Just read a previous thread and it sounds like I've been running the wrong oil. 53 Chevy 235 - original. Been using Quaker State 10/30 high mileage oil with Slick 50 already in it. Just did an oil change, too. Should I drain and replace? Originally calls for a 20w. What oil is best for my ride?
I was going to go on a tirade about Slick 50 but decided I wasn't in the mood to rant that hard. Instead I will just leave one thought. DuPont, the makers of Teflon, came out with a statement a few years back that Teflon should never be used in an internal combustion engine. Teflon is the main claim to fame by Slick 50. Dupont later removed the statement from public view because Slick 50 was a big customer, but they do not endorse the use. Seems it tends to gum things up and can clog filters. I think Slick 50 removed the reference to Teflon from their advertising also. This was told to me by a petro scientist that works with additives for the military.
If you can even find straight 20w, it's likely to be cheap-***ed non detergent **** more suitable for an air compressor than for an internal combustion engine. The 10w30 should be fine although I'd recommend something else besides QS. QS must be getting desperate to use such a gimmick as Slick 50 to try and sell their oil. Don't go by a manufacturer's recommendation from over a half century ago. Nothing but the ground it comes out of is the same about oil as it was then.
I'd use any good quality straight 30 weight, or a 10-30, like Valvoline Max Life, with a quart of Lucas. Just my 2 cents.
Is the Max Life a synthetic blend? And do you mean to use Lucas Oil Stabilizer? Any need for any Zinc additives?
Lucas is garbage like most any oil additive. Proven to cause foaming. And straight weight oils have no purpose in any street engine or even in most race applications these days. The main reason that they're still sold is because people still buy them.
Any 10w30 with an additive that has the zinc that's been taken out of the modern oils. I personally use Valvoline with a can of STP cuz it has the zinc.
I put SAE-30 in old engines that don't have filters, mostly because it's easy to find yet (I even found some in a K-mart). A 235 at best has a byp*** filter, so you don't want a detergent oil in it knocking junk loose. But if it still runs now, you probably didn't hurt it.
Use Rotella T heavy duty 15-40...Period....Has all the good **** that the tree huggers are *****in about lead,zinc,mercury......
How about Valvoline VR1 Racing oil? Has the zinc in it. So should I drain it and replace or just put a zinc additive in it until the next change? The quaker State I have in it contains 1% zinc.
Me too, I used to use Pennzoil Long Life diesel oil but I can't get it here anymore so in my opinion Rotella is next best.
if you drain it, can i have it? i want to try to start my hemi tonight (sorry draggin***, sometimes i miss the old hamb)
Chances are you're fine...20 weight oil is not much thinner than a 30 weight. It's fairly common for 30 weight oils to shear down in the 20 range, 40's to the 30 range, etc. I'd stay away from "oil stabilizers" and "additives"...The teflon particles in these additives only clog your oil filter, thus reducing the already meager filtering capacity of the engine. The only 'additive' I would consider is GM's EOS (***embly Lube, pn 88862586)...it's a zinc-rich (ZDDP) additive that will help keep your flat-tappet motor happy. (Creates a sacrificial coating on metal-to-metal parts...good stuff). Unfortunately, it has been removed or drastically reduced in 'modern' oil, as vehicles with roller (hardened) cams don't need the added protection. Hope that helps.
STP 4 cylinder in the red bottle isn't thick and gooey like the blue bottle stuff. It has ZDDP in it and will make "new" oil have the same or higher ZDDP level as "old " oil.
I'm a treehugger and I use Rotella T in my trucks too. Seems to work pretty well and don't have any real complaints with it or using any kind of oil in general for that matter. When I am done with it, I just dispose of it properly instead of draining it into a hole in the back yard or putting it in an old milk container and tossing it off onto the side of the highway for someone else to have to deal with. Maybe it's just me, but I don't mind looking at a few nice trees here and there and it doesn't take much extra effort to do things respectfully.
If you have a babbit pounder 235 run a straight weight detergent 30 or Rotela or Dello 15-40. Forget the synthics and high milage oils in this app. Unless that car has been sitting for the last 40-50 years it has been getting detergent oil of one flavor or another. Run what you have in there unless you are seeing lower than usuall oil pressure untill time to change. Synthics are fine in modern engines with long mileage change cycles if you drive a lot. High mileage oils are a marketing ploy to get the unknowning to part with more $$ for the same basic oil. I ran STP for years back in the 60-70s with good resaults in the older 30-60s design engines. I liked the fact that it clinged well and did a good job of preventing dry starts. In fact the large machine shop where I worked used 50/50 oil and STP for engine ***embly lube.
Good info. Thanks everyone! Gonna add some STP (in the red bottle) in for now and use the Rotella 15-40 on the next change.
Up here I use good 'ol CO-OP diesel 15-40 in my flatty;it's chock full of ZDDP and that makes my engine happy.
You have to realize that the recommendations made for the "old cars" were made when they were new. Oil additive technologies have changed DRASTICALLY since then. Just about any modern oil will do the job, as long as the engine isn't all sludged up, and you try to use a good detergent oil to clean it up (read: break loose the sludge and clog the oil pickup/filter) And ZInc is more important to use in breaking in a new engine with regular lifters (non roller). Not so important in already run in engines.
Flat Tappet Cams at risk, additives removed by the Oil Companies. Note the warning do***ents in the new cam boxes. Oil today is for Roller Cams only..............Yikes...... Comp Cams sells the additve at SUMMIT and other HP shops. Doug
Did I say I was Spilling It all over the Highways and Force feeding it to Bunnies......NO........OIL SHOULD ALWAYS BE DISPOSED OF CORRECTLY..
There are three things you should never discuss, religion, politics and the type of oil a man uses in his car! Having said that and not claiming that I'm the "Oil answer man" just a few thoughts on the subject. The diesel oil today (15/40 Rotella etc.) hasn't had all the good additives removed by the EPA (yet) these additives were designed to do things like replate babbitt type plain bearings while your running and act as an anti wear on start up when there is no oil pressure. The additive Slick 50 and others using PTEFE (Teflon) fall into the snake oil spectrum of things. I personally was working for Dupont at the time the memo was sent to all field service employees and the exact statement was... "PTEFE was never meant to be used in internal combustion engines" if you have put any of the additives using this as a stated additive into a company vehicle immediately have the oil and filter changed and use only the type specified by the original manufacturer. It went on to say that given the particle size they has seen used it is likely that the majority of PTEFE was taken out by the filter on the first go around and if your lucky it won't have caused any permanent damage. Again this isn't hearsay I got the memo in my email at the time, it is further correct that Dupont did not make this known to the general public as the makers of these additives were a good customer and the whole thing was hushed up very quickly. If you want to use 20/40 weight oil with the additives still in place it is made and sold for motorcycles and can be purchased in any of the Japanese bike shops. This oil is of a very good quality and should be really good in the older vehicles. It is also expensive compared to the Rotella 15/40 which you can get at Wally World. Good luck to all in whatever drives your choice of oil, more than likely any oil you buy today is going to be much better than what was used in the cars when they were originally made. Cheers Kirk
One thing to avoid on older engines with steel pistons, like 216 Chevvies and flathead Fords, is multi-viscosity oils. The viscosity modifiers tend to coat the pistons with a brown varnish that hardens when it cools, making for hard cranking and poor starts.
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