CHRIS'S 98 SS

I've used many different oil on my last car but I now have a 2000 ss with 28k miles on it. It's a garage queen so less than 500 a year is what is put on the car. It's basically stock with pacesetter headers and y pipe, and has a fast 92 mm intake and throttle body. From the factory it came with castrol 5w-30 with syntec (full synthetic). It has the sticker from the factory that says it what the car came with. Now should I use the titaniam by castrol since syntec is not available anymore or should I go back to royal purple. Only reason why I am asking is because I've used full synthetic since I've owned it and was unsure if I should go back with conventional oil?

Zmg00camaross

iTrader: (11)

Not even lying I would use cheap regular oil. Less then 500 miles a year it would be a waste of money to put anything real expensive in it.

NAVYBLUE210

I would use a Synthetic Oil with Rust and Corrosion Inhibitors
For a vehicle that sits so much (garage queen).
IMHO the best choice for you would be AMSOIL Z-ROD 10W-30
For the reasons stated above. If you change 1X YR and the difference
Between cheap oil vs a quality Synthetic was $40 YR is this even
Worth a discussion?

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

The VAST majority of input you will get is going to based on blind faith in marketing bull.
Royal Purple would be VERY low on the option list.

If synthetic gives you a warm fuzzy, then just pick one.
Personally for the daily I want to change infrequently I simply buy whatever synthetic Advance Auto has a good sale with filter on.

You will have those who blindly push sythetic and will list off a half dozen vehicles with 100K miles as proof. Then you get half a clue and realize the VAST majority of vehicles have no problem topping 200K on JiffyLube bulk oil.

If you have some brand loyalty or the Castrol sticker makes you want to use that go for it, your piece of mind is the biggest gain you will get from being picky on oil.

JakeFusion

iTrader: (7)

I'd use an SL grade oil (not the newer SN stuff). German Castrol is still SL... Look on the back for the API grade. Top right of the seal shows the oil classification. Your car was designed to work with SL oils. SN oils may work as well but are newer and designed for emissions compliance.

2001_Z28_FUN

I always Put 1 Quart of Lucas oil additive in with Valvoline 5W30 regular, it keeps everything healthy and if your car (sits) like mine does all winter in Colorado, the Lucas oil additive helps prevent a (dry start) its a great additive and I use it in my Blown 428SCJ because it sits all winter too LOL very good additive

Zmg00camaross

iTrader: (11)

This!!

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

The "current" German Castrol is their 0W-40. 5 quart jugs at Walmart are like $26. Excellent oil to use without doing all the research.

NOT a good idea to use any additives with an oil. An oil's maker spends a lot of time and money getting the formula and additives package just right and adding something else ruins it. If you're using the Lucas synthetic oil stabilizer, it's just 90 weight oil with paraffin (soap) that foams up in the oil. Foam = air.

JakeFusion

iTrader: (7)

What color is the current German Castrol container, Paul? I was able to get some last year in the black containers at AutoZone for $4 a quart.

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

Black jugs. The currently made in Germany oil.

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

Lucas is thick oil lacking additives, so all it really does is thicken and dilute the additive package. If you think you need thicker it would be better to pick a thicker oil and maintain a proper additive package.
Oh and before someone goes there 10w-30 is NOT necessarily thicker than 5w-30.

CHRIS'S 98 SS

Thanks for the feed back guys. Only reason I asked is I may go a year to a year and a half before I change my oil. Also years back when I was racing their was a debate about synthetic oil and conventional saying you should never just switch between the two but do half and half then full synthetic. I don't know if it even matters anymore but thought I'd ask.

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

If the car sits in an unheated garage through the winter, there will probably be condensation in the oil. I'd perform an oil change before first start up after the hibernation.

For my daily driver, I perform an oil & filter change when the oil starts turning dark on the stick, not by mileage or time.

Use a Wix, Mobil1 or better filter. Virtually all Fram filters are junk.

Jase01

Joe Gibbs Driven HR synthetic or mineral oil has a 10W30 viscosity as well with anti corrosion additives to help with vehicles that see little use. I'm not sure if they're actually effective or not but probably worth a try. Beware, it's not cheap either but like NAVYBLUE210 said, if it's only once a year, what's it matter.

Both Joe Gibbs HR and Amsoil's Z-Rod are aimed at older cars though so the ZDDP levels are a bit higher and allegedly not really catalytic converter friendly assuming you actually care about that.

Best wishes,
Jason.

vettenuts

iTrader: (4)

I don't drive mine much either and use the Amsoil Z-Rod 10W30 due to the corrosion inhibitors made for storage. I do change annually in the fall just before storing the car.

The Mobil-1 5W30 for older cars is another option. It is higher viscosity within the 30 range and doesn't meet the new standards but rather an older standard closer to when your car was built as suggested by JakeFusion in his post above. I also use the German Castrol 0W30 but need to find it when there is a sale because the price is now as much as Amsoil at over $9 a quart.

As far as changing after 18 months rather than the 12 months in the owners manual, I contacted a retired GM engineer on this to get GM's reasoning. He worked on the oil life monitor system. His reasons were enough for me to keep changing every 12 months as I too was considering going longer.