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Old Feb 8, 2006 | 10:02 PM
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I recently got my ls1 and im planning on changing the oil. What type of oil does everyone use or recommend. I know that it has Valvaline 10w30 in it right now, should i witch to the recommended 5w30? Also should i change brands of oil? Sorry for the noob questions, im just trying to care for my car the best i can.
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Old Feb 8, 2006 | 10:10 PM
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I like Mobile 1 5w-30
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 03:51 AM
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i've kind of wondered about that too, actually. Mine didn't have the owner's manual when i bought it.
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 05:33 AM
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10W30 is fine so long as the temp stays above 0*F, per the owner's manual.

I use 10W30. Mobil 1.
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 06:50 AM
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I use the German Castrol Syntec 0W-30. I have read that it is getting hard to find but I just bought 3 cases from my local Autozone. I did clear them out though. Do a search for the user name "Patman". He has done some extensive oil testing that will show why I use the Syntec 0W-30.
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 07:37 AM
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Originally Posted by Mike02Z
I use the German Castrol Syntec 0W-30. I have read that it is getting hard to find but I just bought 3 cases from my local Autozone.
You sure all the bottles were from Germany?
If it says it was made in the USA (or in New Jersey) on the back of the bottle its not the same German formulation.
So far every Auto Zone I've visited to find this oil - at least half or more of the stock wasn't the German formulation.
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 08:09 AM
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Originally Posted by Optimus_Prime
I recently got my ls1 and im planning on changing the oil. What type of oil does everyone use or recommend. I know that it has Valvaline 10w30 in it right now, should i witch to the recommended 5w30? Also should i change brands of oil? Sorry for the noob questions, im just trying to care for my car the best i can.
Megatron uses Castrol Syntec European Formula.
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 09:10 AM
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then again they changed the german formula not to long ago. if you can still find the green stuff, it is supposed to be better than the new tan formula.
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 09:29 AM
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Originally Posted by Weezzer
You sure all the bottles were from Germany?
If it says it was made in the USA (or in New Jersey) on the back of the bottle its not the same German formulation.
So far every Auto Zone I've visited to find this oil - at least half or more of the stock wasn't the German formulation.
Nope, I'm sure I got the right stuff. Says "Made in Germany" on the back but says imported by a company in NJ. and it is green. I've been buying this stuff for a couple of years so I'm certain I got the right stuff.
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 10:23 AM
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im useing royal purple 10w30 but im gonna try 5w40 mext but the 10w30 RP is runnin much nicer in my motor than mobil1 5w30 did dont use it its to thin and it thins out even more.
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 10:54 AM
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Originally Posted by 2002z28
then again they changed the german formula not to long ago. if you can still find the green stuff, it is supposed to be better than the new tan formula.
I'm pretty sure the verdict on the yellow GC is still yet to be confirmed, but all indications are it is as good as the Green GC. If you can prove the tan is not as good, please point me to the link. Thanks!
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 11:41 AM
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I was going to use the German Castrol 0W-30 not too long ago, but it seemed way to thin/watery to me. I guess you haven't had any problems with it being too thin?

Really, I think it just depends on who you ask as far as what oil you should use. A lot of people are faithful to Mobil1 5W or 10W. The guys at my local shop suggest only using Mobil1. Some people will say that Royal Purple is better and claim power gains from it. Do some searching on here to see what you think you will like. I know there has been a few threads about the different oils.
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 03:14 PM
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Now I'm confused. I went into another Autozone today and found they still had 9 bottles of the German made 0w-30 Syntec on the shelf but the bottles look different. I started a new thread in the General Maintenance forum regarding this with pictures.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...13#post4230513


The reason I use the German made Castrol 0w-30 was I saw some tests that another member (Patman) did on various oils and the Syntec came out on top. I'm by no means an oil expert but I read a lot of forums.
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 06:12 PM
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I did some searching about the Royal Purple. HorsePower TV did a test on a 98-02(didn't specify year) Camaro SS switching all fluids to Royal Purple. This includes the differential fluid and the tranny fluid, as well as the oil. The car origianlly dynoed at 302rwhp, and after the fluid swap it dynoed at just over 310. So a little over 8 hp. Maybe that'll help you some. I have always used Mobil1 5W-30, but I may give Royal P a try this time.
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 06:33 PM
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Originally Posted by Lucas'02SS
I did some searching about the Royal Purple. HorsePower TV did a test on a 98-02(didn't specify year) Camaro SS switching all fluids to Royal Purple. This includes the differential fluid and the tranny fluid, as well as the oil. The car origianlly dynoed at 302rwhp, and after the fluid swap it dynoed at just over 310. So a little over 8 hp. Maybe that'll help you some. I have always used Mobil1 5W-30, but I may give Royal P a try this time.
I used to run Mobil 1 5W-30 in my wife's old car and switched to RP after I fell for the hype about RP. With the Mobil 1 her car would idle at about 30lb of oil pressure when at temperature. After I switched to RP the oil pressure dropped to about 25 lbs at idle. I switched back to Mobil 1 and her pressure went back up to 30. I'm no oil expert but that was enough for me to close the book on the RP 5W-30. I hear the racing 41 formula is pretty good though. I also read that Amsol and Red Line are very good oils for the LS1.
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 06:43 PM
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Originally Posted by Mike02Z
I used to run Mobil 1 5W-30 in my wife's old car and switched to RP after I fell for the hype about RP. With the Mobil 1 her car would idle at about 30lb of oil pressure when at temperature. After I switched to RP the oil pressure dropped to about 25 lbs at idle. I switched back to Mobil 1 and her pressure went back up to 30. I'm no oil expert but that was enough for me to close the book on the RP 5W-30. I hear the racing 41 formula is pretty good though. I also read that Amsol and Red Line are very good oils for the LS1.
Sorry man, I don't know anything about oil pressure. Where is it supposed to sit at? And does RP make the racing 41 Formula?
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 06:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Lucas'02SS
Sorry man, I don't know anything about oil pressure. Where is it supposed to sit at? And does RP make the racing 41 Formula?
The oil pressure will be different for every car. I guess what scared me was that I saw the pressure drop 5lbs at idle right after I put RP in. The fact that it went back to 30 after I switched back to Mobil 1 leads me to believe that the RP 5W-30 was thinning out more than the Mobil 1 and I figured that can not be good for engine wear. Royal Purple does make the Racing 41 oil.
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 07:50 PM
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Mobile 1 0-50 . . . yes, oil consumption issues. 0-30 is a little too thin I think.
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 09:25 PM
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Originally Posted by Lucas'02SS
A lot of people are faithful to Mobil1 5W or 10W. The guys at my local shop suggest only using Mobil1...
Been my experience 70 % of these people don't do regular used oil analysis.

When I first got my car, at the end of the first oil change I used Mobil 1. Six thousand miles on the first batch, five thousand on the second batch. The analysis were terrible, they were so bad that when I received the second analysis I dumped the Mobil 1 out at 1600 miles. Blackstone told me "you have found the perfect change interval for this oil"
Lets see 1600 miles for $30 bucks worth of oil, yep, perfect!... NOT!

The wild thing about it is I put German Castrol 0W-30 in, ran it for six grand, and the analysis between this and the 1600 mile Mobil 1 were virtually identical for wear metals in PPM.

Been approx 3 other samples taken since then, each at six grand with the German Castrol (always with the PF 59 filter), Blackstone labs is telling me I can run it 7 grand now and my TBN should still be good with low wear metal count.
I dunno, perhaps my car is really different from others, or perhaps the way I drive is different. I just know what works for me.

BTW-I've got about 40 quarts of the stuff put away. LOL

Last edited by Weezzer; Feb 9, 2006 at 10:58 PM.
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Old Feb 9, 2006 | 09:49 PM
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Another vote for the German Castrol...With an AC59 oil filter, and 6 qts., I really like it. Great pressure, no consumption, and $5 qt at the local AZ. I've run the gammit on all the M1 crap, and just wasn't happy.
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