The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Synthetic Oil in a 235??

Hi;
Perhaps this has been discussed in the past, but... Any experience with synthetic oil in a 235? I'm thinking it may help the old boy keep running longer.
Thanks.
Rich

Rich,

In my humble opinion, the old boy has been doing just fine on conventional oil. Using synthetic in it would sort of be like taking Bill and Melinda Gates to dinner at McDonald's!

Stuart

I agree with Stuart.

Just keep going with the thirty weight oil that you've got now.

i have heard that synthetic oil works worse in old engines because it blows by easier and in greater quanitity. my 235 has had one reuild in 45 years and has always had good old dinosaur juice. chugs along happily most of the time.

no need to live in the dark ages, technology advances, as does everything (including oil) - use synthetic, it is a better product, has more stable properties, and it will not burn any more or any less than standard oil!!!!

I`d be a bit carefull adding syntetic oil on a engine been running on mineraloil for a lifetime.
syntetic oil have better cleaning/dissolving properties and can cause problems since by cleaning to mutch too fast and clog up oilcannels and filters.
So if u want to run it, wash the engine w diesel first, Just empty it and add 3\4 w diesel and rest oil and run it for a couple of minutes.
Happy new year from Norway

i would stick to convential oil cause you switch over to syntheic you may find some leaks cause its thinner...plus probably not goood to mix them together..not sure.

I used synthetic in a 95 F&&d v eight. If I ran a hundred miles over on an oil change the valves sounded like they were coming out of the side of the engine.I have used tropartic since the fifty's and never had that or any other oil related problem. I wont go back to synthetic.

I've gone and tried synthetic on several of my engines in differant vehicles and haven't really been sold on it for the kind of driving and use that I do, but I do really like to use high quality oil. I tried out Chevron Delo 400 15W-40 in both my Stovebolt and my BMW. I've found that the valvetrain runs a lot quieter and it's cleaned out some of the sludge under the valve cover. It seems to have good consistant wear properties and isn't any more expensive than most name brand oils, and it doesn't leak out of iffy seals like synthetic does. It is rated for both gasoline and diesel engines. Shell Rotella is also a good oil, but I haven't found it to be as commonly available as Delo. I've been using it on 10,000 mile change intervals in my BMW for the last 80,000 miles (it has 175,000 miles on it) and it runs just great and passes emissions tests reliably. The BMW six has 7 main bearings and an oil cooler. I don't treat the BMW kindly either, I drive it daily in mixed traffic and rev it to high RPMs whenever I feel like it. When I ran Valvoline in it the oil was done (stinky and black) at 5k miles.

Josiah,

Just a tidbit for the new year.

D= diesel
E= engine
L= lubricating
O= oil

Yep, that where the acronym came from!


Stuart

ive got it in all my stuff.but it sucks every time i have to buy more 4.99 quarts everytime it leaks out.

I use Napa Syn 10-30 in my 235 and T5 tranny. Seems to keep everything clean and well lubed. Little on the pricey side though. :rolleyes:

If I were to use a synthetic on an old stovebolt, I would just go semi-synthetic instead of full-synthetic.
Personally, I stick with the standard oils. They are much better than the oils they used when the trucks first came out.
Yes, the synthetics are better oils. Are they nesessary? Only you can decide that.

If you change to synthetic on an older engine you may develope seal trouble and leaks. Use standard oils and change it every 3,000 miles.

I used straight penzoil 30w HD on my 69' 292 (in my 59). Seems to work very well. But, it doesn't get real cold here either.