for the 1100th time what oil do you use?

[Firebirdjones]

We used to run straight weights all the time,,,good stuff. My father ran straight 30 weight in his 69 goat since the day he bought it new (still owns the car). He put 190,000 miles on that thing and it still ran like a top right up until he decided to finally build a new engine for it about 5 years ago.

[Dunenutt]

Originally Posted by Firebirdjones

We used to run straight weights all the time,,,good stuff. My father ran straight 30 weight in his 69 goat since the day he bought it new (still owns the car). He put 190,000 miles on that thing and it still ran like a top right up until he decided to finally build a new engine for it about 5 years ago.

Me too, but it's not the same stuff now.

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by Dunenutt

Me too, but it's not the same stuff now.

Nope,,,,none of it is anymore.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Dunenutt

Me too, but it's not the same stuff now.

Because of the zinc content (or lack thereof)?

Or for some other reason?

K

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by Firebirdjones

Napa Gold is a good filter,,,,,it's a reboxed Wix All the same construction as the Fram Extended guard and Mobile 1.

Depends on what you're running.

MANN, NAPA/WIX, Hastings, & Baldwin make quality fluid filters that don't blow out. I buy Baldwin because they're made in the US and are excellent quality. NAPA/WIX & Hastings are my equal second and third choice.

10W40 OIL that's API Certified SH or better for all of my older Gas engines including the mowers.
15W40 OIL that's API Certified CF-4 or better for my 78-2000 Diesels.

5W30 API SN rated Synthetic in my Impala LS4.

5W30 Castrol TXT or Motul 505.01 oil & Mann filters for my BRM TDI.

Allied Signal (FRAM) makes VERY good air filters ( I use them ) but their fluid filters have a reputation for blowing out the media inside the can. Never seen one blown out like that and I don't want to.

I've seen several threads on the net where they cut open filters to examine how they are made. Here's a forum thread from 2011. It looks like AC-Delco has started to use lower quality internals.

http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=420509

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Because of the zinc content (or lack thereof)?

Or for some other reason?

K

ZDDP is at least part of it. We can thank the nut job greenies for this.
http://www.ttalk.info/Zddp.htm

I may have to re-think my own choice of oil.

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by hatzie

I've seen several threads on the net where they cut open filters to examine how they are made. Here's a forum thread from 2011. It looks like AC-Delco has started to use lower quality internals.

http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=420509

Yes, ACdelco has changed their supplier as of about 6-8 months ago?? That's about when I noticed a change. Their filters have really went the wrong way in quality. I quit using them on the LS engines (that's the only thing I used them on). I then switched the LS engines over to the Fram Extended Guard. At about the same time this new line of filter came out,,,,and it's worlds better than any other Fram made previously, like I said it's identical to Wix or Mobile or Napa etc... you don't have to worry about blowout or what ever the issue was you were having before.

You really have to stay on top of this stuff, both oil and filters, as it seems to change quality every few months. It's unfortunate.

[beamn7]

Great thread on the oil filters! Thanks for posting that!

Speaking of ZDDP levels, another thing we run into alot is fleets that want to stock only one type of oil in bulk. Usually 15w40 CJ4 diesel oil. Understandable when servicing a large fleet. Well, high ZDDP levels will destroy the catalytic converter. We've actually seen hollow cats on fleets running diesel oil in their gas engines with less than 50k miles. Many of them have made the switch to stock 2 types of oil now and the problem has miraculously gone away....

Here is a good article in regards to running diesel engine oil in gasoline engines in case anybody was considering it....

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by hatzie

ZDDP is at least part of it. We can thank the nut job greenies for this.
http://www.ttalk.info/Zddp.htm

I may have to re-think my own choice of oil.

Yep,,,the tree huggers have taken away our Zinc and Phospherous,,,the 2 most important ingredients in oil that provides it's lubricity. 30 years ago none of this was an issue. You could run any oil you wanted and you were protected. Now you have to pick and choose.

Different oils have different "parts-per-million" count so you really have to read and then read some more. Unfortunately there is some bad info floating around too. I've seen different or conflicting information on the PPM's for certain oils. Whether it's a misprint or it's midleading information to sell oils,,, I don't know.

It's mainly important to those running flat tappet cams. The general consensus is that you need at least 800 PPM's to keep a flat tappet cam happy. This can vary though depending on spring pressures. Most of your good oils (according to reports) like Brad Penn, Shaeffer, Amsoil, advertise 1200 PPM's or more. VR1 Valvoline seems to be one of those conflicting oils. Some say it's 8-900 and it's safe for converters, others say it's 1000 ppm's and should be off road use only. I've noticed even the bottles used to say off road use only,,,,I haven't seen that in a while though. Makes you wonder,,,,eh??

What also concerns me just as much as the flat tappet cams are the other metal to metal contact areas like piston walls and pistons, rings, rocker arms etc....If the ppm's have been reduced enough to cause flat cam lobes,,,,I can't help but wonder what kind of wear it's causing throughout the rest of the engine. Makes you think doesn't it? So roller cam or not, there may still be a long term issue here.

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by beamn7

Great thread on the oil filters! Thanks for posting that!

Speaking of ZDDP levels, another thing we run into alot is fleets that want to stock only one type of oil in bulk. Usually 15w40 CJ4 diesel oil. Understandable when servicing a large fleet. Well, high ZDDP levels will destroy the catalytic converter. We've actually seen hollow cats on fleets running diesel oil in their gas engines with less than 50k miles. Many of them have made the switch to stock 2 types of oil now and the problem has miraculously gone away....

Here is a good article in regards to running diesel engine oil in gasoline engines in case anybody was considering it....

As you eluded to,,,,that's the reason ZDDP has been reduced in oils because of the damage to cat converters. Guess they figured the heck with the old guys and classic cars, We'll just reduce the ZDDP and they can do without. Nevermind that there are still 1,000's of cars on the roads today that don't use cats

I don't own anything with a cat converter so I'm a ZDDP junkie

[Weasel Diesel]

I run Rotella 15-40 with Eastwood's ZDDP additive, and a Donaldson filter. I thrash that Crusader like a G.I. on a Vietnamese prostitute. Never had a problem.

[86 K-10]

read this...everything you ever wanted to know about oil

i run valvoline 5w-30.

[butch86]

Originally Posted by crazeetxn

Ran Castrol GTX for years. Then my other half likes to be green. So I switched to NexGen in both my truck and her suburban. Haven't seen any problems yet.

After reading all this though, may switch from the Fram Orange filter to something else. I'm just curious how ya'll know what happens on the inside? Did you cut it open? I'll be curious what mine looks like when I change it out again.

as far as knowing what goes on in filters i cut EVERY filter that comes off any of my vehicals. 12 years ago i bought a filter cutter ( works like a can opener) i bought some different oil filters just to try. i put an orange fram on one of my mild built sbc with a melling select oil pump. my oil pressure went from 50 lbs to 5 or less lbs the cardboard was colapassed inside and dents on the outside of the can

after reading about vr1 oil i am gonna switch to valvoiline vr1 20w50 in my flat tapped motors and add some zddp additive to it. and i am gonna use a valvoiline synthetic in my 09 f150 flex fuel. still gonna use my wix filters i aint changing what filter i have trusted for 20 years.

i am looking at after the new year ( when ford motor company is paid in full) picking up a 2013 camaro we will look at oil then and see what valvoiline we are gonna put in it then.

[butch86]

thanks for the sites guys i got some very informative reading done

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by butch86

i am looking at after the new year ( when ford motor company is paid in full) picking up a 2013 camaro we will look at oil then and see what valvoiline we are gonna put in it then.

I believe the general still puts the same stickers on them as before. My 2000 and 2002 SS camaro's both say mobile 1 synthetic 5w-30. I'm betting since it's still the same LS engine architecture, the suggested oil requirements haven't changed.

I actually use which ever sythetic is cheapest at the time of the oil change so it varies. Lately it's been Pennzoil Platnum, sometimes it's Valvoline syntec synthetic, Mobile is rarely comparable in price. I run 10w-30 in all 3 of my LS engines. Went up a bit on viscosity because of the hotter temps in this region.

The last oil comparison I read showed that Mobile wasn't as high ranked as it used to be. Changes in additive packages have dropped the Mobile. As a matter of fact Pennzoil Platnum was near the top along with Valvoline Synthetic and Mobile was lagging behind a bit. Seems to be ever changing though. I'll see if I can dig some of that up....

[tucsonjwt]

Oreilly's has next gen Valvoline for about free on sale now, with a cheap filter.

[esbstuff]

I am a straight Rotellia fan... I had an issue several years ago with conventional oil in a GM Quad 4. Change oil, run 30 miles, the engine sounded like an old wore out motor. It had every rattle/knock you could think of. Changed to Rotellia, ran the car HARD 90 miles down the interstate, no noises ever agian. If it is heavy duty enough for a hard working diesel engine, it will work great in a light duty use gas engine.

Wix fuel, trans and air filters. OE oil filters. All except my 06 Dodge diesel fuel filter. Then its Baldwin PF977 fuel filters all the way. The only problems 06 Cummins people seem to have is bad fuel injectors caused by dirty fuel. (the numbers could be wrong here its been awhile, but you will get the idea..) OE filter cleans down to 9 micons, most aftermarkets only clean 11-13, Baldwin cleans down to 6... Lets see $1000 worth of injectors or $2 more for a fuel filter that I change twice a year...no question!

BTW for all you Fram Filter people, try this... Go buy a new cummins truck, change the oil filter to Fram, take the truck to the dealer for service...Now watch how quickly the dealer ecsorts you out of service and then VOIDS the COMPLETE warranty on your new ride... How much do you like that Fram now? Fram filter on Dodge Cummins truck EQUALS warranty void that quick!

[Dunenutt]

Originally Posted by Firebirdjones

As you eluded to,,,,that's the reason ZDDP has been reduced in oils because of the damage to cat converters. Guess they figured the heck with the old guys and classic cars, We'll just reduce the ZDDP and they can do without. Nevermind that there are still 1,000's of cars on the roads today that don't use cats

I don't own anything with a cat converter so I'm a ZDDP junkie

It's alot cheaper, and way more effective than the cash for clunkers program!

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by Dunenutt

It's alot cheaper, and way more effective than the cash for clunkers program!

Well I guess when you compare it to the Cash for Clunkers program, the oil scenario does sound a little more humane

[Firebirdjones]

http://www.gmtruckcentral.com/articl...lterstudy.html



Okay, here is the latest and greatest oil filter comparison as of Feb 2011. Lots of oil filters tested here and lot of reading and data. Click on your favorite filter and see how it tested,,,it may be an eye opener....

I hope this will help someone in selecting their next filter.

Now I have to find the latest oil data....you'll be surprised.

[butch86]

Originally Posted by Firebirdjones

http://www.gmtruckcentral.com/articl...lterstudy.html



Okay, here is the latest and greatest oil filter comparison as of Feb 2011. Lots of oil filters tested here and lot of reading and data. Click on your favorite filter and see how it tested,,,it may be an eye opener....

I hope this will help someone in selecting their next filter.

Now I have to find the latest oil data....you'll be surprised.

FBJ you have a true wealth of knowledge when it comes to oil and filters. your years of study have served us well. thats why i love these sites there are guys with general knowledge that know a lil about alot of stuff and there are guys that have vast knowledge from study and everyday work rebuilds.

thanks for yalls input this has been one of the best thread discussions i have been a part of in a while. lots of great info and more to come hopefully.

[Dunenutt]

Originally Posted by Firebirdjones

http://www.gmtruckcentral.com/articl...lterstudy.html



Okay, here is the latest and greatest oil filter comparison as of Feb 2011. Lots of oil filters tested here and lot of reading and data. Click on your favorite filter and see how it tested,,,it may be an eye opener....

I hope this will help someone in selecting their next filter.

Now I have to find the latest oil data....you'll be surprised.

Thats awesome info!

The royal purple filter that I have been using is one of the top filters, but he failed it on media volume, and price.

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by Dunenutt

Thats awesome info!

The royal purple filter that I have been using is one of the top filters, but he failed it on media volume, and price.

The nice thing about this study,,is that it's an independant study that doesn't favor any certain brand. This guy spent alot of money and time to produce these results. Definately a good read and very informative.

Notice the new line (well they are a couple years old now) of Fram Extended Guards ranked as the best in these test while the other Fram lines were very poor. ACdelco has really fallen since they switched to the new E-core design, basically card board glued together now.

Every couple of years it seems this stuff changes, quality changes etc...


I'm guessing you like Royal Purple? Their filters aren't that bad, fairly decent, and even this test faired well compared to some of the competition, but you'll be surprised at the oil and the kind of ratings it gets. The wear molecules are very high with that oil and it was near the bottom of the list. These oil brands keep changing their additive packages every few months it seems. Last time I checked,,,Royal Purple didn't make the SM cut so they are not API SM certified.

I'll have to find the most recent oil study....it's a good read too.

[tucsonjwt]

Are there any studies that can directly relate cheap oil and cheap oil filters to engine failure, poor fuel economy, etc.?

I would get a lot more looks from the ladies if I wore Armani suits rather than shorts and tee shirts to the supermarket, but I am not sure that my shopping experience would be any different.

[Smoke_Dog]

So know that U got my attention what R we going to do or what's the final answer!!!