[JLBIII]

I'm currently using Brad Penn oil in my 461 stroker engine. It's mostly a street car but has been down the track a few times. How often should the oil be changed based on street miles vs track time? Right now halfway thru the season I'm at 900 street miles and 9 passes at the track. Thanks

[will slow gto]

I also use penn grade 1/Wix filter and change my oil once a year. Probably put 2-3k miles a year on the 400. I don’t get to the track but it probably sees redline (5k) about a dozen or so times a year. I’ve heard it said this is more frequent than it needs but it seems like cheap insurance.

[steve25]

This hours Vs temp chart should answer your question.

[Sirrotica]

Racing is considered severe usage, or worse. If it were being raced soley, the oil would be getting changed after each event, if I owned it. Racing a car never gets the oil up to temperature to evaporate the excess fuel out of the oil like street driving will. The ring seal is being put to it's ultimate testing under racing conditions,and fuel dilution is at it's maximum during that time.

Race cars are different than street drivers though, and if the engine is getting wrung out most every time it's driven the oil life is dropping rapidly through fuel contamination. It's not that the additives are getting depleted. Racing oils are formulated especially to disperse fuel contamination, and are low on detergents, making them not suitable for extended street driving.

Depending upon where you live humidity also plays a part in how quickly oil takes on water from the air. In a street car the oil gets hot enough for a long enough period to evaporate the water from it. Racing doesn't sustain heat for a long enough period of time to evaporate water adequately.

My recommendation would to get a sample bottle from one of the oil analysis places to have on hand, sample it as you're changing it, and send it off for analysis. Ths will tell you if it's past due, or if you're changing it too frequently.

As always, the factory oil filter systems are minimally adequate to keep oil clean, but if oil is flushed from an engine frequently the small particulate that passes trough a typical full flow filter can be removed from frequent flushing, or changing. I prefer a higer quality by pass filter system, my personal preference to save oil, and labor, by filtering it to a much higher standard, YMMV.......

High quality oils are getting very expensive over the last 5 years, you should be attempting to get the maximum mileage from boutique performance oils. Yeah, oils not really inexpensive any more, so I try to keep it clean, and use it as long as is reasonable in my own fleet.

My

[78w72]

Being its a "street/strip" car, the mentioned racing extremes dont really apply here. 900 miles & 9 passes dont warrant an oil change, providing the engine is in good running condition & no issues with blow by or fuel contamination. Once you drive it on the street for about 20-30 minutes, the oil is hot enough to burn off most contaminates like water or fuel. But a oil analysis is always a good idea if you want to know the condition of the oil &/or engine.

I have a street/strip car also running low 11s, i change my oil once a year if raced a lot, at the end of the season so it doesnt sit with old oil & is ready to fire up & go in the spring. Its a roller cam so doesnt need the crazy high zddp levels some hot rod oils have, but I also have 2 other cars with FT cams running normal oils for 20+ years with no issues related to oil, i run any good brand oil thats on sale, usually valvoline, can buy full synthetic name brand oil in 1 gallon or 5qt jugs for $25-30 on sale, cost of oil is not really a concern.

If not raced, or only a small number of passes and less than 1000 miles in a year, I will skip the oil change & wait until end of the next season, a decent brand oil should be able to handle ~2000 miles & a handful of passes with ease.. Been doing this for 20+ years with no negative results related to oil... using normal spin on filters too!

[Elarson]

One other thing to consider.....during a full throttle higher rpm pass down the strip, the oil filter is probably bypassing so it's cheap insurance to change often enough to feel like it's always pretty clean. Admittedly a vague answer......

Eric

[JLBIII]

Ordered the kit for the oil analysis. Engine is over a year old. This is the first full season for it so now's a good time get an idea of what's going on with it.

[Dragncar]

When I raced conventional oil 4 races I changed it. You could tell a difference with the oil pressure gauge on first start up.
Now I am going to Shaffers synthetic and have a K $ P filter with a by pass and by pass plugged in the adapter.
K & P tells me the filter should not hardly by pass at all.

[Formulajones]

Get an oil analysis done, it'll tell you exactly where your oil is at with no guess work.
Stick to your routine and get another analysis done when you feel comfortable or feel it's necessary. They'll tell you when it's time to change the oil. Once that's established you'll have a good indication of how long you can go on oil changes and feel comfortable about it as long as you stick to the same oil and filter. You'll be able to stretch your oil changes this way and save a little and know you aren't doing any harm to the engine.

[grandam1979]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

Get an oil analysis done, it'll tell you exactly where your oil is at with no guess work.
Stick to your routine and get another analysis done when you feel comfortable or feel it's necessary. They'll tell you when it's time to change the oil. Once that's established you'll have a good indication of how long you can go on oil changes and feel comfortable about it as long as you stick to the same oil and filter. You'll be able to stretch your oil changes this way and save a little and know you aren't doing any harm to the engine.

What’s the cost round trip to have this oil analysis done? I have never had it done.

[Formulajones]

I used Blackstone but it's been a while for me. So I went to there site and checked. Looks like $35 now. I remember it being around $25 last time I did it so not as big of a hike as I expected.

Keep in mind you probably won't need to do it more than 2-3 times before you establish a good baseline for your intervals. After that you're set.

[will slow gto]

Wow, that is cheap. An oil change with quality oil-filter will run you $70

[Sirrotica]

Link to Hot Shots Secret/Frantz oil filters oil analysis, $24.50:

https://www.frantzfilters.com/product/oil-analysis/

Their lab is ISO 9000:2001 certified, been in business since 1986

They all use spectrum analysis to find out what is in your sample, if it's good/bad materials, and how much additive package is still in the sample. There is a sample of the sheet they send you of how your oil stacks up.

If you're serious about running oil longer, safely, read up on their oil filters. They have synthetic oil sell (not cheap, $55 a gallon) that can be run 50,000-100,000 miles as long as you have it analyzed every 10,000 miles, and use a superior oil filter.

This would be oil for a daily driver type car/truck.

[ta man]

Originally Posted by Elarson

One other thing to consider.....during a full throttle higher rpm pass down the strip, the oil filter is probably bypassing so it's cheap insurance to change often enough to feel like it's always pretty clean. Admittedly a vague answer......

Eric

I normally change mine by how it looks on the stick..and how it smells...once its dark or smells like fuel change it...I put low miles on my car in the season...but many dragstrip passes and "test" runs. Fresh oil start of the season..oil change half way thru...and oil change in the fall..

[HWYSTR455]

My street driving is as hard if not harder than track driving! Heheh! And I go 3k miles on an oil change. Unless something out of the norm happens, like a flood condition, overheat, or something like that, then I change it regardless.


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