What do you run for oil in your Buick engines? I've always liked Mobil 1 synthetic myself. I have a low mile 350 that I am putting all new gaskets and seals in, engine is also very clean inside. So thinking about going to synthetic in it. Any thoughts on this, good idea?
i am not an expert, i just play one on the internet. but seems to me synths can go a long way to preserving a new engine but are pretty much a waste on any engine with milage. especially any engine with ...shall we say...wide tolerences [most american engines are built with a lot of tolerences in journals, berrings, cylinder/ring fit, ect]. if you are sure of the build on your engine, and want to spring for the extra expence of oil you may end up changeing just as often, go for it. my personal preference is to use what has been good enough all my life, good old SAE oil. the newer formulations of regular oil nowdays is actually much better than when i started driving, and if you are carefull about the grade of oil you use, will be just as efficient on a practical level as the new synths. but this could go into a debate on which oil is good, and which is mostly parifin. so i guess, long story short, i would use good old texas tea. :beer
Only tried once... In my high-mileage Porsche. I immediately experienced very substantial leaks from everywhere!:af: :blast: Also lowered pressure... o No: uzzled: Changed back to dino. Won't ever be making that mistake again!:error: :gt: Whoops, I just remembered, I also had problems years back with Castro's Syntech in the 455. Substantially lowered oil pressure, and it didn't come back after discontinuing use!!?:eek2: o No: I just don't think I can afford to trust a $$$10,000+ engine to anything other than the completely reliable and dependable dino oil. Kendall GT-1 straight 30 or 20w50 for me! :TU: :Smarty:
I switched to Mobil 1 "synthetic" on my 86 Fiero GT with a turbo (Miller-Woods) and it immediately started making noise (slight rod knock) . Put Kendall GT-1 back in and it was quiet again. I supect it flowed too fast and out of the bearings. I still run it in my 97 GMC mainly so I can go 5000 miles on an oil change. Mainly as a time saving excercise due to too many cars, projects, kids, etc) I run Castrol GTX in most of my fleet. (cheap 1.40 qt at Advance, on sale) Kendall GT-1 is 1.89-2.19, not as readily avail (and not green anymore) Bruce
A buddy of mine killed his Fiat Turbo engine using synthetic i it when it needed mineral. Wiped the cams out and they then took the rest with them...
Yup, Witco (made Kendall) got bought out by Shell (I believe). Changed formulation. Didn't feel so confident in it and switched to Castrol. BTW- Valvoline Racing is (or was?) the only ashless readily available conventional automotive oil. Great fo use on an older motor that burns some oil. All aircraft oils are ashless....can't have any plug fouling in the air! Bruce
i try to stick with something i am used to. valvoline and castrol were always the oils to use, and so i tend ot stay with them. my old shop teacher told me the best oils were the ones without all the additives [ie; mostly real oil] and i think, if you keep maintainance on you engine like you should, this is alway good advice. but oil formulas, especially over the last 10 or so years, have changed greatly. i havent read anything on oil lately, but i do know i can no longer use standard SAE motor oil in my bike due to the lack of some things and the additions of other things that are supposed to lead to premature clutch failure, among other bad effects. this from my motorcycle mechanic, who says i should use an oil like silkoline. it is a little more expensive than the GTX i had been using, but i havent noticed any detrimental effects from using it. has anybody else had any experience with silkoline? ever use it in a car?
