Oil type

GJS

GJS

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Hey everyone,

So, the weekend of truth is nigh. Ahead of this, I'm wondering what you all would suggest.
It's a stock 383 with about 100k on it, no noticeable bearing noise or burning (leaks to be determined) standard pan w/o windage tray, hi volume pump.
Theres a lot of engine clean out to take place in the first couple cruises so it will be changed in short intervals until storage this winter. I'm just looking to wind up with something that best protects a higher mileage engine that won't be beat on but also won't be rebuilt for a couple of seasons.

I know I ran pretty standard 10W40 in my old monaco but she was a year round daily driver and both the engines were either low mileage or freshly built for the time I owned them.

Let me know what cha got!

Thanks!
GJS
 
I would stay with the 10-40 preferably Valvoline. Check your dipstick to see how fast the oil darkens. This is a good indicator of how much crud is breaking loose. Most of the time unless the engine is known to be heavily sludged up, the clean up will be gradual over several thousand miles. I do not recommend putting in a synthetic oil as yet because you do not want any crud that is in the engine to all break loose at once which sometimes can happen and cause problems.

Dave
 
Davea Lux said:
I would stay with the 10-40 preferably Valvoline. Check your dipstick to see how fast the oil darkens. This is a good indicator of how much crud is breaking loose. Most of the time unless the engine is known to be heavily sludged up, the clean up will be gradual over several thousand miles. I do not recommend putting in a synthetic oil as yet because you do not want any crud that is in the engine to all break loose at once which sometimes can happen and cause problems.

Dave
Click to expand...
Thanks man! I'll be checking and changing it regularly so that shouldn't be an issue.
 
15w40 Shell Rotella T4 or any other brand of diesel 15w40 you prefer. Diesel spec oils still have levels of phos and zinc that will keep you flat tappet cam happy.

I just had a used oil sample done on a Cat engine I just bought with Chevron 15w40 and the Phosphorus was 825 ppm and the Zinc was 1125.

Kevin
 
twostick said:
15w40 Shell Rotella T4 or any other brand of diesel 15w40 you prefer. Diesel spec oils still have levels of phos and zinc that will keep you flat tappet cam happy.
Click to expand...

I was under the impression (I read it a year or so ago) that all "road going" oils, including diesel, is now capped at ~800 ppm zinc/phos as of around 2012 when all of the diesel emissions took hold, and that only specialty/off road oils could exceed.

Personally, I use Valvoline VR1 in my old cars.
 
Last edited:
BigblueC said:
I was under the impression (I read it a year or so ago) that all "road going" oils, including diesel, is now capped at ~800 ppm sinc/phos as of around 2012 when all of the diesel emissions took hold, and that only specialty/off road oils could exceed.

Personally, I use Valvoline VR1 in my old cars.
Click to expand...


Rotella T6 5w40 diesel synthetic is still in the 1000 ppm range for Phos and Zinc.

VOA Shell Rotella T6 May 2017 | Virgin Oil Analysis - PCMO/HDEO | Bob Is The Oil Guy

Kevin
 
GJS said:
Hey everyone,

So, the weekend of truth is nigh. Ahead of this, I'm wondering what you all would suggest.
It's a stock 383 with about 100k on it, no noticeable bearing noise or burning (leaks to be determined) standard pan w/o windage tray, hi volume pump.
Theres a lot of engine clean out to take place in the first couple cruises so it will be changed in short intervals until storage this winter. I'm just looking to wind up with something that best protects a higher mileage engine that won't be beat on but also won't be rebuilt for a couple of seasons.

I know I ran pretty standard 10W40 in my old monaco but she was a year round daily driver and both the engines were either low mileage or freshly built for the time I owned them.

Let me know what cha got!

Thanks!
GJS
Click to expand...

My 440 and 383 engines are approaching 100K miles too. I am using BRAD PENN 20W-50. It is a high ZDDP oil and is available from Summit. IMHO, the other suggested oils do not have enough ZDDP. Even the diesel oils have recently cut back on it, and I don't think even the Valvoline VR-1 has enough either. You could also check out Joe Gibbs oil; it has been highly recommended by some engine builders.
 
Thanks y'all! Glad I asked today cuz I got some stuff to look into.
 
I have been using Castrol conventional 10w-40 on my old cars and I have been adding the zddp plus zinc additive every oil change. My fury seems to like it with 159k on the original 383.
 
I've been using Brad Penn 10W-30.

I used to get a deal on it when my oldest son worked for an oil distributor, but he's selling windows now.

I would use 10W-30 or 10W-40. The deal was on 10W-30, so that was my choice.
 
Shell rotella diesel is good! Mobile 1 makes good oil too. I added a can of Mos2 additive from LiquiMoly (lubroMoly on Amazon I believe). It's a friction reducer and works quite well of higher mileage cars!
 
Brad Penn in my classics but I just use straight 30 in the fresh 383 in my vert and straight 40 in the Imp. I don't use multi viscosity oil because I only drive in decent mild weather.
 
So where can I get this Brad "Sean" Penn Gillette Fusion Cold War (low rider) easy rider, easy livin' and I've been forgiven since you taken your place in my heart 10w-40 motor (head) oil locally?

is it an order online thing only or do the bigger chains carry it?
 
There's a couple of places in my area that stock the B.P. But they're not really close so I've ordered from Summit or Amazon and Summit is way faster.
 
detmatt said:
There's a couple of places in my area that stock the B.P. But they're not really close so I've ordered from Summit or Amazon and Summit is way faster.
Click to expand...
Yea, I was looking at the store finder. There's one sorta near my work but it's not super likely that I'll make it over before this weekend. Probably just hit up Summit!
 
Whatever you decide on, be sure it's readily available out of your immediate area. That way, if you need some on a trip, you can find it. Shell Rotella still has plenty of zddp. When I first started following the oil reports at Bobistheoilguy.com, the 15W-40 was at about 1400, now it's more like 1200. The 5W-40 synthetic Rotella is about 1100, which is plenty for a syn oil and matches the old SL oils in zddp.

When I got my '70 Monaco, it had about 83K on it (1975). I wanted to change it to Castrol, so I got some S-W Alemite CD-2 oil detergent additive. I got the oil changed, added a pint. When it got 1qt low, another pint. When it got to the 'add' line, then the oil change. After that time, the rocker shafts (that I could see through the oil filler cap hole) were spotless. The Castrol 20W-50 kept them that way.

Knowing how 20W-50 absorbs horsepower, I'd go with either 10W-30 or 10W-40. With the other oil, the engine had a high rpm surge I couldn't get rid of. With the Castrol, no surge. The B/RB engines were known to have "spark scatter" from non-uniform flow into the oil pickup screen, which caused the oil pump drive to flex and change the ignition timing. Obviously, the Castrol flowed better.

Syn oils with an ester base (as Mobil 1 tends to be), the ester liquefies sludge to remove it, so the oil forums claim. Also reading the oil forums, you can have too much zddp, which can through the additive package out of balance, detergent-wise. If you really want to clean an engine, you can take the valve covers off, the intake manifold and valley pan, and oil pan. Then rinse it with Varsol until the accumulations are washed away. Then pour some motor oil through it, put it all back together, fill with oil, run for a while, then drain and refill with what you're going to use.

One reason I chose Castrol GTX, back in the 1970s, was its reputation for holding up in Euro engines with smaller bearing surfaces, that ran high rpms on the Autobahn for "hours", and stayed together. I figured that if it could do that, something similar with an American engine with generous bearing surfaces would be "a piece of cake".

In later years, I proved that it DID resist viscosity breakdown to a surprising level. The cork valve cover gaskets were crispy-crittered due to the extended time of "overheat", but the oil flowed fine and nothing smelled "burnt". The 360 lived! A prof I had in college swore by it for the same reason, with his Jensen-Healey roadster. The guy that bought it thought the oil recommendation was bunk, so he let the dealer do the change to a "V" brand. He bought an engine when the water pump failed.

CBODY67
 
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