The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Oil: What's in your engine?

Just curious as to what folks are running for engine oil in their stovebolts.

I've got 5W 30 in the '46 235 and it seems alright.. need to change the oil in the '50 216 and i'm torn between getting SAE 30 or 5W 20 that I found at the local autoparts store.

SAE 30 in my 54 235

Quaker State 10W30 in my '50 216.

Bob

I'm with Shooper... straight SAE 30 in my '54 235

I use 10W30 in my '66 250.

Delo 400 15w40 in my 55 1st series with 261

I thought the babbit beater ya should use non detergent oil..??? Hence non detergent oil the dirt will settle out of since there is no oil filter or pressure lube system... Detergent oil keeps the dirt suspended in the oil so the filter can pick it up.... Thats what i remember anyway.. uhhhhhhh PS..actually should be the same with like an old briggs engine with a splash oil system....

Running Castrol 10W-30 in all of mine 46 - 235
78-350
05-350

Have always used Castrol in all my trucks never had a problem with a failure due to lack of lubrication.

10W-30 Napa synthetic. How much oil pressure are you guys with staight 30 running? Mine goes down to under 10 at idle after the oil heats up.

I'm with Shooper also... straight SAE 30 in my '59 235 .....My Pressure drops to around 10-15 psi at warm idle, but then the engine could use a complete overhaul.I did drop the pan and roll in new mains and rod bearings..Also installed a new oil pump.

With straight 30, I pretty much run about 40lbs all the time, but I did put some Grease Lightning on my last change

hey fatweed, whats an example of a non-detergent oil? I have HD 10w30 in my 216. I have the same in my 230.

10W30 Valvoline in everything.
Scott

I use 20w50 castrol in my 250 in the 63c10 tried 10w30 or 10w40 but oil pressure is to low a idle. tried other brands and the only one to hold up was castrol 20w50. with 20w50 it runs about 30lb to 35lb at idle, idle being around 950 to 1000 rpm in neutral. with a stock oil pump, tried high volume oil pump and would break dis. gear to much pressure on the gear turning the oil pump with 20w50 in it, stock pumps works fine all the way to 5600 to 6000 rpm and around 60lb of oil pressure.

super250six

I run 10w40 and don't worry about it.

I have been running Valvoline 30W year around since I owned a 67 Baracuda and Sox and Martin were tearing them up with Valvoline 30W.

Joe

I use CLEAN oil.
Change it regularly.

mark.

I run 20/50 in most of my stuff,mainly because they're all in the high-miler class,but also so I can buy one brand (Castrol) and weight of oil for all of 'em,but I'm breaking in my 355 with 10/40,then it'll have 20/50 too. 20/50 also seems to reduce the oil consumption on a couple of the "looser" engines.
Speed

20/50w Castrol only in all my vehicles.

Have used Havoline 30w in the truck since I bought it in 74 with good results but have been considering switching to a multi-weight. cgresham, is RPM Delo still formulated with the high detergent level that it was 30-40 years ago? I remember the truckers would use it almost exclusively. Remember that stuff would keep the inside of an engine spotless.

Fumblin, you want to stay with a lighter oil on that 216 if it's in good shape. The later motors can take the heavier stuff, but the 216 likes it thin. With the oiling system of the 216, you want it flowing good right away. This discussion has been around a long time, but I've used a quality 10W30 in mine for years with no problems. Just keep it clean and full.
If you've just got this truck running, you may want to consider dropping the pan and cleaning out all the sludge in the bottom. It's easy to do and will give you a little piece of mind.

Straight 30W oil in my '54 Chevy. No oil filter (ever) and it does just fine.

I've been driving this truck all over the property since I got it running.. with the same 20 year old oil that was in it when I got it, and probably a good amount of WD40 in the oil from lubricating the valves and rockers and cylinders.

It runs like a champ, and a few days ago it struck me.. "Hey dude! You never changed the oil! You better do that!"

I know the original specs for these old engines call for something like straight 20 (i found that out after putting 5W 30 in the '46)

I got 6 quarts of that Valvoline 5W 20 and i'll be putting that in today.

FWIT: The guy who rebuilt my 235 and has one of his with lots of miles on it --- straight 30W

Been running Quaker State 10W30 in all my vehicles since day one. Including my 235 engine in my 49. I have over 300,000 miles on my Malibu without any problems due in part to my Quaker State.

Straight 30 weight with a quart of Lucas oil treatment. I change it about every 2500 to 3000 miles and don't add any between changes in my '59 261/.080 cylinder.

10w30 quaker with lucas. engine need overhaul but don't burn a drop!

Castrol 20-50 in all my engines.
Pulled the valve covers the other day and not a speck of crud.
The guys hanging out were impressed.
over 150,000 on the '70 350, and clean (inside) as the day I built it.

I thought we had only one kind,, 10-w-30 castro..works for John Force........Fred

Trop-Artic SAE 30. I had been running 10W-40 until they guy who rebuilt it recommended 30.

I run Delo 400 15W-40 in both my 261 and my BMW. I like the stuff. The valvetrains run quieter, and the oil pressure comes up quickly on startup. I haven't run an oil analysis on it though.

The oil filter in my truck was a Fram C-4.. and nasty.

Took the filter out all toghether, cleaned the housing, put 5 quarts in.. checked it.. put 6 in.. checked it.. ended up taking 7 quarts of oil.

I suspect that extra 7th quart was because the filter was gone.. which means if I put a filter in now, i'll have to drain a quart or so out.

Oil pressure gauge shoots up and stays solid at 15 during start and idle.. when you give it gas, the gauge rises up close to 30.

That sound normal/right?

Heres another sites opinion, makes sense the guy does except about using diesel oil..?? ive hear the diesel oils have adatives for the extra sulphur and other stuff in diesel thats not good for gas engines..??? anyway heres the site..
http://www.ytmag.com/articles/artint64.htm
and also
http://www.ytmag.com/nboard/messages/372808.html
I heard one guy say alotta years ago...oil dont matter ,,take any of it and pour it on the floor and i guarantee youll bust your [censored] on it..LOL... I dont think id go that far tho....

I heard the diesel oil with its additives was only bad for gas powered pollution controlled vehicles, something about the cat getting clogged. For me, this has been proven wrong. My work truck, a 1999 F**D F150 has 185,000 miles on it and has taken Chevron Delo 15W40 exclusively. I have put 130,000 of the miles on it myself and have had no problems emission or motor wise with it.
When my 56 gets road-worthy, I'm going to run Delo 30 weight in it.

Even the cheapest oil you can buy today is way better than anything in 1950 - period!

I personaly use straight 30 oil because the multigrade oils break down after 6000 miles and are not much multigrade anymore.

I swear by Frantz filters and Mathy Treatment, but this is an almost religios question anyways. :rolleyes:

Also it is verry theoretical. In real live it probably doesn`t mather at all. As long it is full enough. .... and even that:

Some friends with a worn out, cracked 216 and completley shot main bearings took it on the engine dyno stand just to see how long it will run without any oil.

Well it run with 4000 rpm till the 2,5 gallon gasoline canister was empty.

Cast iron wonder - need I say more?

Ya'll worry to much. Soon we're not going to be able to afford gas for these trucks anyway. $3.00/gal gas is coming....

It really seems like straight grade SAE 20 for winter and SAE 30 for summer, is the way to go with the 235.

I got mine 10 years ago and drove it every day since, maybe 85K miles. Rebuilt the head last year, but don't know when the block was rebuilt last time.
Used 10W-40 in the winter and 20W-50 in the summer for the last 5 years.

Then I read about multi-grade oils and how they work. Can't say I was thrilled about the polymers and that they start breaking down after just 1500 miles.
So last week I replaced the 20W-50 oil with SAE 30 and sure enough a 250 mile freeway drive through the hot desert at 2500-3000 rpm showed clear results:

With the SAE 30 the oil pressure dropped a little, but the engine stayed cooler than with 20W-50.

It's really true what many said all along - don't worry too much about making the oil thicker and raising the pressure on the gauge.
That doesn't necessarily mean that the engine gets better lubrication.

Pure oil in the right grade for the season is the way to go.

Now, I am still adding Lucas additive, because the block hasn't been rebuilt in probably 100K miles.
When I rebuilt the head, I was astounded how good the condition of the pistons are.
No gasket leaks, no blow by, nice compression around 120. Man, I love these engines.

Is there anybody out there who advises against using Lucas Additive?
Anyone I talk to always recommends it as the only additive that works.
But I wonder what's the other side of the coin?
Any down sides...?