best oil for the LS1 engine?
I just put it in my car 4 weeks ago from a non-syn of the same weight.
The oil temps are lower. Car went faster this weekend for the condions I ran in.
I like what I see inthe data with load on the motor the pressure is just a little higher but the pressure when not under a heavy load is the same.
The rep told me it is good for a daily driver.
Tim
So if you have sludge in your oil that doesn't mean your engine is squeaky clean, in fact it's quite the opposite.
What you're talking about is dirty oil, which is a good thing to have. That means the oil itself is doing a good job cleaning contaminants in the engine. But sludge is a completely different animal. I would not be happy if I dumped a whole buncha sludgy oil into the drain pan.
I've always ran Mobil1 in all my cars. Currently using 0W40 and happy with it.
That's fine. Just pick a good quality oil. If someone wants to pay premium dollar for oil the. So be it. His money and who am I to say that's not right! I run schaeffers 5w40 9000 series. I use in all 3 of my vehicles. Why? 1 local company in St. Louis and talk to them before and really good people and will give you any data you want. 2 it's quality stuff I use it in my diesel truck that tows regularly, my Camaro which sees rpm and racing conditions. Daily driver has 265,xxx miles and still going strong. So it works for me not the cheapest but not the highest dollar stuff and I get it at my local carquest.
You run the 5w40 in both the Cummins and your Camaro? I know they make a 5w30 and 5w20, as well as 5w50 racing oil. Reason I ask is because on their website, it shows the 5w40 under the diesel category.
Yes it's the 5w40 9000 series. Buddy of mine runs it in his 6.0 powerstroke and his 13.1 6.0 LS race engine. We went in the same day and he bought 2 cases and I bought 1 case. Think be bough it all out lol.
There is no one "best" oil.
Pretty much any upper shelf synthetic oil will do you well. I like the Castrol that's still made in Germany, just my preference. $24 for a 5 quart jug at Walmart. I don't see the need to spend the bucks that Royal Purple, Red Line, Joe Gibbs, etc costs.
Of course, if you try a new oil and it causes problems like marbles noise, get it right out.
Your oil change interval is as important as what oil you use. I perform a oil & filter change when the oil is turning black on the stick. On my 5.3 truck, this is when the oil life indicator shows about 30% oil life left.
What filter you use is important too. Fram is junk and sadly, ACDelco is poorly made these days. Those Penzoil or STP filters are junk also as are store brand filters. Reach for a Wix, Mobil1, Hastings or K&N filter. I'm currently using the Wix XP filters with the wire backed synthetic media. YES, I've done the research by cutting open a dozen brand new filters.
When I bought my truck, it was obvious it wasn't very well cared for. It's a mystery it had 213K on the clock and ran great, no noises and no smoking.
The oil was black on the stick. I drove it one mile from the used car lot to a Jiffy Lube. Basic oil & filter change. I then drove it 50 miles to home and performed another oil & filter change. The 50 mile oil came out dead black. Three days and about 200 miles later, I did another oil & filter change. It was much cleaner. So I guess doing all this did flush out the sludge.
Pretty much any upper shelf synthetic oil will do you well. I like the Castrol that's still made in Germany, just my preference. $24 for a 5 quart jug at Walmart. I don't see the need to spend the bucks that Royal Purple, Red Line, Joe Gibbs, etc costs.
Of course, if you try a new oil and it causes problems like marbles noise, get it right out.
Your oil change interval is as important as what oil you use. I perform a oil & filter change when the oil is turning black on the stick. On my 5.3 truck, this is when the oil life indicator shows about 30% oil life left.
What filter you use is important too. Fram is junk and sadly, ACDelco is poorly made these days. Those Penzoil or STP filters are junk also as are store brand filters. Reach for a Wix, Mobil1, Hastings or K&N filter. I'm currently using the Wix XP filters with the wire backed synthetic media. YES, I've done the research by cutting open a dozen brand new filters.
When I bought my truck, it was obvious it wasn't very well cared for. It's a mystery it had 213K on the clock and ran great, no noises and no smoking.
The oil was black on the stick. I drove it one mile from the used car lot to a Jiffy Lube. Basic oil & filter change. I then drove it 50 miles to home and performed another oil & filter change. The 50 mile oil came out dead black. Three days and about 200 miles later, I did another oil & filter change. It was much cleaner. So I guess doing all this did flush out the sludge.
Last edited by Paul Bell; Sep 11, 2015 at 11:15 PM.
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 6,080
Likes: 17
From: So.Cal.
That's not exactly how it works. Oil does not clean sludge, sludge is oil itself that has become a more solid form due to lack of maintenance.
So if you have sludge in your oil that doesn't mean your engine is squeaky clean, in fact it's quite the opposite.
What you're talking about is dirty oil, which is a good thing to have. That means the oil itself is doing a good job cleaning contaminants in the engine. But sludge is a completely different animal. I would not be happy if I dumped a whole buncha sludgy oil into the drain pan.
So if you have sludge in your oil that doesn't mean your engine is squeaky clean, in fact it's quite the opposite.
What you're talking about is dirty oil, which is a good thing to have. That means the oil itself is doing a good job cleaning contaminants in the engine. But sludge is a completely different animal. I would not be happy if I dumped a whole buncha sludgy oil into the drain pan.
so the guy above with the sludge has a far more serious problem.
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Verdad Gallardo Never had the oil look that way when I put the Mobil back in. Maybe the LS30 oil isn't meant for long term driving.
I agree with all its hard to find an oil that is right for your region in the Las Vegas heat the only oil that i use is pennzoil ultra 10w40 . THat is just my personal opinion. 
Last edited by Vegas02ta; Sep 13, 2015 at 04:27 PM.
The LS30 is supposed to last as long as any ither oil out there. Jo Gibbs does make other oils that are meant to be changed at more frequent intervals, but not the LS30.
My T/A's very first oil change was to Mobile 1 5w-30. Have also used Mobile 1 10w-30. Car has 143,xxx miles. The heads & XE-R cam package with stock lifters has 111,xxx miles on them. The car is maintained with 5,000 mile oil changes. Filters are either Mobile 1, Wix Napa Gold, K&N or AC Delco. Most of the time the Mobile 1 filter. Based on my experience I think Mobile 1 is outstanding. There are other excellent oils too.
Running 390,000 miles with no issues with Mobile 1 in my 305 v8 91 Camaro made me a Mobile 1 fan. No rebuilds etc ran as well at 390,000 miles as it did at 20,000 miles. Had valve cover gaskets replaced at 375k miles due to leak, local mechanic (who had trained Honda dealer tech's for Honda) said valve train was in excellent shape, very clean like new and overall the engine was too. Clearly the engine had been replaced recently. When I told him that was the original engine he insisted the prior owner must have recently replaced it. I laughed and told I was the original owner and I knew for a fact the engine was the original. He was stunned and said that engine valve train looks almost new. Then said that synthetics like Mobile 1 are the real deal when they are changed regularly and a quality filter is used.
The good results with the small block chevy kept me with Mobile 1 for LS family.
Running 390,000 miles with no issues with Mobile 1 in my 305 v8 91 Camaro made me a Mobile 1 fan. No rebuilds etc ran as well at 390,000 miles as it did at 20,000 miles. Had valve cover gaskets replaced at 375k miles due to leak, local mechanic (who had trained Honda dealer tech's for Honda) said valve train was in excellent shape, very clean like new and overall the engine was too. Clearly the engine had been replaced recently. When I told him that was the original engine he insisted the prior owner must have recently replaced it. I laughed and told I was the original owner and I knew for a fact the engine was the original. He was stunned and said that engine valve train looks almost new. Then said that synthetics like Mobile 1 are the real deal when they are changed regularly and a quality filter is used.
The good results with the small block chevy kept me with Mobile 1 for LS family.
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I wouldnt be set on buying a certain brand name of Oil. My buddy owns a oil distributing warehouse here in michigan. Most brands are bottled in the same factory such as pennzoil and Mobil 1. Ask yourself have you ever saw a mobil 1 commercial bash pennzoil? No they bash valvoline because Mobil 1 is essentially Pennzoil. If its SAE certified its pretty much all the same stuff. Castrol isint even a oil company its just a marketing company that buys other suppliers oil.
Castrol is the marketing name for a grade of BP motor oil. Its markets oil made by BP. The API specification is the most important criteria.
As for me, I use a 40 to maintain viscosity. The 30s are meant to improve milage. If you do not agree with that, why does BMW recommend 10-60 in its high performance cars, or the new 700 hp ZR1 recommend 10-40. Those cars cannot escape the gas guzzler tax, hence the correct oil weight is recommended.
Teching In
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Oil [QUOTE=bat1;17448495]castol 30wt straight oil
now mobil1 10-30 and the engine got noisey
guess I better
GET AMSOIL AND YOU WILL NEVER LOOK BACK! AMSOIL IS USED IN EVERYTHING THAT TAKES OIL,FUEL ADDITIVES, 4 STROKE GENERATOR/LAWNMOWER OIL. 2 STROKE OIL, E.T.C ITS AMAZING COMPANY/OIL. WHAT A AMAZING PRODUCT.
now mobil1 10-30 and the engine got noisey
guess I better
GET AMSOIL AND YOU WILL NEVER LOOK BACK! AMSOIL IS USED IN EVERYTHING THAT TAKES OIL,FUEL ADDITIVES, 4 STROKE GENERATOR/LAWNMOWER OIL. 2 STROKE OIL, E.T.C ITS AMAZING COMPANY/OIL. WHAT A AMAZING PRODUCT.
I’ve been using Mobil 1 0w-40 European Formula in all my engines. It’s highly rated by 540 Rat Blog. Inexpensive and easy to find.
Vehicles that are factory filled with Mobil 1:
-Chevrolet Corvette, since 1993
-Mercedes AMG
-Porsche since 1996
-Acura RDX
-Aston Martin
-Bentley Azure
-Citröen DS3
-Holden HSV
-Lexus LFA
-McLaren MP4-12C
-Nissan GT-R
-Peugeot RCZ
-Vauxhall VXR8
-Viper Motorcycles
Vehicles that are factory filled with Mobil 1:
-Chevrolet Corvette, since 1993
-Mercedes AMG
-Porsche since 1996
-Acura RDX
-Aston Martin
-Bentley Azure
-Citröen DS3
-Holden HSV
-Lexus LFA
-McLaren MP4-12C
-Nissan GT-R
-Peugeot RCZ
-Vauxhall VXR8
-Viper Motorcycles
FWIW - in 2018 got a stock 02 Z28 ~239,000 miles that had had conventional Penzoil every 3k miles. ~42 to 45 psi oil pressure rock solid fully warmed up. Used ~ 1/2 quart of oil every ~1,200 to 1,500 miles. Piston slap loud on start up disappeared warmed up.
Couple of quick 1,500 mile M1 oil & filter changes, oil looked horrible and very nasty, much nastier than the Penzoil had with more miles. I suspect M1's different detergent package helped clean out gunk, oil consumption decreased ~1/2 quart every ~2,500 to 3,000 miles. Oil pressure 42 to 45 psi rock solid. Piston slap loud on start up disappeared warmed up.
Anyway, regular oil changes with,quality filter are key. I think it's also beneficial to occasionally switch up from say M1 to Penzoil Ultra to gain benefits of a different detergent package.
Couple of quick 1,500 mile M1 oil & filter changes, oil looked horrible and very nasty, much nastier than the Penzoil had with more miles. I suspect M1's different detergent package helped clean out gunk, oil consumption decreased ~1/2 quart every ~2,500 to 3,000 miles. Oil pressure 42 to 45 psi rock solid. Piston slap loud on start up disappeared warmed up.
Anyway, regular oil changes with,quality filter are key. I think it's also beneficial to occasionally switch up from say M1 to Penzoil Ultra to gain benefits of a different detergent package.
