Best oil? Type, brand, viscosity, additives, etc.

[AyWoSch Motors]

Okay, so after all that research and debate, I went to my local parts store to see what they actually have.
I came up with these....

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A valvoline 10w30 conventional oil, a Lucas oil ZDDP break in oil, and a K&N good filter (which from previous research, is the one I'm choosing, best micron rating, best GPM rating, and highest allowable oil pressure rating).

That seem like a good choice to everybody here? Didnt buy them yet, just took some pics.

 

[AuroraGirl]

Basically what I'm trying to say is that its not a straight line of viscosity to temperature. It doesn't get 10 units thicker for every 10 degrees of temperature colder. It gets 10 TIMES thicker for every 10 degrees colder(not literally.. just a generalization). The actual relationship is a bit more complicated and involves logs, but is really not material to the conversation other than to say that the difference between SAE 10 and SAE 30 at 0 degrees is visually honey compared to tar. I would much rather try to push honey through my engine than tar.

well if you see an oil like amsoil on project farm the penzoil vs amsoil i think, the cooled to -40 I believe and the graduated cylinder drop test, the amsoil truly didnt move that fast but comapred to a lot of the other big names it was impressive to see how well it flowed.

 

[wanderinthru]

Okay, so after all that research and debate, I went to my local parts store to see what they actually have.
I came up with these....

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

A valvoline 10w30 conventional oil, a Lucas oil ZDDP break in oil, and a K&N good filter (which from previous research, is the one I'm choosing, best micron rating, best GPM rating, and highest allowable oil pressure rating).

That seem like a good choice to everybody here? Didnt buy them yet, just took some pics.

Doesn't have as much to do with break in but for long life of an engine, esp in the climate, dry and dirty you and I are in. Air filter, change the damm air filter, you can't change one to often.

 

[AuroraGirl]

Okay, so after all that research and debate, I went to my local parts store to see what they actually have.
I came up with these....

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

A valvoline 10w30 conventional oil, a Lucas oil ZDDP break in oil, and a K&N good filter (which from previous research, is the one I'm choosing, best micron rating, best GPM rating, and highest allowable oil pressure rating).

That seem like a good choice to everybody here? Didnt buy them yet, just took some pics.

Im upset because I wanted to seee your oil filter relocation with 2 giant basically looking like hydraulic filters mounted on the wheel tub!

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Need to see one of these bad boys sandwiched in there and then to a thermostatic diverter for the radiadiator end tank cooler so when cold it just loops back around of course and make sure your engine plug in heater is on the pan, in the frost plug spot, and a nice battery blanket all tied together somehow

Doesnt that sound like too much work? Lol!

 

[AuroraGirl]

Doesn't have as much to do with break in but for long life of an engine, esp in the climate, dry and dirty you and I are in. Air filter, change the damm air filter, you can't change one to often.

Dusty conditions would be wise to make sure you have good external sealing like not using a draft tube sbc but a good working pcv and of course filters, then more frequent changes becaue of the dusty.
I can really see the difference in filter plugs just driving on dirt roads here or there its insane

 

[AyWoSch Motors]

Im upset because I wanted to seee your oil filter relocation with 2 giant basically looking like hydraulic filters mounted on the wheel tub!

You must be registered for see images attach

Need to see one of these bad boys sandwiched in there and then to a thermostatic diverter for the radiadiator end tank cooler so when cold it just loops back around of course and make sure your engine plug in heater is on the pan, in the frost plug spot, and a nice battery blanket all tied together somehow

Doesnt that sound like too much work? Lol!

No thanks, Haha

 

[SirRobyn0]

Okay, so after all that research and debate, I went to my local parts store to see what they actually have.
I came up with these....

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

A valvoline 10w30 conventional oil, a Lucas oil ZDDP break in oil, and a K&N good filter (which from previous research, is the one I'm choosing, best micron rating, best GPM rating, and highest allowable oil pressure rating).

That seem like a good choice to everybody here? Didnt buy them yet, just took some pics.

I'm sorry I gave you some bad information earlier and as soon as I hit send on this post I'll go edit my old one. Where I was talking about Lucas VS Hyperlube I thought you had pictured their "oil stabilizer" and did not realize it the ZDDP / zinc additive.

Do remember you can have to much of a good thing. According to the lucas website https://www.lucasoilcenter.com/shop...as-tb-zinc-plus-engine-break-in-oil-additive/
quote: "Add 16 oz. of TB Zinc-Plus Engine Break-In Additive to 4.5 quarts of motor oil to achieve approximately 5,000 ppm of Zinc."
That amount of zinc is WAY to much for for repeated use in engine oil changes IMO. The highest shelf oil ever got to was around 1,500 - 1,800PPM (depending on the source) in the 70's, todays oil like the bottle you just bought is around 700 - 800PPM.

To much zinc will shorten the life of the engine to. Most guys I know that use that additive use 1/4 or a 1/3 or a 1/2 bottle at each change. According to the quote from the companies website, half a bottle should put the oil at about 4.5qts at 2,500ppm, 1/3 bottle about 1,666PPM and a 1/4 bottle at 1,250ppm.

Wow I like see that all written out like that.... I'd be comfortable with 1/4 - 1/3 bottle, I might just have to consider doing just that if I go back 10W30 at some point.....

I know K&N has a great reputation, but FYI WIX filters are constantly rated as top filter in oil filter studies.

 

[AuroraGirl]

I'm sorry I gave you some bad information earlier and as soon as I hit send on this post I'll go edit my old one. Where I was talking about Lucas VS Hyperlube I thought you had pictured their "oil stabilizer" and did not realize it the ZDDP / zinc additive.

Do remember you can have to much of a good thing. According to the lucas website https://www.lucasoilcenter.com/shop...as-tb-zinc-plus-engine-break-in-oil-additive/
quote: "Add 16 oz. of TB Zinc-Plus Engine Break-In Additive to 4.5 quarts of motor oil to achieve approximately 5,000 ppm of Zinc."
That amount of zinc is WAY to much for for repeated use in engine oil changes IMO. The highest shelf oil ever got to was around 1,500 - 1,800PPM (depending on the source) in the 70's, todays oil like the bottle you just bought is around 700 - 800PPM.

To much zinc will shorten the life of the engine to. Most guys I know that use that additive use 1/4 or a 1/3 or a 1/2 bottle at each change. According to the quote from the companies website, half a bottle should put the oil at about 4.5qts at 2,500ppm, 1/3 bottle about 1,666PPM and a 1/4 bottle at 1,250ppm.

Wow I like see that all written out like that.... I'd be comfortable with 1/4 - 1/3 bottle, I might just have to consider doing just that if I go back 10W30 at some point.....

I know K&N has a great reputation, but FYI WIX filters are constantly rated as top filter in oil filter studies.

if you ask gm they will tell you about how aftermarket companies dont know **** about filters and only theirs will protect your engine.

I dont believe them because 1) frequently THEY had to catch up to the industry for things like sideways filters having a anti drainback valve and just years of revisions and then ac delco branded cheapo junk being put on shelves right with the actual good ones(looks bad for reputation imo)

Tho, i did see evidence of a motorcraft application being infinitely superior to wix but it was because FURD designed their nonsense 1 time use covers for a cartridge filter...

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So proprietary nonesense...

 

[SirRobyn0]

if you ask gm they will tell you about how aftermarket companies dont know **** about filters and only theirs will protect your engine.

I dont believe them because 1) frequently THEY had to catch up to the industry for things like sideways filters having a anti drainback valve and just years of revisions and then ac delco branded cheapo junk being put on shelves right with the actual good ones(looks bad for reputation imo)

Tho, i did see evidence of a motorcraft application being infinitely superior to wix but it was because FURD designed their nonsense 1 time use covers for a cartridge filter...

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

So proprietary nonesense...

A/C Delco oil filters are constantly rated poor in independent oil filter studies, which to bad because they make so many other great parts that are second to none. I use a lot of A/C delco stuff on GM rigs at the shop but not their filters!

 

[AuroraGirl]

A/C Delco oil filters are constantly rated poor in independent oil filter studies, which to bad because they make so many other great parts that are second to none. I use a lot of A/C delco stuff on GM rigs at the shop but not their filters!

ever see a hyundai filter? I was impressed
its also pricey

Looks like an ac delco lol

I have a pf58 on the shelf, a pf63 I thinkn too. 43. 48. its a 260 olds one.
The pf58 i think is old before they changed it so its nobueno if I recall.

AC delco makes a lot of poor decisions branding **** because OEM stuff is sometimes in non ac delco packaging, implying difference, but then they also include **** tier labels which are other companies with their stamp of association with shoddy stuff. Confusing

 

[SirRobyn0]

ever see a hyundai filter? I was impressed
its also pricey

Looks like an ac delco lol

I have a pf58 on the shelf, a pf63 I thinkn too. 43. 48. its a 260 olds one.
The pf58 i think is old before they changed it so its nobueno if I recall.

AC delco makes a lot of poor decisions branding **** because OEM stuff is sometimes in non ac delco packaging, implying difference, but then they also include **** tier labels which are other companies with their stamp of association with shoddy stuff. Confusing

You have to keep in mind A/C Delco does not make all of the parts sold as A/C Delco. For example Delphi makes their fuel pumps, that doesn't mean they are the same as delphi pumps, Delphi may make them to A/C Delco's specs. You might have a company known for making poor aftermarket parts, making something to A/C Delcos specs for A/C Delco that is actually a really great part.

What has always baffled me is that Ford factory parts are Fomoco, dealer parts are motorcraft, that certainly implies a difference, but is there? Who knows. I'm not a Ford guy anyway but it certainly seems a lot shadier than the A/C Delco's rebranding of parts. There is a lot of rebranding that goes on with aftermarket parts and while it sucks because it can sometimes be hard to tell who the manufacture originally was or whose specification it was built to, but I'm certainly use to it at this point.

I've really never paid attention to how the Hyundai filters test. The main thing I've looked at is the aftermarket filters, Motorcraft, AC Delco and Mopar, because those are the filters we get asked about at the shop, keep in mind we do a fair bit of work on older rigs.

 

[AuroraGirl]

You have to keep in mind A/C Delco does not make all of the parts sold as A/C Delco. For example Delphi makes their fuel pumps, that doesn't mean they are the same as delphi pumps, Delphi may make them to A/C Delco's specs. You might have a company known for making poor aftermarket parts, making something to A/C Delcos specs for A/C Delco that is actually a really great part.

What has always baffled me is that Ford factory parts are Fomoco, dealer parts are motorcraft, that certainly implies a difference, but is there? Who knows. I'm not a Ford guy anyway but it certainly seems a lot shadier than the A/C Delco's rebranding of parts. There is a lot of rebranding that goes on with aftermarket parts and while it sucks because it can sometimes be hard to tell who the manufacture originally was or whose specification it was built to, but I'm certainly use to it at this point.

I've really never paid attention to how the Hyundai filters test. The main thing I've looked at is the aftermarket filters, Motorcraft, AC Delco and Mopar, because those are the filters we get asked about at the shop, keep in mind we do a fair bit of work on older rigs.

its hard to know, if you go to parts look ups for ford, You get a lot of local dealer garbage to wade through, motorcraft doesnt have a inventory, they say use your dealer. dealer parts interactives dont show every part if you had a diagram they show you every part they probably keep as regular stock or can get easily. if its NLA, it just doesnt exist to the dealer lookups online. you have to call them or find another source for that. parts books exist, but they dont usually have the engineering big number because despite what ford thinks the interchangeability of their parts despite revision isnt always following their nomenclature for numbers and some numbers are stamped right on parts but they dont exist if you give the number to ford. someone didnt keep good records

GM is a **** show of numbers but at least they exist usually even if superseded every 2 weeks for a year and then discontinued with a brand new number popping up and having no ties to the previous numbers but its the part now. Electronics are bad for this, connectors too.

Then ac delco cross reference on their own site is not complete and they dont match what dealer diagram sites may say and its just back and forth nonsense. one of these days im gonna stomach 20 dollars for GM SI 2 day access and im gonna spend a lot of time getting **** straight and downloading service data

 

[SirRobyn0]

its hard to know, if you go to parts look ups for ford, You get a lot of local dealer garbage to wade through, motorcraft doesnt have a inventory, they say use your dealer. dealer parts interactives dont show every part if you had a diagram they show you every part they probably keep as regular stock or can get easily. if its NLA, it just doesnt exist to the dealer lookups online. you have to call them or find another source for that. parts books exist, but they dont usually have the engineering big number because despite what ford thinks the interchangeability of their parts despite revision isnt always following their nomenclature for numbers and some numbers are stamped right on parts but they dont exist if you give the number to ford. someone didnt keep good records

GM is a **** show of numbers but at least they exist usually even if superseded every 2 weeks for a year and then discontinued with a brand new number popping up and having no ties to the previous numbers but its the part now. Electronics are bad for this, connectors too.

Then ac delco cross reference on their own site is not complete and they dont match what dealer diagram sites may say and its just back and forth nonsense. one of these days im gonna stomach 20 dollars for GM SI 2 day access and im gonna spend a lot of time getting **** straight and downloading service data

"GM is a **** show of numbers but at least they exist usually even if superseded every 2 weeks for a year and then discontinued with a brand new number popping up and having no ties to the previous numbers but its the part now." Chrysler is like that to, but there revisions are usually obvious to a point. Example part #12345678AA would be first revision, #12345678AB second, but it seems like after ending letters AC, then it would change to something like 12345679AA, or maybe 12345632AA, my point is after 3 revisions the last number or last 2 numbers will change and it goes back to AA. This is based on observation, nothing official.

 

[AyWoSch Motors]

I'm sorry I gave you some bad information earlier and as soon as I hit send on this post I'll go edit my old one. Where I was talking about Lucas VS Hyperlube I thought you had pictured their "oil stabilizer" and did not realize it the ZDDP / zinc additive.

Do remember you can have to much of a good thing. According to the lucas website https://www.lucasoilcenter.com/shop...as-tb-zinc-plus-engine-break-in-oil-additive/
quote: "Add 16 oz. of TB Zinc-Plus Engine Break-In Additive to 4.5 quarts of motor oil to achieve approximately 5,000 ppm of Zinc."
That amount of zinc is WAY to much for for repeated use in engine oil changes IMO. The highest shelf oil ever got to was around 1,500 - 1,800PPM (depending on the source) in the 70's, todays oil like the bottle you just bought is around 700 - 800PPM.

To much zinc will shorten the life of the engine to. Most guys I know that use that additive use 1/4 or a 1/3 or a 1/2 bottle at each change. According to the quote from the companies website, half a bottle should put the oil at about 4.5qts at 2,500ppm, 1/3 bottle about 1,666PPM and a 1/4 bottle at 1,250ppm.

Wow I like see that all written out like that.... I'd be comfortable with 1/4 - 1/3 bottle, I might just have to consider doing just that if I go back 10W30 at some point.....

I know K&N has a great reputation, but FYI WIX filters are constantly rated as top filter in oil filter studies.

I like that info. So for initial break in use a whole 16oz bottle, then the next 1000 mile change after that, use maybe 1/3 to a 1/4 bottle. And a 1/4 or less for subsequent oil changes.

And my reason for choosing the K&N gold, is from the research done on a show I like to watch called Engine Matsers. They tested about 20-30 different types of filters, and the k&n out performed Wix and AC Delco, and all others. It actually tied a couple other brands in the particular field, but on all fronts, it seems like the best choice over all.
I'd suggest watching that episode. It was pretty interesting. Engine Masters oil filter debacle.

 

[Grumpy]

I use a 50/50 blend. And like Curt, I use Lucas products.
The notion that synthetics are "too slick" has been disproven many times.
Today's oils, even conventional, are light years ahead of 30 - 40 years ago. Most have very good additive packages and will be fine.
Just make sure to change it regularly.
And toss the break-in oil after 100 miles, it'll be dirty.

Best things you can do while the block is at the machine shop is to have it torque plate honed, then plateau honed. Plateau honing knocks off all the microscopic peaks left by honing stones and makes 'em flat-topped, like a plateau. This cuts down break-in time significantly. While you're at it, have the block decked square. I have mine cut to leave the piston .005 in the hole.
I have one I built about 15 years ago that now has 125K miles or so on it. With flat top 4 valve relief pistons, I'm at 10.1:1 with vortec heads and an LT-4 stock cam. Oil looks brand new at 1000 miles thanks to how well the rings seal, particularly at TDC where the torque plate honing job really shines.

Myself, I highly recommend Lucas 30W Break-In Oil. It has all the necessary additives already in it for helping the rings seat properly. If you are using a new camshaft, I also would highly advise purchasing camshaft assembly lube from the same manufacturer, if at all possible - should there be any issues later on, you will have a receipt for the lubricant they recommended for warranty purposes (even if their stuff is the same as another and a few bucks more, it is still cheap insurance.)

I use plenty of the Lucas Break-In Oil as well as the highest quality oil filter I can resource (I still have two PF35L filters left.). For my personal engines in my older stuff (like my baby!) I only use 10W30 with as little detergent as I can find - synthetic oils are used in my newer stuff.

Because I am anal-retentive, I normally perform a compression and cylinder leak-down test immediately after the first few oil changes.