Oil discussion

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by bobcowan

The TBN read strong at 7.0,
lot of active additive left. Try 7,500 miles next.

What does 'TBN' mean?-a sort of additive index?

[RallySnake]

I like Mobil One and use it in my other cars, but not in the Cobra. I cannot find 20/50 any more and the thinner 10/30 combined with the synthetic properties makes it "blow by" the piston rings and leak out the seals on my "antique" engine. I am having much better performance with the Shell Rotella 10/40. It runs just as good and doesn't leak everywhere. The oil pressure is much better, too.

I believe that it continues to have zinc in it which helps with that camshaft wear issue.

RS

[zrayr]

Originally Posted by RallySnake

I like Mobil One and use it in my other cars, but not in the Cobra. I cannot find 20/50 any more and the thinner 10/30 combined with the synthetic properties makes it "blow by" the piston rings and leak out the seals on my "antique" engine. ...."

RS

have you tried the Mobil 1 15w-50 ? I've used it in big blocks in the past without any issues. Currently am using it in my Hi-Po small block. So far 43,000 miles over 9 years, no leaks and no measurable wear. It has plenty of zinc too.


Z.

[bobcowan]

Originally Posted by RallySnake

I am having much better performance with the Shell Rotella 10/40. It runs just as good and doesn't leak everywhere. The oil pressure is much better, too.

I believe that it continues to have zinc in it which helps with that camshaft wear issue.

RS

Diesel oils are all CJ now. I havn't been able to find a CI oil anywhere. The Cj oils have about 25% less zinc in them, because newer diesel engines have a cat. So it doesn't have the zinc a flat tappet cam really needs.

If you have flat tappets, you need to find something that has high zinc levels, like Brad Penn or RP XP. Or use a zinc additive.

My diesel engine has flat tappets, so it gets 2 bottles of Comp Cams break in additive with every 12 qt oil change. The cobra uses standard Royal Purple, and gets one bottle for every 11 qt oil change.

[scaffold]

I had a '93 Taurus SHO with the Yamaha v-6 and it started using oil at about 80,000 miles. Later I had a '99 Taurus SHO with the Yahama v-8 and it never used a drop of oil up to when I sold it at 143,000 miles. I've also been told by a friend whose career has been in the oil industry that there are only 3 oils that are truly synthetic--Mobil, Amsoil and Redline. All others are supposed to derivatives of pertroleum products. also have a '04 Viper (78,000 miles) with synthetic as well as a Hyundai Azera (93,000 miles) both of which have always had synthetic and never used a drop of oil.
They've made a believer out of me

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Originally Posted by scaffold

I had a '93 Taurus SHO with the Yamaha v-6 and it started using oil at about 80,000 miles. Later I had a '99 Taurus SHO with the Yahama v-8 and it never used a drop of oil up to when I sold it at 143,000 miles. I've also been told by a friend whose career has been in the oil industry that there are only 3 oils that are truly synthetic--Mobil, Amsoil and Redline. All others are supposed to derivatives of pertroleum products. also have a '04 Viper (78,000 miles) with synthetic as well as a Hyundai Azera (93,000 miles) both of which have always had synthetic and never used a drop of oil.
They've made a believer out of me

I use 15/50 Mobil 1 in my race car cause I turn it 7,000rpms and run an oil temp from 230 to 260 while racing depending on the outside air temp....Synthetic oils are good for 300 degrees whereas dino oil is good for about 240 degrees...........

With that said, everything else I own gets 15/40 Shell Rotella T....that would be my 05 F-250 diesel, my wifes Taurus, daughters Altima,my 65 Fastback, and my Toyota company car as well as my lawn mower and garden tiller.........This company car only has 110,000 miles as of today, last one had 431,614 miles on when it was totaled in a wreck, the 2 cars before that one each had 250,000 miles on them without any problems, in fact, none of these vehicles ever so much as had a valve cover off since new!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dino oil works and has been working for more than 100 years now...........

David

[bobcowan]

Originally Posted by Scufty

K ..I have a question for all of you? Have you ever heard of a "oil related breakdown" and I don't mean

I have. 4 years ago I spun a rod bearing at the track. Oil pressure was good, and I use a good pan. I was using Dino oil then. Would the same thing have happened with a true synthetic? Maybe, IDK.

Originally Posted by Scufty

Most of these engines we are running are 40 years old and they ran just fine with the oil that was available at that time? OIL RELATED BREAKDOWN? enlighten me please? thanks

I think for most Cobra owners, this is true. The vast majority of Cobras only get a few thousand street miles per year, and the oil temp probably never gets above 220*.

For those engines, any good dino oil changed once a year will keep that engine alive for 20 years.

Originally Posted by scaffold

I've also been told by a friend whose career has been in the oil industry that there are only 3 oils that are truly synthetic--Mobil, Amsoil and Redline. All others are supposed to derivatives of pertroleum products.

AFAIK, there are 4 true synthetics on the market: Amsoil, Royal Purple, Redline, and another brand I can never remember. Most Mobile 1 is not on the list. They used to be, but in recent years have started with a dino base stock, and not PAO. I have heard a rumor that their 15W50 Motorcycle oil is the only one that sarts with PAO, but I can't confirm it one way or another.

Originally Posted by DAVID GAGNARD

I use 15/50 Mobil 1 in my race car cause I turn it 7,000rpms and run an oil temp from 230 to 260 while racing depending on the outside air temp....Synthetic oils are good for 300 degrees whereas dino oil is good for about 240 degrees...........

With that said, everything else I own gets 15/40 Shell Rotella T....David

I set my rev limiter at 6,700 rpm's, just a little less than yours. Oil temps do tend to climb to about the same level. I use RP 10W40 in the summer, and 5W30 when it's cold.

I take the engine apart every 2 years for rings, bearing, gaskets, etc. After 2 years of hard use in all kinds of conditions, the engine looks great. No measurable bearing wear with plastigauge, ring gaps are still where they should be, everything looks clean and shiny. I'll coninue to use RP in this engine.

My diesel truck still gets dino oil, doing fine. Air cooled motorcycle gets synthetic, because it is hard on oil.


Also, my engine takes 11qts: 7 in the pan, 1 in the filter, 2 in the accusump, and one in the cooler. I'd love to have a dry sump. If I had a track only car and a bigger budget, I would have a dry sump. But, I don't, so I don't.

[WarrenG]

I just bought two gallons of Rotella T for my 289 and the label on the back states that it meets the requirements of API CJ-4 and CI-4 plus. I use Rotella T at the recommendation of the engine builder. I check back with him every year to make sure that he hasn't changed his recommedation and the answer has always been the same, keep using the Rotella T.

[scaffold]

I had a '93 Taurus SHO with the Yamaha v-6 that used regular Pennzoil and it started using oil at about 80,000 miles. Later I had a '99 Taurus SHO with the Yahama v-8 and used synthetic and it never used a drop of oil up to when I sold it at 143,000 miles. I've also been told by a friend whose career has been in the oil industry that there are only 3 oils that are truly synthetic--Mobil, Amsoil and Redline. All others are supposed to be derivatives of pertroleum products. Also have a '04 Viper (78,000 miles) as well as a Hyundai Azera (93,000 miles) both of which have always had synthetic and never used a drop of oil.
They've made a believer out of me

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

What does 'TBN' mean?-a sort of additive index?

Total Base Number for additives. Click here: http://www.blackstone-labs.com/do-i-need-a-tbn.php