Does alky use effect the oil?

[turbosam6]

I know my buddies blown alcohol camaro requires an oil change after a couple minutes of running, because the alcohol dilutes the oil really bad. I realize we would not be runing anywhere near the alcohol he does, but does it have any effect on the oil?

I change my oil after racing because it always smells like race fuel. Running higher cylinder pressures like that will cause that. But I'm wondering if extended use of alcohol on the street will cause problems?

 

[d0n_3d]

I've been told by a few people that you need to change the oil more often if running alcohol injection due to the contaminants and byproducts of alcohol when it is burnt off...change it at 3k miles no later and you should be fine...I run Mobil 1 10w30 full synthetic oil

 

[zam70]

You shouldn't be spraying enough to really make much difference. just change as usual. I run Kendall...works better with the alcohol (ask any hard core alcohol racer)

 

[Razor]

3k miles.. I wish

Running the motor hard will breakdown the oil. Due to fuel, alky, blow by, etc.

If you run high levels of boost, and large volumes of alcohol/fuel... couple hundred miles its toast.

My rule of thumb.. If I pull the dipstick out, and its dirty.. I dont care how many miles.. its getting changed. Period.

Oil is cheap in the scheme of things, and the only real protection from really bad things happening.

12000 1/4 mile passes in 3k miles.. that would really be some very good oil..

High HP=High maintenance.. dont go by mileage unless the car is being driven "normally" . Once you race and hammer it to the edge of death... different story.

 

[1badTTA]

Hmmmmm, another reason to run propane, it won't affect the oil. I will have to remember that for the next person who wants pros/cons to propane vs alky

 

[Razor]

Originally posted by 1badTTA
Hmmmmm, another reason to run propane, it won't affect the oil. I will have to remember that for the next person who wants pros/cons to propane vs alky

Make some real power and it will











Run your motor at 30 PSI... let me know how long the oil lasts.

 

[wh1-Denver]

I run Synthetic which does not break down as easily as dino. I also think that gas would be more destructive than methanol considering how much faster meth evaporates than gas not to mention that meth is more of a pure product than gas.
Blow by is blow by. I would rather dump meth in my oil than gas. Gas will be around a lot longer than the meth to break down the viscosity. The color of the oil is only a result of the hydrocarbons from the unburnt gas that gets past the rings. That is why I plan on using total seal rings when I rebuild, almost no blow by. Plus your oil stays in the motor instead of coming out the breathers, front cover seal and rear main seal.
The thing that steered me away from propane was the thought of a rear end collision. That scares me more than the thought of meth in my oil. I have always run synthetic oil in all my vehicles, high performance or daily drivers. It last and protects way longer than conventional oils. I run it in all my motorcycles, lawn mowers, snow blowers, everything that takes oil.

 

[zam70]

The problem with oil & alcohol/methanol isn't a "oil break down" issue...it is intermixing.

When alcohol gets in with the oil it blends with it (looks like a blown head gasket/milk shake) diluting the oil - even synthetic.

Kendall would not blend with the alcohol (the alcohol would float -kinda like oil and water) in turn, leaving pure oil for the oil pickup to suck up while the alcohol floated on top. Even synthetic blends with alchol...the Kendall did not hence, it being favored by racers running pure alcohol.

I have recently heard Kendal has reformulated and this is no longer true though...

 

[wh1-Denver]

I have never seen my oil turn into a milk shack unless I had water in it. You are refering to a full alky motor not a supplement system like we are using. The volume of alky that we use is nothing in comparison to a full alky race car. You are comparing apples to oranges here. Think about the volume difference between the two applications. How much does you buddy use in a 1/4? I can run all night long on one gallon. How many gallons does he use in one run? Do the math.
My oil probably doesn't even no that the alky is being sprayed. It should be vapors not liquid by the time it hits the cylinders. I check my oil all the time and it looks normal to me no different than my other vehicles that have never seen an alky kit.
I prefer synthetic because it last longer and protects better. Plus I will not change my oil very run or every week. I have a daily driver that sees the track once every three months if I'm lucky.
I had concerns about the corrosiveness on my up pipe, TB, plenum, and intake but the alky just does not stick around long enough to do anything.

 

[zam70]

wh1-Denver
Read my post above, we are in agreement

To quote myself:
"You shouldn't be spraying enough to really make much difference. just change as usual. I run Kendall...works better with the alcohol (ask any hard core alcohol racer)"

My statement was in an extreme situation...juat for the record - the blown alcohol dragster we run uses between 3/4 gallons a run - in the 1/8th mile...so yes, a whole different world.

As far as running Kendall - I personally prefer it because it is what Buick originally used in our cars and I've always liked it. It also seems to protect the dragster engine quite well...I figure good enough there, DEFINITLY good enough for the Buick...

I tried the synthetic, never saw the point of using it as often as I change oil. I was just throwing money away.

 

[Danster]

What type of Kendall oil do you use? I've seen some type of racing oil from Kendall sold in Autozone stores. I would like to try it but don't know if I should be using the racing oil version.


Dannyo

 

[zam70]

by the way - that's between 3 & 4 gallons....sometimes well over 4 if there's a burn down..

It's the Kendall GT1 that we use.
Like I said though, they have reformulated and it is now being questioned by the racers. Doesn't mean it's bad now, just different.