I'm a Oil Junkie

[ricefordiner]

sarge i have been wondering this, you know how after alot of miles i have heard people say to put a thicker weight oil in your car in response to since theres more miles so it needs a thicker oil. For example say i put 5w30 in my car but then i get to 100,000 miles would it be prudent for me tu put say, 10w40. or does it not matter at all and keep going with 5w30. What do u think about this since u claim to be an oil junkie. lol

[CompSyn]

sarge i have been wondering this, you know how after alot of miles i have heard people say to put a thicker weight oil in your car in response to since theres more miles so it needs a thicker oil. For example say i put 5w30 in my car but then i get to 100,000 miles would it be prudent for me tu put say, 10w40. or does it not matter at all and keep going with 5w30. What do u think about this since u claim to be an oil junkie. lol

The way you can tell if you need a thicker viscosity is the oil pressure. The rule of thumb for oil pressure is around 9 or 10psi per 1000 rpm. At warmed up idle I believed I’ve heard it’s normal to see around 25 to 30psi on a LS1 engine. With your foot on the gas and tachometer reading 6000rpm, you should be looking at 55 to 60 psi. If it’s more than that, your oil is too thick, if it’s less than that, your oil is too thin.

If your car has higher mileage and you want to check into your oil pressures, you may want to do an engine flush of some sort, especially if the car has ran conventional petroleum based oil for its entire life span. Deposits can accumulate in the engine block passage ways and this can result in higher oil pressures. Amsoil has an engine flush that works well for this and there are others as well.

And of course there is the possibility of the factory oil pressure sending unit going bad and giving false readings. So if you’re concerned about your oil pressure and you’re not sure if your oil pressure gauge is reading correctly, it might be time to replace the sending unit or install an aftermarket gauge.

Hope this helps,

CompSyn

[ricefordiner]

The way you can tell if you need a thicker viscosity is the oil pressure. The rule of thumb for oil pressure is around 9 or 10psi per 1000 rpm. At warmed up idle I believed I’ve heard it’s normal to see around 25 to 30psi on a LS1 engine. With your foot on the gas and tachometer reading 6000rpm, you should be looking at 55 to 60 psi. If it’s more than that, your oil is too thick, if it’s less than that, your oil is too thin.

If your car has higher mileage and you want to check into your oil pressures, you may want to do an engine flush of some sort, especially if the car has ran conventional petroleum based oil for its entire life span. Deposits can accumulate in the engine block passage ways and this can result in higher oil pressures. Amsoil has an engine flush that works well for this and there are others as well.

And of course there is the possibility of the factory oil pressure sending unit going bad and giving false readings. So if you’re concerned about your oil pressure and you’re not sure if your oil pressure gauge is reading correctly, it might be time to replace the sending unit or install an aftermarket gauge.

Hope this helps,

CompSyn

i was just asking because sarge recommends 10w30 for ls1. but does the weights of the oils have more to do with how worn the internals, or oil pressure?

[ricefordiner]

thanks fo tha info though didnt know that.

[nillam1]

OK i've been reading here since the beginning for a couple hours now! My head is spinning. Last oil change I used Royal Purple 5W30 with K&N oil filter and added ZMAX! My engine has about 80K, I thought I was doing the best thing until I started reading this thread. What should I be using? I have used ZMAX a couple of times now is this bad or just a waste of money? Before every oil change I flush the engine with 5 L of cheapest oil before I change the filter, is this a good idea? Just wanna do whats best for my baby! 2002 Camaro Z28 Bolt ons Flowmaster catback, Superchips tuned, SLP cold air intake w/filter, ZEX powertune plugs, Taylor wires, 160 T-STAT w/fan control. Thanks!

[CompSyn]

OK i've been reading here since the beginning for a couple hours now! My head is spinning. Last oil change I used Royal Purple 5W30 with K&N oil filter and added ZMAX! My engine has about 80K, I thought I was doing the best thing until I started reading this thread. What should I be using? I have used ZMAX a couple of times now is this bad or just a waste of money? Before every oil change I flush the engine with 5 L of cheapest oil before I change the filter, is this a good idea? Just wanna do whats best for my baby! 2002 Camaro Z28 Bolt ons Flowmaster catback, Superchips tuned, SLP cold air intake w/filter, ZEX powertune plugs, Taylor wires, 160 T-STAT w/fan control. Thanks!

Continue to research motor oils (lots of good info in LS1.com) and pick a good 0W-30, 5W-30, or 10W-30 synthetic motor oil. Also, save the money and time and discontinue the use of aftermarket motor oil additives and chasing your used oil with cheap oil. A good quality synthetics motor oil already comes with the right additives blended by chemists in a lab and they run cleaner than other conventional motor oils.

Feel free to ask any questions if some arise,

CompSyn

[Dr.Crash]

ok i've been reading here since the beginning for a couple hours now! My head is spinning. Last oil change i used royal purple 5w30 with k&n oil filter and added zmax! My engine has about 80k, i thought i was doing the best thing until i started reading this thread. What should i be using? I have used zmax a couple of times now is this bad or just a waste of money? Before every oil change i flush the engine with 5 l of cheapest oil before i change the filter, is this a good idea? Just wanna do whats best for my baby! 2002 camaro z28 bolt ons flowmaster catback, superchips tuned, slp cold air intake w/filter, zex powertune plugs, taylor wires, 160 t-stat w/fan control. Thanks!

amsoil!!!!!!!!!!

[Y2KArcticSS]

amsoil!!!!!!!!!!

I agree (obvious biased opinion)

[Dr.Crash]

i used to run royal purple, then my engine blew up. dont use it

[Dr.Crash]

i figured thats how royal purple got the rest of their "claims" (customer feedback) so i thought i would add some to it

[CompSyn]

i was just asking because sarge recommends 10w30 for ls1. but does the weights of the oils have more to do with how worn the internals, or oil pressure?

Oil weights affect both oil pressure and internal engine wear. Some make the assumption that thick motor oil will protect the engine better. In some cases this may be true in higher mileage engines with worn bearings or race engines that are designed with looser bearing clearances or generate lots of heat when endurance racing. But again, the way to determine the right viscosity for the application is oil pressure and oil temperature (if possible).

Probably 9 times out of 10, choosing to use thicker motor oil in a typical street car is more harmful than beneficial. If motor oil is thicker than it needs to be, there is more resistance to oil flow which makes the oil pressure go up. More resistance to flow means you have less oil flow. When you have less oil flow, you have less oil cooling; oil cooling helps your engine last longer. Also, if you have less oil flow, you have less oil at the parts that need it most, like connecting rod bearings.

This is why I recommend sticking with the recommendation in your cars owners’ manual, and don’t worry about second guessing the engineers that designed your engine. Your 2000 Z28 calls for either 5W-30 or 10W-30 motor oil. Use one of the two and make sure your oil pressure is where it should be.

CompSyn

[CompSyn]

i used to run royal purple, then my engine blew up. dont use it

Did you determine that is was an oil related failure, or did something else fail on your engine?

[Dr.Crash]

Did you determine that is was an oil related failure, or did something else fail on your engine?

no it was hydro lock, but i figured since that was how royal purple made all of its claims (customer feedback) maybe they would use it

[CompSyn]

no it was hydro lock, but i figured since that was how royal purple made all of its claims (customer feedback) maybe they would use it

Okay, got ya about the RP testimonial thing. I was hoping it wasn’t one of those things where something went wrong with the engine and the motor oil was blamed for lack of a better explanation. The blame game thing is not good no matter what brand of oil.

CompSyn

[Dr.Crash]

Okay, got ya about the RP testimonial thing. I was hoping it wasn’t one of those things where something went wrong with the engine and the motor oil was blamed for lack of a better explanation. The blame game thing is not good no matter what brand of oil.

CompSyn

not to sound stupid (which i normally do very well) but how could the oil cause an engine to "blow up"? i understand premature wear and sludge but what else could it really do?

[CompSyn]

not to sound stupid (which i normally do very well) but how could the oil cause an engine to "blow up"? i understand premature wear and sludge but what else could it really do?

Well, that’s just it, I’ve never heard of an engine failure where the motor oil was actually verified to be the cause of failure. After all, how many of you have heard of such a thing happening? But if a motor oil related failure did occur it could be something like a 30 grade oil shearing down to 5 grade oil and then causing a rod bearing to spin. If such a thing did happen it could be verified through used oil analysis and inspection of the failed part.

On the other hand, strange things do happen with modified engines sometimes and when people can’t figure out what caused their issue, it can be an easy cop-out to blame the motor oil. In general, I’ve heard people say that synthetic motor oils caused bolts to loosen, it caused push rods to bend, and it causes leaks. Further investigation would show that the cause of the problem was other sources, not the oil. This is where myths and old wives tales come from.

[Sarge]

sarge i have been wondering this, you know how after alot of miles i have heard people say to put a thicker weight oil in your car in response to since theres more miles so it needs a thicker oil. For example say i put 5w30 in my car but then i get to 100,000 miles would it be prudent for me tu put say, 10w40. or does it not matter at all and keep going with 5w30. What do u think about this since u claim to be an oil junkie. lol

LOL...yup I'm a junkie
Folks if I ever catch anybody putting a "thickener" like Lucas Oil Stabilizer (garbage) or running a thick oil based on mileage I will bitch slap you with a shovel. Run the correct viscosity and for LSX motors that is a 30 weight.
What I do recommend for higher mileage motors is a good AutoRX cleaning. This stuff is a gentle cleaner that cleans the ring packs/oil galleys/valve assembly. Follow the instructions to the letter. http://www.auto-rx.com/ I run the maintenance dose in all my motors. But continue to run your correct viscosity motor oil.

[Sarge]

not to sound stupid (which i normally do very well) but how could the oil cause an engine to "blow up"? i understand premature wear and sludge but what else could it really do?

Frankly I have only seen one oil related failure. He didn't put oil in the motor and ran it down the strip.
What happens with oil related issues is the oil (or improper viscosity/lack of add pack etc.) over time causes stress on various components and those components fail prematurely.

[Sarge]

someone break down that analysis for me Sarge!!!

Well LoneWolf I disagree with BS Labs saying divide miles by wear metals as wear metals are not linear at all. What I see is wear metals about 37% ( if my math is right and I think it is) higher with Castrol Edge versus PP. I base this on a formula of averages over 1000's of reports at 1000K mile increments. Worse case is Castrol Edge is double the price of PP and gave you close to identical wear numbers when Castrol Edge is run less miles than PP. Castrol Edge is thinner than PP. For the cost of Edge I am not impressed at all.

[lonewolf37]

I was not impressed either, but I am glad I heard it from you. Do you think this oil is shearing?