Around 2 years ago I rebuilt my y block engine. I'm currently running zinc addivite + 10w30 oil. What type of engine oil should I run on this engine? Not sure what engine oil Ford originally ran on these engines. 30W?
Quote from: chapingo17 on 2019-02-14 14:33
Around 2 years ago I rebuilt my y block engine. I'm currently running zinc addivite + 10w30 oil. What type of engine oil should I run on this engine? Not sure what engine oil Ford originally ran on these engines. 30W?
I wouldn't run what was used in the 1950s. We have much better choices for oil these days. Full synthetic oil is the only way to go if you want your engine to last a long time. I've been putting Mobil1 full synthetic 5-30 in all my cars for decades. All my motorcycles also run full synthetic oils.
Oh, yeah, assuming you have a screw on oil filter do not use Fram, they are the worst. A good Wix or NAPA gold filter are much better choices.
Straight 5, 10, or 20W? No way would I use those.
Thats a nice lookin glovebox door, ...haa.
Thank you. I will probably be running 10w-30 in the winter and 10w-40 conventional oil in he summer. What is very one else is running?
10-30 conventional in 302, year round.
10 - W30 with zinc additive year round in my old stuff. All the new stuff has 5 - W20 Mobile 1 except the Shelby GT500, I run 5 - W50 Castrol fully synthetic in it.
Why would you guys here chose conventional over synthetic oil?
Just curious about your reasons to keep running conventional oil after engine break in.
Quote from: Swank on 2019-02-15 07:36Thats a nice lookin glovebox door, ...haa.
Yeah, you better like it. :002:
Your stickers held up a bit better than these. Got that same rust spot at the bottom. (These aren't mine either, somebody painted over 'em.) : (
I tried Amsoil many, many years ago. They said it would be cost effective since you only have to change it every 8-10k miles. Just drop a new filter in at halfway point and top it off. I didn't care how good the oil is, it still looked dirty. I just didn't want to keep it in the pan past 5k miles. So I just change oil when it doesn't look clean or at 3k. It would be a different story if I had very cold weather starts or extreme heat, but I don't.
Quote from: fdlrc on 2019-02-15 21:13... I just didn't want to keep it in the pan past 5k miles. ...
I agree, that's not a good idea. But there's nothing to stop you from changing synthetic oil at ~3K miles. That's what I do.
Synthetic does cost more but compared to engine rebuild $$$ it's nothin'.
78 yrs old. Never used synthetic oil. Never had an engine failure because of oil.
I don`t really buy into all the hype about synthetic oil myself. I have been a dealership mechanic for almost 35 years now, and I have seen numerous 300,000 k engines that ran perfectly and were spotless inside (while changing valve cover gaskets, or re sealing an oil pan or timing cover), that had been well maintained using conventional oil, usually from our bulk oil tank. And I have seen just as many late model cars with 1/2 that mileage, that were poorly maintained, and badly sludged up.Even when these cars were using synthetic oil since new. Personally, I think all these new vehicles that claim to be only needing oil changes every 12, 16, or even 24,000 is a bad idea. Especially on modern engines with variable valve timing and very long timing chains with oil pressure controlled tensioners. In normally use 10-30 conventional oil in everything, and change it every 3 or 4000 miles. That said, I do run Mobil 1 synthetic oil in my 99 F350s V10, but only because the original owner, a friend, used Mobil 1 in it for 15 years, before I bought the truck. I use the truck about 90% for towing my 9000 pound race car/trailer, and change the oil every spring, rarely more than 2500 miles a year. On my old flat tappet cam V8s, I normally use Brad Penn 10-30 oil, which has higher levels of zinc/ZDDP than modern oils including synthetic and diesel oils.
Tom, might your oil choice have something to do with the generally lower temperatures at your degree of latitude ?
Not living so much further down myself, but still some. I use HD 20W50 mineral oil with 1240ppm zinc. rather local company from southern Germany ( Liqui Moly) because I cannot get US oil over here. thicker viscosity adds some safety in oil pressure and prevents storage leaking. I haven't had any hard starting problems even below freezing temps. Also have it in my daily driver in winter.
I use 10-30 Vavoline conventional and have used Gibbs HR 10-30 in all my early engines and change at 3,000 with Wix filters. I don't use synthetic because some of the additives are bad for old style seals, some harden them, some soften depending on what brand. Most people don't even know what synthetic oil is.
Quote from: djfordmanjack on 2019-02-16 03:59
Tom, might your oil choice have something to do with the generally lower temperatures at your degree of latitude ?
Yup, a few years ago while up north in WI for our Christmas visit with family we had the conventional vs synthetic challenge. My 3.8 L 90 T-Bird with Mobile 1 vs an 85 350 Suburban with 5 - W30 in -15 degree cloudy morning. The Bird spun over without a hitch and fired right up, the Suburban on the other hand didn't turn over. After several tries it did turn but so slow it would not fire. I BELIEVE!
Like everything there can be advantages and disadvantages, I don't live in a cold climate so I have never had to worry about cranking issues. Just as a note: you can't run synthetic at any NHRA event, the stuff is too hard to clean off the track :003:
Quote from: thomasso on 2019-02-15 23:50
78 yrs old. Never used synthetic oil. Never had an engine failure because of oil.
I'll be 74 in a month. After some skepticism but followed by much research was finally convinced to start synthetic oil about 35 or so years ago.
I'd think that since it also gets pretty cold there in Montana you would want to use it.
You don't say why you never used it.
Quote from: djfordmanjack on 2019-02-16 03:59
Tom, might your oil choice have something to do with the generally lower temperatures at your degree of latitude ?
Absolutely. Went to a car show where a guy had a can of conventional, sometimes called 'Dino oil', and a can of synthetic oil sitting in a pan of dry ice. There was a stir-stick in each can of oil. The dino oil stirred like molasses while the synthetic stirred about like what you'd expect room temp oil to feel like. I believe that around the same time I'd read that all the big oil companies were using synthetic oil in their many fleet vehicles that they were using up on the 'North Slope' where they were doing a lot of oil drilling. Gets
real cold up there.
I was finally convinced despite all the silly misconceptions about these new synthetic oils that was going around.
It's not just for cold though. As I understand it synthetics do not break down nearly as fast as conventional oil due to high engine temps
Up here if you don't have a block heater in your engine you are screwing up. You want your oil to get pumping asap at startup. I've read how something like 25% (?) of engine wear happens at cold startup. Cold startup does not mean just at cold outside temps. Could be 50, 60, 70, whatever degrees F.
Twisted/broke the oil pump drive shaft of a Y block once when starting up at minus 20 or more so once. Cold thick oil!
Knew right off that I had no oil pressure & shut it down. Lucky that those Y blocks had an external oil pump 'cause it made for an easy fix.
Quote from: hiball3985 on 2019-02-16 08:23... Just as a note: you can't run synthetic at any NHRA event, the stuff is too hard to clean off the track :003:
I assume that you're just joking. IE, Red line, Penzoil, and Valvoline make full synthetic oils specifically for NHRA drag racers.
Quote from: Tom S on 2019-02-16 22:38
I assume that you're just joking. IE, Red line, Penzoil, and Valvoline make full synthetic oils specifically for NHRA drag racers.
Tom, I was told this a few years ago by a guy who works on the Safety Safari, maybe they have a new method to clean up now? I'm not into drag racing so I don't keep up on whats happening.
I don`t recall ever being officially told at a NHRA National Event, or LODRS Divisional points meet about not being allowed to use synthetic oil in my race cars, but I do know that a few years ago, our local track (Mission Raceway in BC Canada), they prefered if you did not run synthetic oil, and requested if you did, to make a note on your Tech inspection card. I do know that the synthetic is much more difficult to clean up from the racing surface , compared to conventional oil. However, I do not recall the track officials even asking about what type of oil is being used anymore. However, for similar clean up concerns, they do require any car other than a newer, all stock vehicle, to use plain water in the cooling system, as antifreeze is much slipperier than water, and also more difficult to remove from the racing surface. Years ago, I had the pleasure(?) of sliding around at 130 MPH in my own coolant, after breaking the crankshaft and block on one of my FE engines, not a lot of fun.
OK, Tom, you convinced me. Went down for oil & filter. Decided to go with the Mobil1. Never had synthetic in my cars before, except for my wife's Honda CRV. At least no more dinosaurs will have to die for my '57 and that's a good thing. WALMARTS IS 15 DOLLARS CHEAPER FOR THE 5 QUART CONTAINER THAN o'rEILLY'S shoot, I hate this new keyboard..........glad my wife picked up a new Logistics illuminated one today to replace the one we had that took on a life of it's own.
Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2019-02-27 22:07
OK, Tom, you convinced me. Went down for oil & filter. Decided to go with the Mobil1. Never had synthetic in my cars before, except for my wife's Honda CRV. At least no more dinosaurs will have to die for my '57 and that's a good thing. WALMARTS IS 15 DOLLARS CHEAPER FOR THE 5 QUART CONTAINER THAN o'rEILLY'S shoot, I hate this new keyboard..........glad my wife picked up a new Logistics illuminated one today to replace the one we had that took on a life of it's own.
This is what I meant in an earlier post when I said most people don't even know what synthetic oil is. It's made from the same crude oil that oils have always been made from, same amount of dinosaurs required :003:
Tom, you mention that you had a oil pump break due to oil being thick from the cold. That reminds me of a story my dad told me when he was a kid while helping his dad deliver ice in Minneapolis in the 30s. Grandpa had a AA Ford truck and if the temps were expected to drop below zero, they would drain the oil at night and keep it in the house.
Side note; the steering box was broke and they could only make right turns, I guess that made for creative route driving.
"It's made from the same crude oil that oils have always been made from, same amount of dinosaurs required"
Ha...........something else I didn't know that I didn't know.
Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2019-02-28 09:33
"It's made from the same crude oil that oils have always been made from, same amount of dinosaurs required"
Ha...........something else I didn't know that I didn't know.
Disclaimer: I have nothing against synthetic, it's a good oil for newer cars.
I just wish they had come up with a different description/name. When Mobil first claimed they had synthetic the law suites started but the courts ruled that there were several definitions of the word synthetic and one of them covered it and Mobil could use it. Of course that opened the door for all the other manufactures also. Synthetic is just a more highly refined version of oil. Just like brake fluid has always been from the very beginning and now you see them adding the word Synthetic on the cans LOL, just more advertising BS.
I haven't looked at Synthetic oil in quite some time but at one point they were required to add to the labeling, usually in some fine print, that it also contained carrier oil, that just plain old oil LOL.
I forget what percentage of each is in a bottle.
Quote from: hiball3985 on 2019-02-28 08:11
This is what I meant in an earlier post when I said most people don't even know what synthetic oil is. It's made from the same crude oil that oils have always been made from, same amount of dinosaurs required :003:
The trick is that they only use the slicker, more adaptive to change, tougher & longer lasting dinosaurs. :002: Now days the ones that haven't yet been converted have feathers!
It's funny that at one time some people thought that oil came from decayed dinosaur bodies instead of what now seems to be commonly accepted. Last I checked it was decayed plant material. For sure I don't really know how oil is made underground but I still like to call it 'Dino oil' anyway. :001:
Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2019-02-27 22:07
OK, Tom, you convinced me. Went down for oil & filter. Decided to go with the Mobil1. Never had synthetic in my cars before ....
Rich, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that synthetic oil originally came with synthetic, or was recommended for, your modern Lincoln engine. I may be way wrong on that though & too lazy to try to look it up now. :sleepy2:
I haven't kept up with most 'new' car stuff for quite a while.
Quote from: fdlrc on 2019-02-28 08:36... Grandpa had a AA Ford truck and if the temps were expected to drop below zero, they would drain the oil at night and keep it in the house.
Yup, they did that a lot here in the 1930s, & even the 1940s & 50s. Often not just keep it in the house but my grandfather did heat it up on the stove in the morning too. Farther north in the interior of Alaska, like in Fairbanks, it is common to get winter temps of minus 50 below or more even in the daytime.
Some people would run their cars off & on all night even in much later years. You could count on all your tires having a big flat spot on the bottom until you drove quite a ways. It still gets very cold up there & elsewhere in the state but doesn't seem to get such cold for such long periods of time these days.
I'm talkin' minus 70 some degrees. Not unusual to have a 100 degree difference in the temps across Alaska in the winter.
I jokingly still call it Dino, can you imagine how many dead dinosaurs it would take to produce billions of barrels of oil each year :003: I find it funny that they still use barrels as the measurement..
Going to have to be contrary here. Synthetic oil while produced from petroleum products is not necessarily conventional oil. The base material is manufactured, not distilled as conventional motor oil is. Yes, synthetic has most all the additives as conventional oils but they are centered on corrosion, detergents etc., not viscosity control. The video link is pretty good at explaining this.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a12007368/what-makes-synthetic-oil-better/
My Mustang specifies synthetic 5W-50, not a blend but fully synthetic. The F150 5.0 recommends a Motorcraft blend 5W-20 but I used fully synthetic 5W-20 and never had an issue, even while towing a Featherlite with a 4000 lb. car on it to the top of the hill to My. Rushmore!
I don't think anyone was saying they are the same when in the bottle, only they both start as crude oil.
My collector cars don't see much action in the cold, when they start flinging salt, I park em till spring. I've had good luck with 10/30 conventional oil, zinc additive in the old cars. The local DPW's now pre treat the roads with liquid salt brine when snow is coming, I'll probably never own a new car, lol