WHAT OIL: Mobile 1 now has

[Chiperb]

15W-50. I have been usng 10W-40 in an engine that gets pushed hard at regular lappng days. Sould I move up? Does Mobile 1 have a single viscosity synthetic? What brand/viscosity/type (dina vs synthetic) are people using?

Tried a search but came up with a bunch of off topic info. cb

[PNJSNAK]

Castrol 20/50 if your engine is bored out or you are racing it, or you just hit it hard sometimes!!!!!
Better safe with a racing oil than 10 40w standard oil for passenger cars. This is a race car after all. Treat it like one.
IMO. Jim

[Hal Copple]

i suggest you use an oil that gives you sufficent oil flow and viscosity at the temps you will be encountering. Personally, i like synthetics, but you need enough oil pressure, not more than enough. Watch your oil presssure for sudden drops on the corners or under hard braking. The best way is to mount a video for review of your dash gages.

[Chiperb]

I have been running 10W-40 Mobile 1 at a 2 day Roebling Lappng event. Just saw this 15W-50 (new) Mobile ! when I was out shopping Sat. Am running lapping day this Sat a the new Barber track in AL: wonderig if I should change to the new 15-50 synthetic from the 10W-40? cb

[RICK LAKE]

Chiperb If you are going to do road racing add an accumpsump 3 quart to the car to protect it on long high turns. It's the cheapest insurance I know of. Rick Lake ps it makes a great preluber for start ups too

[GOCATS]

I run 10w-40 Pennzoil in it now. I run in fairly hard when I get out to drive between the rain. Currently, I don't run it on the race track. When it first starts up I have about 70-75 lbs of pressure and when it has been running for a while it drops dow to about 50lbs. I have a Canton double sump pan 8 qts capacity. Do you think going to a 15w-40 or 15w-50? If not for the additional pressure to maybe help the engine run a little cooler.

[Bob In Ct]

It's Mobil1, not Mobile 1. It comes in 0W-40, 0W-30, 5W-30, 10W-30, and 15w-50. If you're using a different viscosity you're not using Mobil1 synthetic! You should use the lightest viscosity which gives you the oil pressure you need (to get more flow and thus more cooling).

If you don't believe me go to their web site www.mobil1.com .

Avoid racing oils on the street, they are not designed for the day to day conditions of a street engine.

Bob

[GOCATS]

I had a friend of mine recommend a oil manufactured by Lubrication Engineers it is a 15w-40 synthetic oil that is a parifin based product so it does not breakdown as easy. From what I understand the military uses it in their vehicles because of its long last capabilities. Not sure when the next time it will get changed is their thinking. At 3.75 per quart it aint cheap & can't exactly go down to autozone and pick up a case when you run low.

[B. SMITH]

BOB,
DOES 0-W-30 OR 0-W-40 EQUAL STRAIGHT 30 WEIGHT OR 40 WEIGHT?
B. SMITH

[Tom T.]

They flow easier at low temperatures. However, most of the gearheads I know believe single viscosity oils are better for heavy duty applications. I run Kendall GT 40w.

TT

[Bob In Ct]

Paraffin oils are regular oils. Synthetic oils are "built" from mostly ethylene molecules to exactly what the chemist wants.

Multi-viscosity oils act like the first number when cold and the second number when hot. That being said, a 5W-30 oil would have the viscosity of a 5 weight at 20 degrees and the viscosity of a 30 weight at 200 degrees. Even the Winston Cup guys use multi-viscosities oils, mostly synthetic.

Bob

[COBRA427]

I recently opened an account with AMSOIL just for my personal use. At their local wharehouse, the manager there told me that Mobil1 was basically a 10,000 mile oil. Amsoil's original synthetic is a 25,000 mile oil, and their new Amsoil 2000 series is a 35,000 mile oil. They said the 0W-30 offers more protection than a 20-50W. Oils don't break down, it's the contaminants in the oil. Amsoil has a cool by pass filter set up that filters down to 1 micron or less. I'll change my oil once a year whether I need to or not.
Ed

[Cal Metal]

If you read a lot of the literature on multi viscosity oils, they will tell you to use a 10W-30 over a 10W-40 given the fact that so much of the "oil" is lost due to the amount of additional additives that must be used to get to the higher number (40).

In non synthetic oils, I would have to agree with Tom T that single viscosity oils make more sense that multi. The only reason for the manufacture of multis is to assist in cold weather starting in the northern part of the country.

Mobil 1, as a synthetic, is such a superior product that I don't know why one would use any other type of syn. It is required by many manufacturers (GM/Corvette) for extreme use situations.

[Satanpez]

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong...but I can swear I remember reading that Mobil 1 used to advertise 25,000 miles between oil changes with the synthetic.

But of course, imagine if you were burning a quart of oil every 10,000 miles. At your 25,000 miles oil change your 2.5 quarts low.

I run Mobil 1 in most of my cars, used to run Amsoil. Mostly comes down to the fact that I can get 5 quarts of Mobil 1 at Wal-Mart for $18.88. Amsoil is much more than that, and not as easy to buy on the fly.

-steve in nj-

Oh, and as for the 0W-30, I noticed less startup noise when using it over the cold winter months in cars designed for 5W-30.

[rdorman]

I run 5-30 and like it! It is the weight that the engine builder recommended. Plenty of oil pressure (30 to 35 hot plus 10 psi every 1000 rpm). It was in the car when my wife tore open the oil pan and quickly drained the motor, while it was running of course. When I was changing the pan I inspected the bearings and cut open the filter. Bearings looked like new and no debris in the filter, pan (or what was left of it), nor pump.

DV was running the stuff when testing DVII on a skid pad. No one seemed to notice, until the motor started making noise near the end of the day, that the oil pressure was 0 while doing the skip pad testing! Damage was minimal even though the oiling system allowed all the oil to fill up the outside valve cover and the pump was sucking nothing but air. He feels as though the damage would have been much more substantial had he not been using Mobil 1. He has a post on it some where here but that is how I recall it.

I am going to have to go with Bob on this one, run the lightest oil that give you the pressure that you need and of course, ask your engine builder.

All the synthetics are good products, but again, do not run strickly racing oil unless you care to change it weekly. Run multi-vis. No harm in it. I have a 5 -30 and when cold the oil pressure is something like 70 or 80 psi at fast idle!

Those by-pass filter systems look great! I will have to give them some more thought. Now I just use K&N and change it a couple of times a year, oil complete change once a year.

Many of us should, but probably don't, have a thermostat in the oiler cooler lines. It is on my list of things to look into!

Rick

[wilf leek]

Question on the use of "racing" oils on the street. I understand they do not have the detergent load-up of a "street" oil.

My engine seems to like Valvoline Racing 20W-50. And of course I need the cold start ability of a multi-grade oil here in the UK.

The oil gets changed every 2000 miles, engine always gets run long enough to heat through. Does this mean the "racing" oil is OK for my usage or is there still a potential problem?

Whaddya think?

[bmalone]

Wilf that is what I run in my motor. The bearing clearances dictate I use an oil in this weight range. I too change the oil every 2000 miles and it comes out looking good. By all indications, this a a good choice for my motor. My builder, an FE guy for many years recommends this oil for all his motors.

There is a lot of good reading on the Web regarding the composition of various oils--ash, other compounds, etc.

[galaxy]

Mobil 1 15W50 is nothing new. I've been running it in my Mustang for years. I like the results I've had with it in the stang. It has a few miles on it though so that's why I went with it to begin with. I don't know if I would run it in a brand new engine unless the engine was built really loose or the builder/machine shop recommended it.

[CSX 4027]

Synthetic Mobil One?
For a modern street engine and a roller race engine, that is all I would use. As for the weight that would be dictated by the application and the piston to wall clearance. Todays motors are built tighter than the old stuff. That's why the trend are going
5-W and 0-W.

As for the change at 10,000 miles or in the case with Amsoil, yhe 35,000 to 100,000....Don't buy it. I am not saying the oil can't do that without breaking down but what about the other most important item??? THE FILTER??? I hope none of you keep a $5 Dollar filter on a 35,000 mile oil change.

As for those of you running old world big blocks with solid lifter cams. In my opinion, no synthetic at all. Forget what Nascar does. The need slippery and fast. They also use a fresh motor for every race. Your solid lifter cams will live longer on the track with either Nascar 76 20-W-50 or Pennzoil Racing 25W50. Forget the rest. The 2 I mentioned are the only conventional oils with the good stuff in them.

Remember, Oil companies do not have a huge need to make the right oil for the old solid lifter stuff.

[COBRA427]

CSX 4027


I agree with you about the filter, I believe Amsoil recommends changing the filter after 6 months. If you haven't seen Amsoil's By-Pass filter, it's similar in concept to the Frantz filter which used the toilet paper for filtration, only it uses a different type of media which is even better. It's the really small particles in the oil that does the damage to your motor.