatever name brand is on sale at Wal-Mart that week. 5W-30 for the winter and 10W-30 for the winter.
 
N

NDBoost

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castrol syntec 10w-30 or castrol gtx 10w40 both w/ lucas treatment
 

Supra5MGTE

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Nov 11, 2005
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well those semi trucks you talk about don't do stop and go, or 999 little trips per day. 10W-30 or 10W-40 or even 15W-50 Synthetic oil is a good all around choice. They only run straight weight in race cars b/c they do 200mph at 10,000 rpm on $40K engines and all they want it to last is 1 race. You don't see race cars stuck in rush hour, or at the grocery store do you, or even lasting 200K miles. I got 200K/20yrs (and it still ran strong til I rebuilt it for turbo) out of my 5M, and my uncle just ran dino 10W-30 brand name oil every 3K. so multi weight can't be that bad. And the major addvantage of synthetic is it flows in temps where dino doesn't. IE COLD starts. Or even High temp situations where the oil cooks and longer change intervals. Mobil 1, royal purple, Amsoil AND Redline... all good stuff. I ran dino 30 straight weight in my Boat which had a Merc inboard 4cyl. manual recomended it. b/c it's usually at 3,000rpm or more consistantly... kinda like the race car situation. Another thing to consider is just b/c the oil pump will pump the thicker oil, doesn't mean it'll make it through your oil filter w/out opening the bypass valve. and don't forget, most race cars have pushrod motors. we have DOHC motors. the thicker the oil, the longer it takes for it to get up there.
 
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