Synthetic oil in flat tappet cars?

[BuickMike]

So ever since I killed the #3 exhaust lobe back in '99 after using Mobil 1 I have used nothing but VR1 20W50 and a bottle of ZDDPlus in the GN with good results. That being said, I wonder what results others have had. I know there are way better synthetics out there like Amsoil and wonder if the properties are acceptable for our motors. So I'll let some veterans hopefully chime in on this subject.

 

[turbo nasty]

I have used nothing but VR1 20W50 and a bottle of ZDDPlus in the GN with good results.

^ Keep doing this...no need to change. I ran this exact same combo of oil for years and put 204k miles ...daily driven, raced on street and track..... my GN in the high elevens and saw 22 plus psi daily original cam and lifters on changed the timing set, valve springs(979's)/seal, oil pump and never wiped a lobe. Keep the oil changed and rock on.

 

[captndave737]

210k on mine with Mobil One and ZDDP with no problems.

 

[Nick Micale]

My first comment about synthetic oil in a TR is that it a waste of money. I will do nothing better than regular oil in our cars as it's useful life in not any longer than regular oil since boost contaminates both just the same.

There is no "magic" additive in synthetic vs. regular oil, and actually it contains more detergent to "clean" the cylinder walls as I like to know that they are well lubricated, not cleaned?

The "drain down" factor in synthetic oil means it will not adhere very well, and leave cylinder walls and bearings in a couple days, so a car stored for a week or month will need a few RPM's to replenish this oil where and when it is desperately needed.

I could go on with other reasons, but in over 30 years no one has put forth a valid reason or reasons why a boosted engine should use synthetic oil unless a mega-dollar racer needs a 5-6 HP edge over the competition!

Hopefully no one will come up with the BS line from a Mobil I or other brand's tech line "expert" statement that this IS the best oil on the market, as that is what they are paid to say.

 

[TurboTGuy]

My first comment about synthetic oil in a TR is that it a waste of money. I will do nothing better than regular oil in our cars as it's useful life in not any longer than regular oil since boost contaminates both just the same.

There is no "magic" additive in synthetic vs. regular oil, and actually it contains more detergent to "clean" the cylinder walls as I like to know that they are well lubricated, not cleaned?

The "drain down" factor in synthetic oil means it will not adhere very well, and leave cylinder walls and bearings in a couple days, so a car stored for a week or month will need a few RPM's to replenish this oil where and when it is desperately needed.

I could go on with other reasons, but in over 30 years no one has put forth a valid reason or reasons why a boosted engine should use synthetic oil unless a mega-dollar racer needs a 5-6 HP edge over the competition!

Hopefully no one will come up with the BS line from a Mobil I or other brand's tech line "expert" statement that this IS the best oil on the market, as that is what they are paid to say.

Hundreds of opinions could be posted here.

I use Royal Purple because it's the oil I prefer and for no other reason.

There will be 7-8 quarts and a WIX filter waiting for you when you come by this week.

 

[BuickMike]

Thanks for the replies. It seems like there is never any way I can conclude that one oil is right for every car. For the GN, it has always been a dino oil with lots of zinc and phosphorus. I tend to lean towards off the shelf oil and that's why I get the Valvoline VR1. I spike it with ZDDPlus and for me it is piece of mind. I just wondered if I was being stubborn about oil or not.

I think for my WRX and F150 Ecoboost I will probably just do Amsoil 5W30 for both. So far the F150 has had Motorcraft full synthetic and the WRX has had Subaru (Idemitsu) full synthetic. Both of these are good oils, but the Subaru stuff is expensive and Motorcraft full synthetic is hard to come by. Now that my factory maintenance has expired on these both I need to do something for them and I think that I can't go wrong with Amsoil on both. I have a friend who is a distributor and gets me it at cost.

I'm not a fan of Royal Purple or Mobil1. I blame Mobil1 for the cam on my GN, and it is linked to a lot of spun bearings on the '02-'05 WRX's. I had Royal Purple in my '05 WRX for all fluids. The motor held up fine, but the trans lost a 4th gear synchro prematurely. I put regular Valoline in the new trans and it was fine for many miles per the person who bought it.

 

[fastblackracing]

Go with your gut mike, I agree theres no need to get fancy. I am currently using the brad penn brand with good results. we just took my sons 427 SBF apart with procharger 28# boost, 8000 rpm and about 2500 miles on it. Valve spring spring pressure at 675 open and everything inside looked great, much better than I had anticipated. Only one set of roller lifters were starting to fail. We saw it in the filter and pulled it for some maintenance. All on brad penn 20-50.

 

[achalmersman]

I've never used synthetic in anything I've ever owned.

Current truck : duramax : 329 k miles
Olds Aurora : 227 k miles
2000 Monte Carlo : 211 K miles
Last truck 98/Silverado 5.7 : 305 K when I sold it.

I'm not a big believer in the necessity of synthetic either.

 

[salvageV6]

Mobil 1 works better for me than dino oil in a DBB turbo, it doesn't burn at the same temps. when some leaks by the seal in the hot summer.

I rarely use any additives, and use the red label 10-40 or 20-50.

It's oil, use what you want for the reason(s) you want.

Both cars have over 200K on them and most every kind of oil available in New England has been in each of them, started with Pennzoil Turbo dino oil back in the old days.

 

[V6sleeper]

Vr1+zddp+wix has always been my combo for years

 

[moparkid]

I have yet to see any engine fail based on zinc content in the oil as the failure. But, do I use synthetic oils that have a high level of zinc in them? You bet I do! Better safe than sorry.

When I wiped a can lobe on my "rebuilt" engine that was in the car when I got it, it was an oiling issue, not the quality of the oil. I've used 10w30 full synthetic from Amsoil since LOF #2 (used 15w50 as a break in oil). I am going to switch to the Z-Rod 10w30 from Amsoil this spring as that has a higher level of zinc content in the additive package. I always use a high micron oil filter, and have not found any debris in my used oil or filters since my engine was redone 5 years ago.

My car is stored all winter long, and after sitting she rattles for about two seconds on startup. I always have good oil pressure, running 20# of boost.

Oil is one of those products where you ask 10 people what they like or what's best, and you'll get 10 different answers.

 

[2QUICK2B6]

I run royal purple in evrything except the dmax it gets rotella .... I have noiced 3-4 boost # increase in RP the first 500 miles

 

[Shawn N]

20 years of plain ole Castrol 10w30 and Fram filters across 3 different TR's. I'm using ZDDP of course. I have yet to replace anything internal other than valve springs.

 

[2QUICK2B6]

I have seen 3 fram filters crush ! I only run wix ... just my personal prefrence