What are you all running for oil, and what weight oil? I'm having my new motor built as I type, and I knwo I'm gonna have to run a heavy oil (20-50) because it's beign built a little on the loose side due to what I plan to throw at it.

What's everyone running for oil? I know the days of the 10-30 / 0-40 mobil 1 are gone, what are you guys that are running a looser built race setup using for oil? Dino, synthetic, what weight? Have you had any oil analysis done to determine that it's keeping wear at a minimum?


Any info is appreciated.

 

I'm also curious as I am in the same boat.

 

LE 8800 15W40 heres the link and my engine.
wouldnt use anything else

LE oil

 

Badass lookiing setup right there.. what engine platform is that based off of?

The LE oil sounds intresting, what's that stuff cost, and where can you buy it? Now, anyone else, with something that you can buy at local auto parts stores/etc?

 

its a SBC based on a motown block
I'd like to build one using the the warhawk stuff

LE is a non-synthetic oil. I buy it for just less than 6 bucks a quart
alot of heavy trucks use it, so thats where I'd look first
amsoil or mobil1 would be my second choice
rotella I use in my service engines

 

Nice setup.. something similar with a warhawk would be well... even more badass!

Price doesn't seem too outrageous. I don't think I'm gonna use a synthetic in my new motor, I change oil WAY more often then most, and more often then actually needed, so I see no real reason to go with synthetic, as I'll never leave it in for long enough to really be too concerned with breakdown. Couple people I know that run sand drag cars use 20-50 pennzoil, I've never been a big fan of pennzoil stuff, but they swear by it... kinda what's leading me to look around.

Anyone else? I know that there's alot of guys with built motors running around... chime in!

 

for my first start after rebuild i placed the cheapest 30 I could find, the biggest oil filter it will fit (long) and I build it on the tight side, then after a couple of hours of use mainly starting, turning off, moving the car from one garage to another and about 30 miles inside the neiborhood (spelling?) I changed to 10w40 motul 4100 (my regular useoil for all my cars), now after 600 miles Im going to try 0w30 motul 5000...

 

Synthetic oil DOES make more power and DOES protect better. Been proven over and over.

 

yeah yeah I know.. but when you change the oil probably every 500 miles, is it worth it?

 

How much money do you want to throw away in wasted fuel, heat, and wear on engine parts?
A high performance motor would have even more reason to run superior oil.

 

I'll be going with what my engine builder says to run.... he's built some of teh baddest ls1's in the country, I think he knows what he's doing. I'm just trying to get a feel for what brands of oil other engine builders and experienced people are running... if you don't have a built motor that's seeing over 500 flywheel and a good dose of nitrous, ot a high boost application, please don't post as you have no valuble information

 

a friend of mine that runs quick8 introduced me to LE
he was commissioned to run an independant oil test on his engine dyno
at the same time he happened to be building a super stock engine for a client
the customer wanted a new block but it needed to be seasoned
so they went to the chevy dealer and purchased a crate engine
it was a way to kill two birds with one stone.
test the oils and season the block at the same time
the test was to mainly get the oil to 250 degrees and measure power.
some oil would get 250 with just a few pulls, others took many pulls
as stated earlier the synthetics (amsoil,mobil1,royal purple)made a few more HP initially, but as oil temps went up, power went down.
all except LE which is not synthetic. from what I understand, synthetics are limited to what additives can be used. it all depends on what properties you're looking for. its a balancing act,and different oils have different recipies.
so he sent samples of the tortured oils and all the other info he gathered
to be analyzed. LE was the oil that had the desired properties for his application.
he showed me a set of bearings from last season and only one of the mains had any barely visible signs of wear. this is a SB2.2 with lots of nitrous.
he is doing another test this fall with more brands included. I am trying to
get some CenPeCo for him as it was not included last time.
synthetics are popular in part due to their relatively inexpensive cost to manufacture, thus offering a higher profit margain. not to say they arent excellent oils, but it depends on the different demands of different engines.

 

I hope I can qualify.

If you have to run 20/50 find a new engine builder.

I run .003-.0035 on the rods and mains and run 0 weight oil and have 50lbs at idle. Take the time to restrict the oil where it is not needed and be very aware of the cam to cam bearing clearanace and the lifter to lifter bore clearances.

If all you want is a list of oils try these
LE
Synergyn
Royal Purple

If you want to learn something then go to bobistheoilguy.com or spellcheck.net

Rich

 

It sounds like the LE stuff is pretty well tested in that case. Do they have a 20-50 weight oil? I didn't see one listed, and the motor is beign clearanced to run that weight oil.

I've been told about a valvoline VR-1 oil that a couple people that I know run with very good success. It's a race forumla, it's nto an oil that you leave in for 3000 miles, but with the interval that I change oil (before every rack trip regardless of the time between trips) and every year before winter, and in the spring, and once during the middle of the summer, being that the car only gets about 2000 miles a year it's very often... I might give that valvoline stuff a try. I figure at 2.50 a qt, I can do a change with the big truck filter I run for about 24 bucks, at that price I'll jsut do it once a month while the car's in service... with intervals like that I see no reason for the synthetic.

I will look into the LE oil... where do you buy it from? I've never seen it in any store around the area here in CT.

 

I build drag race engines for a living and I break new motors in with straight SAE 30 then put valvoline 10w30 synthetic. We've seen ET, MPH, and engine longevity improvements in about every car thats switched. Do you want to run fast or just so-so?

 

everyone i have talked to about building a motor say not to run synthetic until your initial break in is done. it is too slippery to properly seat the rings.

 

I agree 100% on not using synthetic at the startup, and for break in. It's a matter of if there's any actual gains to be had when the oil is never in the motor for more then a month/500 miles at a time if it's worth going to it.. or would a race blend dino oil be a better route at this point.

 

Yet my TB SS (and other LS2's) came with Mobil 1 from the factory. Go figure.

JL - If anything run synthetic for the protection. I'm spinning mine to 7000 rpms. I also understand about the frequent oil changes. I have about 2,500 miles on my LS2 402 and have changed the oil at least 6 times with regular oil. However, next oil change I'm putting in Mobil 1. I will run 6 quarts total; 5 of 10W-30 and 1 of 20W-50. I ran this combo in my stock block from nearly day one and when I tore the engine apart last year it was immaculate with zero sludge buildup and all internal surfaces were clean. It's your engine, but don't skimp on the oil.

 

Whatever I run, it's gonna be strait 20-50 wt, and I am not against synthetic... just looking for opinions. I know if I put a thin oil like you would run in a stock bottome end motor, it will eat it like candy. I'm just trying to determine if the synthetic is actually worth while if you're on a frequent enough maintenance regiment.

For what it's worth, I'm building a larger CI motor that will see nitrous, and will be spun over 7000 most likly.. so what you have to say is revelant.

 

Yes it is worth it. Consider a worse case scenario and prepare for it. Imagine running at the track at WOT on a hot Summer day and the oil pump goes out at mid-track. Almost instantly oil pressure drops to zero and you hear a "clackity-clack" noise eminating from your valve train. You shut the car down the instant you hear the noise, but there is a couple second delay between the time the problem occurs and the time you shut it down. That one instant is where a good synthetic oil will shine and offer outstanding protection and not allow metal to metal contact.

I'm no oil expert and maybe there are dino oils that offer good protection for high-performance, high-rpm applications, but to me synthetics are proven in this regard and give me added insurance when spinning my motor to the moon.

BTW - The imaginary scenario depicted above happened to my friend with a 89 Mustang GT while at the track. We were convinced the motor would have seized up had he been running conventional oil at the time.