Question: synthetic oil for midyear vettes?

[Vinny]

Hi, are synthetic motor oils ok for the mid year vettes? what weight is recommended for year round use? thanks for the info....Vinny

 

[chief-z]

Hi, are synthetic motor oils ok for the mid year vettes? what weight is recommended for year round use? thanks for the info....Vinny

vinny, syns will work fine. however is the engine gaskets are old or hard you may expierence weepage due to the syns ability to "flow". regards, Z

 

[vett boy]

I agree with chief .If the engine has 50,000 plus miles be prepared to do your second synthetic oil change early .The reason will be obvious when you drain it .At 2000 miles it'll be darker and blacker than diesel at 15,000 miles.It almost acts as a engine cleaner

Welcome fellas and glad to see the posts .I'll wave.

 

[JohnZ]

Hi, are synthetic motor oils ok for the mid year vettes? what weight is recommended for year round use? thanks for the info....Vinny

What's more important for a midyear is to choose an oil with the proper level of ZDDP/Phosphorus anti-wear additive to protect the cam lobes and lifters, as they're not rollerized like the later cars. Do NOT use conventional "SM"-rated oil - their ZDDP level has been reduced to a max of 800ppm to protect catalytic converter efficiency on modern cars. Select any "CJ"-rated diesel oil, like Shell Rotella, Mobil Delvac, Chevron Delo, etc; they all have 1200ppm of ZDDP, and you don't need any special wear additives with "CJ"-rated oils.

That's as simple as it gets, and that's all you need to know to select an oil that will protect your cam and lifters. The most common weight available in "CJ"-rated oils is 15W40, and it works fine.

 

[Don Strausburg]

Synthetic vs Regular

I was told by several people not to use synthetic on my 64 327. It has just over 50,000 on it. I was told that the synthetic would probably slowly leak out, especially from valve covers. Any thought on this.

 

[cptchevy]

My $.02: Break in on Dino oil. Then I use synthetic from then on because its far superior. If it was leaky because my motor had a lot of miles on it, it would soon be on an engine stand getting taken apart and be receiving an overhaul. Use the black Toyota gasket sealer available at a dealers parts dept. It works great sealing up old Chevrolet motors. One of my best friends is a professional that builds race car motors and told me to use it and he was right, its awesome. I also use 3M weatherstripping glue on valve cover gaskets. Glue the valve cover gasket to the valve cover with the yellow stuff and then you can take your valve covers on and off and they will be leak free when tightened on the heads // no glue on the head side of the gasket. A few tips from NASCAR country... take em or leave them I use synthetic and I have drip free cars: 1969 L78 Camaro and 1965 396 Corvette.

 

[cptchevy]

John Z's advise is good if your still rolling with a flat tappet cam. I'm running hydraulic rollers. You can't see them and they really improve the characteristics of your engine. I have heard that the new low zinc oils are very devastating on flat cams!!

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

Then I use synthetic from then on because its far superior.

Here we go again (yawn) otfl

 

[Kid_Again]

Before my engine rebuilds, I experimented with both dino and synthetics/synthetic mixtures. I found absolutely no difference, especially no difference in leaks. If it leaked before, it leaked afterward and if it didn't leak before, it didn't leak afterward.

Except for the ZDDP issues that John raises, I think it's all Marketing.

After all, SOMEBODY had to make ExxonMobil the wealthiest company on the face of the planet. :eyerole

 

[cptchevy]

Maybe so, I think the differences will be noticed in ware after a significant period of use rather than felt performance. At least your probably not giving money to the middle east when you use synthetic. I'll pay the extra for that reason alone.

 

[Bolisk]

Not a C1 or C2, but my 1970 C3 is using Mobil1 10w30 High Miliage synthetic in my 350/350 flat tappet mechanical lifter engine. Mobil1's High Milage motor oil still contains over 1,200 ppm ZDDP (accoding to a recent article in Corvette Enthusiast).

 

[Kid_Again]

If there is a source of information (NOT a company website), that documents the data that even suggest that syns are better than dino when used according to manufacturer's recommendations, please make it available. How about an SAE paper?

I think it's all Marketing.

100% Marketing untill I see independent data.

 

[cptchevy]

Manufactures state to use synthetic oil in the owners manual and the recommended mileage between oil changes has increased significantly. Where is a new corvette guy? C6 owners tell us what your owners manual says. Of course there has probably been inprovements in bearing technology and dampening, however, I believe its due to synthetic oil being better. There is probably not a noticeable (felt difference) performance difference but rather in parts wear and resistance to breaking down at high tempuratures or long use.

 

[cptchevy]

My BN commander during my last tour in Iraq was from NJ and was very reluctant to believe anything. He always would say "Look, I'm from New Jersey. You're going to have to convince me better than this!" Whats the deal with you all? You got a lot of Sham wow guys tryng to sell stuff up there? He was an excellent commander though.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

If there is a source of information (NOT a company website), that documents the data that even suggest that syns are better than dino when used according to manufacturer's recommendations, please make it available. How about an SAE paper?

I think it's all Marketing.

100% Marketing untill I see independent data.

I've searched in my former corporate and now private life for such a document for over 15 years and have come up dry.

The few papers I have seen show no noticeable difference between synthetic and regular oils. I'm sure the sham-wow crowd will tell you different though.

 

[cptchevy]

Here is a link to SAE website search on scientific testing:

SAE Search

 

[mcditalia]

While ordering parts through Paragon, I ran into an oil they sell called "Collector's Choice" which claims they have the higher levels of ZDDP that older cars need and specifically state not for use in cars with catalytic coverters. They have this oil in 10w30 weight. Seems interesting, but don't know anything about the product. Anyone ever have any experience with this oil?

 

[JohnZ]

While ordering parts through Paragon, I ran into an oil they sell called "Collector's Choice" which claims they have the higher levels of ZDDP that older cars need and specifically state not for use in cars with catalytic coverters. They have this oil in 10w30 weight. Seems interesting, but don't know anything about the product. Anyone ever have any experience with this oil?

Ask them what the API Service Classification is - SM? CI-4? CJ-4? If it doesn't have an API Service Classification (in the circular API "target" symbol), it hasn't passed the standard battery of industry certification tests for automotive use.

 

[Kid_Again]

Not buying the story of your technical links to the SAE Website.

I saw only one head-to head-comparative study of good dino oil under recommended conditions versus good syn oil under recommended conditions. I don't need to order the full article - I stopped when I saw it was published by researchers at Exxon/Mobil. That's not engineering, that's Marketing.

The only point that I will concede is the article which shows that full syn is better for lubricating turbos. Makes sense, very high temps, cooking and all that.

I'll give you the turbo advantage but are there any links to TRULY independent engineering data?

Exxon/Mobil NEEDS your syn oil dollars NOW because the Obama Police won't let them raise gas prices quickly enough.hnoes

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

I've read the majority of the SAE articles. Not one of them shows any long term durability benefits of synthetics over conventional oil.