NCcowboy

iTrader: (2)

Ok, I know this has been debated time after time but I want to hear the personal opinions from you guys.

I'm doing an oil change next week, question is, should I switch to synthetic or stay with conventional? and why? this is for my stock 305 carb'd. about 158,XXX miles.

Also what weight and what brand?

ASE doc

With those miles on a stock motor, I don't see it being of much consequence. That said, I run synthetic. Brand is a matter of personal preferrence as long as it's quality(Lucas, Royal Purple, Mobil 1, Valvoline, etc). You may be better with a high mileage synth. blend oil.

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

With my car that may get driven hard from time to time, I run whatever quality synthetic I feel like running. I'm running Mobil 1 at the moment. I do use a zinc additive in it, though.

torque_is_good

with 6 vehicles and a mercruiser I/O, I use what ever brand conventional is on sale at Advance Auto

Primered89RS

Best thing I have found is Joe Gibbs Driven oil it did better than Royal Purple in the three ball friction test and it has zinc so its great for flat tappet motors

Mike92Firebird

iTrader: (3)

I run synthetic on my GTA. It gets nothing but the best fluids. You can go longer between changes on synthetic and it helps prevent wear in your motor much better than conventional.

Stevolwevol

iTrader: (1)

I use supertech universal 15-40. It has 1300 ppm of zddp (zinc) which is more that SF rated oil has. The price is right also.

Adamoctober2009

Prob wrong place to admit this but I use motorcraft synthetic blend. excellent oil. Most of the time priced cheaper than even conventional oils. I put a lot of miles on the daily driver (currently at 321000) and have been doing 8 to 10k intervals. No oil burn, smoke or noise. Valvoline is the devil.

dimented24x7

iTrader: (2)

Whats wrong with valvoline? Granted its probably not the very best out there, but their conventional is probably better than most of the cheap stuff. I took one of my motors apart that had mostly standard valvoline in it, and it looked pretty good.

Everyone always mentions the ultra-long oil changes, but what Ive found is that 95% of all the stuff that makes it into the oil just goes right through the oil filter. From my experience, even on a perfectly normal engine there is a decent ammount of ultra-fine metal particulate that makes it into the oil over 8-10k miles, and its too small to be captured.

sailtexas186548

iTrader: (2)

AMSOIL, RP, Redline

/thread

Al Weyman

I would only run synthetic (which I now do in my race cars) if you have a full roller engine, if a flat tappet motor I would stick with the old 20/50.

Adamoctober2009

Im a tech at a nissan dealer and we have a contract with valvoline. There are a lot of engines that dont see the 100k mark even with normal oil intervals. We do use bulk oil so it could have something to do with the storage tank. Or it could just be nissan. Either way, I only run it in my riding mower and only there because i get it for free.

torque_is_good

excuse Mr Nissan tech

first, allow me to say that your claim sounds dubious to me. (translated, I call into question the accuracy)

second, do you think your employer would appreciate your comment?

third, do you think Nissan would appreciate it?

finally- if what you claim is true, then there would have been a class action suit filed against Valvoline. You can't sweep under the rug the type of thing that you claim. So, do you think Valvoline would appreciate someone claiming to be a Nissan Tech and to say such things about their product?

And, if you could not get 100k miles from a Nissan, then they would have been long gone.

I suggest in the future that you step back, take a deep breath before making the type of claim that you did.

Reasonable people (that's a legal term btw) would view your accusation as

a certified Nissan tech (not a lot boy) is claiming that his dealership knowingly uses product which shortens the engine life of vehicles which they service. Valvoline knows that their product also reduces the life of engines yet continues to distribute the product. To claim that there is also a contract with Valvoline would of course mean that there are T's and C's and if you really are an honest-to-God certified Nissan tech then I am quite certain that you have just breeched the contract.

those my friend, are the take aways that a reasonable person would have by reading your post

Stevolwevol

iTrader: (1)

It's possible the people that are burning out their engines before 100k are not taking care of their engines. There is more to taking care of an engine than oil change intervals. Maybe some owners start their cars on a 0* morning and go 80 mph on the express way. All the good oil in the world wouldn't save an engine like this.

84transamdude

I'm now running kendall 20-50 with zinc in my new motor.

As far as what oil to use I can only tell you what i've heard. Full Synthetic oil is not made for the older style gaskets and can tend to leak. Valvoline tend to look dirty very quick in its life. I know that from seeing it my self.

Al Weyman

I cannot see the gasket argument to be honest especially if you are using after market competition stuff.

Adamoctober2009

4 ASEs. yeah. A tech. the post asked of an opinion. I'm not saying nissan makes an inferior product. Ive seen many with over 250k. but they do break. Their engine internals are sensitve to oil. The dealer is owned by a corporation. they look for everything cheap. So every dealer they own gets bulk valvoline and when you buy that kind of a volume of oil its cheap per quart. Nissan doesnt believe in valvoline. They have their own blend. The dealer is in the process of a 7mil dollar audit from nissan. Not saying its valvolines fault. And there are some unknowns. But MY OPINION is that if you want your engine to last, use something else.

84transamdude

Just saying what ive heard and he's got a 305 with 158k on it. So problably safe to say no competion gaskets for him. I would not switch with that many miles on it.

Oh and not saying that anyone here does it but i'm sure there are people who went to Synthetic just to say they use it.

Stevolwevol

iTrader: (1)

I never trusted bulk oil. How do you really know what you're getting? The door is wide open for BS.

Adamoctober2009

That may be the issue. Espesially bad with quick lube places that have a "house brand" and a good brand. To know what you are getting, break the seal on the bottle and change it yourself.

19camaro83

It looks dirty quickly because the detergent in the oil is actually doing its job and keeping the gunk from building inside your engine, instead it sticks in the oil. I only run valvoline in my vehicles that I care about, and my opinion wont change based on anything that anyone here has to say. On the ones that get only valvoline, at 3k mile changes the oil is always a dark golden color, never black like anything else I have used. My other vehicles get o'reilly's brand 10w30. Its cheap, and none of my engines have given me any troubles.

KrisW

iTrader: (5)

I'll throw in here, why not?

I'm an ASE certified diesel guy, but I've done tons of work on cars and everything else, and first off THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH VALVOLINE.

I can tell you their stuff is great! The issues to do with your engine, at 158k miles, is what has it seen before? In MY stuff, anything over 100k is getting 15/40 diesel engine oil. I don't care if its Valvoline or Rotella, or whatever. The lube qualities with ZDDP, zinc, and the rest are better. There are also better detergents in there that will keep your engine cleaner, and for longer.

I only have one exception in my fleet. My wife's car (03 Toyota Prius) has been running synthetic since new. We are the second owners. It now has over 125k miles, and I recently switched it up to Mobil 1 synthetic for diesels.

I love synthetic oil, if I build the engine (or the car or engine is new) and I have run it since the beginning. The thing about gaskets stated above is not really the issue, but the old oil seals on the crank and the intake manifold can and do leak on high mileage engines that now have a "slicker" oil than they have gotten used to. Old seals harden up and start to leak over time, and a slicker oil can get by where the old thicker stuff doesn't.

I vote for using 15/40 diesel oil, conventional, in your old Camaro. When you rebuild or change the engine, use Mobil 1!

Good luck!

dimented24x7

iTrader: (2)

I think the oil darkening may also be due to the oil pulling in more combustion byproducts when its exposed in the cylinder, and then pulling it down into the crank case. Ive noticed that oils like Rotella with lots of detergents turn dark almost immediately, while standard oil stays light for a long time.

19camaro83

Agreed, and this is not a bad thing at all. People think that it is just because it seems "dirty", when in reality the oil is doing exactly what it is formulated to do.

HawkZ28

iTrader: (2)

I got tired of running down, as well as spending the extra money, on ZDDP additives such as GM EOS and BG MOA. I switched our Z over to Rotella oil full time. It was good enough for break in. Plenty of ZDDP. No looking back.

If it was a roller motor, I'd say synthetic.

On that note, if it leaks after switching to synthetic, IMHO it was going to leak anyway. Not leak as bad, but it was going to leak nonetheless.

torque_is_good

at least you used the word "opinion" and again, please move away from the concept that just because you pay 50% more for something means that it's that much better. I don't care if your "employer" gets the oil for free. They have responsibility to their customers when they perform an oil change.

It might be OK for you to post "opinions" on an anonymous site by i encourage you to hold your opinion at your workplace if you really are employed as you claim. You could find yourself giving 50% of all you earn in the future to a corporation because they don't appreciate unsubstantiated claims like you have made. Your opinion could also result in the closure of your "employer" if your misguided "opinion" is shared with the wrong person.

When you have time, why not look up 2 legal words, "liable" and "damages"

cprmn14

iTrader: (3)

Ive use Valvoline in my Camaro and my DD. never had a problem, even with their synthetic. NAPA oil is even valvoline, i love their product.

Stevolwevol

iTrader: (1)

Are you saying NAPA is Valvoline?

cprmn14

iTrader: (3)

Correct me if im wrong, but isnt NAPA brand oil Valvoline?

Stevolwevol

iTrader: (1)

That was my question. I thought it was, but not totally sure.

cprmn14

iTrader: (3)

I'm pretty sure it is. Almost positive

falconman

i would only run full synthetic on a new engine, especially if you run it hard. synthetic is good, but its too expensive to start it on an engine past 100,000 miles. I'd say a good synthetic blend. penzoil or valvoline. thats my opinion though.


oh, and napa pro-select filters are auctually wix filters, so I dont doubt the valvoline thing.

Al Weyman

I have been using a UK brand of oil called Exol in my race cars its a 5/40 fully synthetic and a good price at £78 ($128) for 25 Litres (25 US quarts). Apparently its a good oil that someone told me is also branded a Fords own product how true that is I dont know but what I do know at this price I can afford to change oil more often than I could if I was using something mega expensive like Mobil 1. I now no longer use oil coolers on my race carssince switching to synthetic as races are generally no longer than 20 minutes and its not too hot over here and I have personally had a spate of problems with oil coolers and seen fellow competitors have the same problems, the pressure is still good at the end of the race, I also run a big ali water rad so everything runs nice and cool. Also walk around the paddock and see how many competitors have tape over the coolers because they cannot get the engine oil temps up.

zacharyhorn

iTrader: (1)

Could you send me a link on this? I didn't know that the supertech universal had that much zddp in it. I would make the switch to this because it's cheaper than what I run. (Valvoline VR-1 20-50)

Thanks in advance.

Stevolwevol

iTrader: (1)

I don't have a link that has this info. I believe I called the number either on the Rotella, or Supertech container. The guy on the other end told me this. I'm not surprised about this, zddp is inexpensive. You should not have to buy expensive oil to have adequate levels of it.