Alright guys, I just wanted to know everyones opinion on the best type of oil to run in the Buick 455 engine. It's time once again for me to change my oil in my stock 1972 Riviera and I'm not sure if I should just put the old 10-30 in or try some Mobil 1 or Pennzoil (even though I've heard bad things about Pennzoil). Anyone have better luck with a different SAE rating? Thanks, Nick
The service records for my 1972 Buick Riviera (all stock) showed 10W-40 from the previous/original owner. I used Castrol GTX 10W-30 with no problem though. :TU: Goodluck.
If I were to go to a synthetic motor oil,it would be Mobil One.I will not use any Penzoil product if I have a choice. Synthetic is a good choice to switch to as it leaves very little if any kind of build up as opposed to standard motor oils. Of course you could go to a synthetic blend which is half and half basically.
An older motor will experience many more fluid leaks if you switch to synthetic - the gunk that is stopping the leaks now will be swept away - and you'll have to put pans under the engine.
that applies to older engines that have high mileage (100K) and have not been rebuilt. It is kind of a wives tale too because if you havea seal problem the gunk holding that seal together wil not hold forever (because that is not what gunk is designed to do--hehehehe) and will leak no matter what. Basically synthetic if it removed gunk (which it doesn't by the way) would only reveal to you sooner problems that you already have. Fortunatly synthetic usually just rolls over whatever "crud" is built up around your seals so I don't think that this is true. Small aircraft owners (Cessnas, Pipers, etc..) were using synthetics in their aircooled big bore engines and found that synthetics didn't carry away the crud like conventional motor oil but allwoed it to build up slightly which led to power loss and oil system clogs. They switched from synthetics because they found the opposite was true. The rule as I have learned it with pontiac 455s and easily applies to any old engine is to break in a new engine on conventional motor oil and then switch to synthetic after 3K. I have also heard not to witch to synthetic after you have 80K on the clock, but not for the gunk thing but rather in an old engine at 80K is likely to have some small amount of blowby in the rings and burn a little oil. Since synthetic costs more burning a little oil will cost you a lot more in maintenance. I perfer mobil 1, and I don't like pennzoil much.
I see that Valvoline makes a synthetic now for older engines (+75K). I'd like to hear more info on that if anyone knows.
The aircraft problem with Mobile 1 which led to its withdrawal from the aircraft market was felt to be due to its inability to dilute and hold in suspension the buy product of burning avgas which still contains a lead compound to attain such a high performance number.
I run 20-w-50 synthetic in mine and it works great. For some reason it does not seem as thick as regular 20w-50. My only regret is that I wish I would have run the regular stuff more than 2,000 miles first for the break in. :bglasses:
If you are going to use syth... Then at least use one that is 100% synthetic. I know AMSOIL is, there maybe another or so, but none of the brands mentioned above are (IE Mobile, Penn, Castrol, Valv, etc...). www.amsoil.com
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/ alot of opinions on this site as well as evidentiary matter in form of test results for oils and filters. I've got a 300000 mile 93 Volvo that has had Mobil 1 5W 30 all year round in it from the get go that still runs like a charm leak free. Changes with filter change every 3 to 5 thousand miles depending on use I run German Castrol Syntec 0W 30 all year round in my 100000 mile plus 96 Z28 with no leaks. Changes with filter change every 3 to 5 thousand miles depending on use I run Castrol 10W 30 in Skylark and will have to replace rear and front seals due to leaks over winter; but, I got the car with 75000 miles on the clock. Old lady service records indicated dino oil changes every 3000 miles or so. There was also three Rislone flushes done by her mechanic prior to my picking up car whcih may account for leaks. I'm running Castrol GTX 20W 50 in summer and 10W 50 in winter on Riv per prior owners (and engine rebuilder) recommendation after 30000 miles on rebuild. Oil pressure is so nice I'm not gonna toy with his recommendation until I see pressure changes for the worse.
I've heard the same thing about not using a synthetic motor oil in your car until it's been properly broken in. I was thinking more like 5k though. I like using Castrol Synthetic. My uncle recomended it for me and used it on all of his circle track cars. I've seen him build and race some really awesome cars so I always take his advice seriously. More important than what oil you use durring an oil change is how often you do an oil change. My rule is to change the oil whenever it begins to get that dirty, I've been in this car since it was onthe show room floor, look. That's about 2.7k for me.
I switched my 430 powered truck over to Amsoil 10W-30 and got .9 MPG increase and this was the only change I made before towing to BG. I now usually run Mobil 1 but never tested the difference.
Joe The reason the synthetic seems to be thinner is due to it's flow characteristics. A 20W50 is a 20 weight base oil with a 50 weight characteristic. However synth. oil flows 8 times better than conventional oil. This is why it seems to be thinner.
I have used 15w-40 diesel oil for the past 15 years in all my collector cars. Best additive package and great protection. Shella Rotella or Mobil DelVac
According to this study, it is a waste to get on the 3000 mile oil change since most of the engine wear with synthetics occur in the first three thousand vs the last three thousand, in other words the synthetic oil gets better as it is used up to a certain point of course . A 8000 mile change intervall is recommended. see http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/oil-life.html browse around this site for some interesting discussion.
I use Rotella T in my diesel Suburban. Also everything at work gets this put in a 1.5 HP Honda engine to a 893 cid Caterpillar engine with no problems. I would also suggest the increase in mileage when switching to syn. 7K to 8k miles is what I have been hearing for years.
I have a friend who is a serious race car driver and mechanic who campaigns an olds 442 in AHRA stock. The word he is hearing is that guys who have used mobile 1 in big blocks anyway have had problems that they said they traced back to this oil.. He swears by Royal purple. Which by the way I saw at Pep Boys the other day.
I heard that the only car that came from the factory with synthetic oil was a Corvette with roller rockers, and the reason is that synthetic can't stand up to the high pressure of the lifters on the cam lobes in standard engines and will wear them out prematurely............I don't believe that, but it is what I have heard. :bglasses:
