Best Oil?
Best Oil? Ready to go through the fluids on my car. Just curious if there is a favorite oil in the LT1 crowd. Weight? Brand? Conventional, Blend, Synthetic? Starting with 88,000 and dont plan to be easy on it, so I want to feed it what it wants.
Miles mean crap without analysis you don't knowanything the engine could be on the verge of failure next time you start it. My wagon has 196K I didn't buy new but it appears original and with a normal level of care nothing extrodinary. Old cop car routinely see over 200K having gotten bulk oil most of their life with untold hours of idling besides the miles.
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Asking about the best oil in a car forum is about like asking everyone what the best food is for dinner. Opinions on oil are like ********, everybody's got one. So here's the deal, 0w30 Castrol (Made in Germany) probably gets the honors for the LT1. Been reading a lot about Amsoil's new VW 505.01/European formula for the LS1 (I use it in my VW). I personally use Mobil 1 15w50 in my LT1. As eluded to above, keeping the fluids changed is probably better than what you are actually using. Just some things to note about oils are that oils like Royal Purple, Castrol Syntec, Shell Rotella T, and Valvoline Synpower, etc are Group 3 oils meaning they are not full synthetic oils. Their basestocks are highly refined petroleum. Group 4 oils use basestocks from natural gas. These are Mobil 1 and Amsoil in N. America (also German Castrol). Group 5 are esters and includes Redline. Group 5 oils are aviation oriented due to temperatures. So pick whatever oil you want and use used oil analysis services and determine what the best interval and wear pattern is best for your vehicle. The reports usually tell if it's recommended to change the oil or not based on the metal levels. Over in the VW forums, people are using their oil for 15,000+ miles because their wear levels aren't increasing. Use whatever oil you want but don't use it cuz someone else says so.
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Verdad Gallardo Didnt plan on just picking what the next guy uses. Just curious what most people seemed to run in these cars. I have used Valvoline for years and seems to work good. I used to work in a shop, and I can say for sure that given the same change intervals it seems that some oils really crud up more than others. And yes, you could argue different driving habbits but Im pretty sure both got the same type of use. At any rate. Thanks for the input.
If you've used Valvoline in the past with no probs, I say keep on truckin' with it! I would say their Synpower with a 10K mile change interval would be cake. I really like the idea of longer change intervals with the synthetics. (I would do the UOA though to be sure.)
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Joined: Jan 2005
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From: Norfolk, VA
Mobile 1 5w40 here, but I heard they stopped making it, so I guess I'm gonna have to try harder to find the german castrol stuff... 
Anyone in south florida know where I can find that stuff?
Anyone in south florida know where I can find that stuff?
Originally Posted by 96capricemgr
Miles mean crap without analysis you don't knowanything the engine could be on the verge of failure next time you start it. My wagon has 196K I didn't buy new but it appears original and with a normal level of care nothing extrodinary. Old cop car routinely see over 200K having gotten bulk oil most of their life with untold hours of idling besides the miles.
Originally Posted by speed_demon24
Mobile 1 5w40 here, but I heard they stopped making it, so I guess I'm gonna have to try harder to find the german castrol stuff... Anyone in south florida know where I can find that stuff?
Anyone in south florida know where I can find that stuff?