Which Oil?
 

Came across this poll on a Chevelle site, can't replicate it here because of the limit on the number of responses, but it would be interesting to see the responses.

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/13-p...o-you-use.html

3 oils were 55%,not a lot of support for any other.Tom

Have to say I am surprised but pleased with the results of that oil survey. I use Valvoline in all my fleet service vehicles and race applications as well as family cars. Quality products not sold at "designer oil" prices. If you include their private label brands in that survey, Valvoline has nearly 45% of the poll covered.

ANY oil specified for SM is sufficient, regardless of brand. It all comes from the same stock, and the various additives will only be beneficial in certain circumstances (racing, ect), and absolutely NO benefit in a daily or ocassional driver. Personally, I've been using either Pennzoil or Valvoline and have no oil related problems with any of my vehicles. Your engine only asks that the oil you put in be capable of providing the film needed in the bearings, and the ability to maintain that film at various engine temperatures. MOST oils can do just that. If you want to waste your money on some high priced exotic oil, go right ahead, but your engine will never know the difference.

Everyone used to say that Quaker State caused sludge. I have personal experience that says otherwise. Oil preferences are like the Q-jet vs. Holley deal and any other religious arguments in my not at all humble opinion! On the other hand , Cigars from the Dominican Republic and Bourbon from Kentucky can not be beat!:D

What about the need for zinc? My builder told me to use oil with zinc additive . I can remember my dad buying Quaker state 40/10 and never had and issue. This was for the family 66 389 ? Doug

In my HFT engines I use Rotella 15/40 with ZDDP additive. Never had a cam failure except when I built a SBC for my neighbor and he didnt think the valves were adjusted right so he decided to crank them all down LOL

15/40 Rotella here with SLOB

:popcorn:

Rotella

I've had my GTO since 1981 and I've always run Castrol GTX, but after talking to some other Pontiac guys about the zinc question, I'm thinking of switching to VR1. The API SN oils in general don't have the levels of zinc of previous oils, although I'm not completely convinced that it's an issue on a stock engine when I change the oil yearly and would rarely put more than 1,000 miles on between changes.

It seems that if anything, zinc is "consumed" over time, it doesn't create a "film" or coating on the cam and lifters, so if oil changes are frequent, does it matter? There's also data saying that any aftermarket additives, including ZDDP, can alter the formulation of the oil in a negative way.

Break out the popcorn! As was evident on the Chevelle page, there are lots of opinions, and you know what they say about opinions...

Glad to see I am not the only one that uses rotella

Been using Rotella for years in all my flat tappet cars and trucks. Racing oil does not have the needed additive package for use in street driven cars.

Any oil rated for "highway" use will have really low Zinc levels. Rotella has less zinc than it used to. Is Rotella even rated for Gas Engines? I dont think it is. I think Valvoline VR1 is the way to go. I use Brad Penn 10w30.

I used Valvoline for years, and sometimes the single grades and Racing. One of the main reasons I used it was because of the color, you could gauge roughly when to change it.

I use Rotella 15/40 now, and see no reason to use anything else. It's readily available, inexpensive for the most part, and meets or exceeds most standards.

The Castrol oils IMO are too dark, but other than that, can't say anything actually 'bad' about it.

I would imagine any mainstream brand name oils would be fine, there really is nothing 'special' about all the conventional oils out there.

Main reason I don't use synthetic is cost, and the fact that I'm not comfortable with going extended periods between oil changes. I know it's possible, and ok, I just personally have a mental barrier about it.

So you have an oil 'base', and an additive package. Basically, the variation in brands is the additive package, or it wouldn't meet the rating it's given. So additive packages, sure, I suspect that some are in fact better than others, but imagine among all the competitive brands, including price, they are very close to the same, and wouldn't have a drastic advantage or disadvantage over another.

I see people who swear by this oil or that oil, but the fact is, they are all acceptable to use and perform very close to each other. You can talk about zinc levels etc, but I would bet a cam setup and the time to swap it that if someone were to change oils, they wouldn't see any difference.

.

The Rotella does not have as much zinc as it used too but it still has more than gas engine oil. If its strong enough for a diesel its more than enough for most gas engines

Ted

There are "highway" use oils that have plenty of Zinc and Phosphorus in them.

One that I know of that is specifically rated for HFT cams is Mobil 1 15W50.

https://rennlist.com/forums/attachme...nc-mobil-1.jpg

0W40 and 5W40 also have high levels of Zinc and Phosphorus over 1000 ppm.

Any Synthetic!


GTO George

Rotella 15/W40 and a bottle of "Z-MAX for mine.

The Mobil 1 specs posted above are from 2010. The link to specs updated March 2017 is:

https://mobiloil.com/~/media/amer/us...pecs-guide.pdf