Oil question???
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Teching In
Joined: Sep 2014
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Oil question??? Not looking to start a debate on what oil is best. I just had a question, so my car calls for 5w30 as do a lot of LS cars, but after cam and heads why do people switch to a different weight oil? Just curious what the reason is to switch to a thicker oil?
Oil viscosity should correlate to the bearing clearances in the engine. When "heads and cam" are added, the oil viscosity should NOT need to be changed. If the engine is built with bearing clearances that are different than factory, then the viscosity MAY change.
Another consideration is intended usage. If you plan on operating the car with higher oil temperatures (open track events, canyon runs, etc.) then a viscosity change MAY be considered.
For most street car and drag engines that operate at "normal" oil temperatures, 5w30 oil is fine. It all depends on the build and intended usage.
I will say that with 15w40 Rotella oil in my LS3 and what I would consider a "little looser" bearing tolerances (.002" mains/.0025" rods) than stock if I don't wait for the engine AND oil to warm up, I will see 96+ psi oil pressure. This is with a STOCK LS2 oil pump that I ported.
Another consideration is intended usage. If you plan on operating the car with higher oil temperatures (open track events, canyon runs, etc.) then a viscosity change MAY be considered.
For most street car and drag engines that operate at "normal" oil temperatures, 5w30 oil is fine. It all depends on the build and intended usage.
I will say that with 15w40 Rotella oil in my LS3 and what I would consider a "little looser" bearing tolerances (.002" mains/.0025" rods) than stock if I don't wait for the engine AND oil to warm up, I will see 96+ psi oil pressure. This is with a STOCK LS2 oil pump that I ported.
Oil viscosity should correlate to the bearing clearances in the engine. When "heads and cam" are added, the oil viscosity should NOT need to be changed. If the engine is built with bearing clearances that are different than factory, then the viscosity MAY change.
Another consideration is intended usage. If you plan on operating the car with higher oil temperatures (open track events, canyon runs, etc.) then a viscosity change MAY be considered.
For most street car and drag engines that operate at "normal" oil temperatures, 5w30 oil is fine. It all depends on the build and intended usage.
I will say that with 15w40 Rotella oil in my LS3 and what I would consider a "little looser" bearing tolerances (.002" mains/.0025" rods) than stock if I don't wait for the engine AND oil to warm up, I will see 96+ psi oil pressure. This is with a STOCK LS2 oil pump that I ported.
Another consideration is intended usage. If you plan on operating the car with higher oil temperatures (open track events, canyon runs, etc.) then a viscosity change MAY be considered.
For most street car and drag engines that operate at "normal" oil temperatures, 5w30 oil is fine. It all depends on the build and intended usage.
I will say that with 15w40 Rotella oil in my LS3 and what I would consider a "little looser" bearing tolerances (.002" mains/.0025" rods) than stock if I don't wait for the engine AND oil to warm up, I will see 96+ psi oil pressure. This is with a STOCK LS2 oil pump that I ported.
