Which oil is best?

[MY6ISQWK]

I have a stock 87 T with 71,000 miles. I recently purchased it and was wondering which oil and grade you guys recommend using at this point in time.

Thanks,
Larry

 

[blackmonte]

Use the search and find 9,000 different opinions, I use Royal Purple and a bottle of ZDDP.Just make sure to use a zinc additive on the stock set-up and your oil of choice.ZDDPlus™ - ZDDP Additive for Classic Cars - Agricultural Equipment & More

 

[stan9898]

I use Royal Purple also.

 

["Turbo-T"]

I use Mobil 1 but I am considering switching over to standard 10W-30 unless there's a good reason i should stick with synthetic.

 

[8UWITH6]

Mobil Conventional 10w40, 3 different cars, 9 years, no problems.........

 

[Jerryl]

5W30 Dino + a bottle of EOS.
20-22PSI hot idle, no issues.

When I run out of EOS, I'll start with the ZDDP additive.
As stated, do a search. There is about 4 weeks on reading on this.
Be sure to pay attention to the advise of the guys running "roller everyting" and the stock set-ups.

 

[2badgn]

Amsoil 10w-40 - no need to add ZDDP bc it already contains plenty of it.

 

[GSTOY]

+1 on amsoil 10w40

Steve

 

["Turbo-T"]

Some of you swear by Amsoil, mind asking where I can get some and how much?

 

[Smokin-6]

When did they take out the Zinc from the oil? I learned this only from reading this site. I am now using ZDDP but wonder how long some of us have been damaging our cams I have put maybe 5000 miles on my T in the last 8 years.

 

[gn.87]

Vavoline VR1 10w-30

 

[87GN_70GS]

Chevron Delo 400 LE is just about the only off-the-shelf oil that has adequate anti-wear (ZDDP) additives. Any other readily avaialble oil
(except the boutique oils like Brad Penn, etc.) with the API rating like CI, CJ, SM, etc, will require an additive like ZDDP-plus, CamShield, etc.

 

[turbo nasty]

http://www.docs.citgo.com/msds_pi/663003002.pdf

You can pick up this oil at orielys and its good at least for stock lb springs or close to them I have been using this oil for a few years in myy dd and the cam is fine so far.
The msds shows the zinc in it and it cmes in a 2 gallon container

 

[87GN_70GS]

VOA from the BITOG site shows numbers from the analysis. In short, not good:

Mystik JT-8 CI4+

Blackstone report 6/19/2008

No elements Aluminum through Sodium.

Calcium 1100

Magnesium 964

Phosphorus 865

Zinc 1063

SUS Viscosity@ 210f = 89.4

cST Viscosity@ 100c = 17.83

Flashpoint F = 425

TBN = 10.0


You would need at least 1 bottle of EOS added if you have a flat tappet cam.

 

[SlickTR]

Chevron Delo 400 LE is just about the only off-the-shelf oil that has adequate anti-wear (ZDDP) additives. Any other readily avaialble oil
(except the boutique oils like Brad Penn, etc.) with the API rating like CI, CJ, SM, etc, will require an additive like ZDDP-plus, CamShield, etc.

+1

you can get DELO 400 at just about any parts place around here too

 

[jcuadra]

What If You Have A Roller Cam?

 

[ccbrett]

Royal Purple

 

[buickrob]

I went from Mobil 1 to Quaker State non synthetic and a bottle of ZDDP. Mostly made the switch because I am changing my oil based on age instead of miles now, always under 1,000. I don't seem to have as many leaks now as a bonus.

 

[turbo nasty]

VOA from the BITOG site shows numbers from the analysis. In short, not good:

Mystik JT-8 CI4+

Blackstone report 6/19/2008

No elements Aluminum through Sodium.

Calcium 1100

Magnesium 964

Phosphorus 865

Zinc 1063

SUS Viscosity@ 210f = 89.4

cST Viscosity@ 100c = 17.83

Flashpoint F = 425

TBN = 10.0


You would need at least 1 bottle of EOS added if you have a flat tappet cam.

Comp Cams says that level of Zinc in Mystic is ok in there bulletin.

Engine Oil Selection
As we touched on earlier, another major factor in the increase of flat tappet camshaft failure is
your favorite brand of engine oil. Simply put, today’s engine oil is just not the same as it used to
be, thanks to ever tightening environmental regulations. The EPA has done a great job in
reducing emissions and the effects of some of the ingredients found in traditional oils; however
these changes to the oil have only made life tougher on your flat tappet camshaft. The lubricity
of the oil and specifically the reduction of the important anti-wear additives such as zinc and
phosphorus, which help break-in and overall camshaft life, have been drastically reduced. In
terms of oil selection, we recommend a high “ZDDP”, Zinc Dialkyl Dithiosphosphate, content
oil for the break-in procedure and regular operation. There are several companies that are now
offering specialized “race/off-road” oils, high in anti-friction and anti-wear content, to combat
this specific problem. These oils carry the SL rating and contain up to 1000 ppm of Zinc/Phosphorous (the Zinc content in today’s “off-the-shelf” oils have been reduced upwards of
20% since 2001 and approximately 35% since 1997).

 

[87GN_70GS]

You can special order the Valvoline Racing NSL conventional, Racing NSL synthetic, and Racing VR1 which all have very good levels of zddp (1200 and 1300 ppm according to their website and independant VOA's). They usually have the 20W50 on the shelf. Those levels are borderline acceptable but I would still want to add some EOS or other additve.

Roller cam, you got it made, which ever oil you prefer.