best engine oil

Tommyg

New Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2004
Having my engine rebuilt. What's the best oil for it? I can't find a recent post on this topic,although i saw one in the last week or two. Does any oil have zinc or is it a thing of the past?:confused:
 
run what your engine builder tells u to run. he is the one that is going to warrenty it if something happens. Regardless of what he tells you to run i would put one bottle of zddp plus in every oil change
 
a recent post showed pretty good logic for using amsoil. When I get my GN running, I'll probably go that route. But it is very expensive.
 
I was asking this long ago, and also did MANY MANY searches. What I found people thought worked the best with no issues were the valvoline vr1 racing oil (street legal one) as it has the zddp already in it and amsoil. Personally, I will be going with a cocktail of 4 quarts valvoline vr1 racing oil 10w30 and 1 quart Amsoil racing oil 20w50. Will see how that goes.:biggrin:
 
I was asking this long ago, and also did MANY MANY searches. What I found people thought worked the best with no issues were the valvoline vr1 racing oil (street legal one) as it has the zddp already in it and amsoil. Personally, I will be going with a cocktail of 4 quarts valvoline vr1 racing oil 10w30 and 1 quart Amsoil racing oil 20w50. Will see how that goes.:biggrin:

that's what i used , when my engine was ready my mech- told me not to use synthetic, so i used the valvoline Vr1 ( which was the plan all along ) i used to use royal purple but i change my oil every 3000 miles, so it's VR1 and a can of MOA really good stuff guys.
 
Royal Purple, Mobil 1 or Redline, Amsoil is junk.


I've had very good results so far with Royal Purple (and ZDDPlus). I was wiping cams and damaging rod bearings with both Mobil 1 *and* Redline. Of course, that was when lots of guys were having oil/bearing problems because nobody knew or understood that the zinc and phosphorus had been removed. Just my personal experiences. I know one or two other local guys having very good results with Royal Purple. My Buick mechanic has told me several "horror stories" about Amsoil. I trust him so I won't even try it. I can't speak from personal experience with it though.
 
My Buick mechanic has told me several "horror stories" about Amsoil. I trust him so I won't even try it. I can't speak from personal experience with it though.

I am just curious to hear these "horror" stories. Could you enlighten us? The more information we have the better.
 
I am just curious to hear these "horror" stories. Could you enlighten us? The more information we have the better.

it's been a few years since he told me the stories of his Amsoil experiences, however what I remember in a nut shell, my mechanic/friend was building and maintaining engines for a road race team. I don't remember the reason, but they started running Amsoil and almost immediately started having bearing failures. Amsoil refused to accept any responsiblity for the failures. The team switched back to their previous oil and the failures ceased. That's an oversimplified version of his experiences but I don't remember the details at the moment. I'll give him a call and ask him to tell me about the whole deal again. Like I said in my previous post, I can't speak from personal experience with the stuff, but I trust my mechanic. He's also a good friend with 30+ years of experience and very long list of credentials.
 
Amsoil

i run Amsoil in everything i have from a diesel truck to a Kubota tractor and my GN. how long ago was these horror stories because it seems to work great for me and a lot of diesel guys...................Bob
 
Thanks for the info. Amsoil is out for sure.

whoa! a couple of posts shouldn't condem a product - that was not my intent. I wanted to relay the fact that I have been advised against using Amsoil by someone I trust who, unlike me, has had relevant personal experience with it.

May I respectfully suggest you and anyone else, do plenty of research on Amsoil or *any other product* for that matter, and make your own educated decision based on as much input and feedback as possible. I made my decision against using it because I trust my mechanic and I've found another product which seems to be working great and is more readily available (Royal Purple).

was just trying to offer constructive feedback, not start a "my oil is better than your oil" pi$$ing match :rolleyes:
 
whoa! a couple of posts shouldn't condem a product - that was not my intent. I wanted to relay the fact that I have been advised against using Amsoil by someone I trust who, unlike me, has had relevant personal experience with it.

May I respectfully suggest you and anyone else, do plenty of research on Amsoil or *any other product* for that matter, and make your own educated decision based on as much input and feedback as possible. I made my decision against using it because I trust my mechanic and I've found another product which seems to be working great and is more readily available (Royal Purple).

was just trying to offer constructive feedback, not start a "my oil is better than your oil" pi$$ing match :rolleyes:

I agree, what didn't work for someone else does not mean it won't work for you. In regards to your "mechanic's" horror stories. I would not be afraid to put my money that something was wrong elsewhere in the motor. I stand pretty firm on my trust with amsoil. And as many people will say, no matter what oil you use, if the motor isn't built right, it will fail.
 
In regards to your "mechanic's" horror stories. I would not be afraid to put my money that something was wrong elsewhere in the motor. I stand pretty firm on my trust with amsoil. And as many people will say, no matter what oil you use, if the motor isn't built right, it will fail.

I'm not a gambling man, but I'd take that bet. this was not just one engine, this was several engines which were built and re-built for a professional racing team. the engines were built correctly and inspected very carefully after the failures. the failures continued to occur over and over until the team switched back to the oil they had been using prior to the Amsoil.
 
I am always searching for for new lubrication products. I think I have tried many of the popular ones out there. I also have spoken to engine builders to get dyno results and more importantly bearing life using different oils (some oils will give you great results on the dyno but little protection on the bearings). I started using LAT racing oil about six months ago and have excellent results. I will be disassembling my engine soon and will check the bearings. Based on my conversations with engine builders and racers, I expect the results to be good. I can get a discount if anyone would like to try the products but keep in mind these are pricey products.
Jeff
Lube A Tech - Racing & Gear Oils
 
I'm not a gambling man, but I'd take that bet. this was not just one engine, this was several engines which were built and re-built for a professional racing team. the engines were built correctly and inspected very carefully after the failures. the failures continued to occur over and over until the team switched back to the oil they had been using prior to the Amsoil.


So what is the oil they had been using prior to Amsoil? I am sure other mechanics will have horror stories about that oil as well. From my experiences and reading posts from many others, it seems to me that around 99% of the time, the oil is NOT to blame for a failure. Unless of course, one selected the wrong viscosity, one that doesn't have the added zddp, etc. That's just my opinion. But I will see your bet and raise you 5 quarts of amsoil.:biggrin:
 
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