Era oil weight question
 

I have ERA420 with a standard build 428CJ(nothing to crazy). My question is what oil weight do owners of similiar powered ERAs use. Im in New Mexico so daytime winter driving isnt to cold...most of the time lol. Also was told to underfill slightly by ERA. Thanks! :)

In my old cars I use 10-30 or 10-40 high zinc oil like Brad Penn or Joe Gibbs. Why would you under fill? I wouldn't.

oil weight
 

NEWMEXCOBRA To the new owner, try and find the old owner ans see what they ran and run he same. If can not find, you will need to do some testing of different brands to see what makes and keeps the motor happy. I race and have been using 15W40 rottella oil for diesels. This is cheaper and has all the zinc and pho. you need for a motor. IF you run a heavy oil that is higher than a 10-40, Need to give the motor a couple of minutes to get some heat in the oil. Want to see about 130F on the gauge before driving or revving the motor. I don't know what oil pan is on the car but if it's a stock pan over fill pan by 1 quart. Other note add 1/2 bottle of Lucas oil suppliment. This is a clinging oil that prevents dry starts of the motor. need to install slowly when motor is hot. Temp note on oil, this is a biggie, when driving check the oil temp after 15 minutes of driving, you want the temp in the 180F range. If the oil is too cool, it doesn't help protect the parts as well, same as being too hot. You may want to block off the oil cooler if you are running one to check this out. The most the oil temp should be is about 10-15 degrees over coolant temp. Last note keep an eye on idle oil pressure. IMO if you have 10-15 psi this is not enough to oil the top of the motor.Want to see around 30-40 hot at idle. This may up or lower the weight of your oil too. Last note, NO idling the motor unless you have too, this is a killer with solid lifter motor. Rick L. Ps NEVER UNDERFILL!! The only reason for this is if you have a rear mainseal that leaks and just about all fe's do put paper on the floor.

Mobil1 15w50 has all the goodies you need and you don't have to pay the inflated prices associated withe the aforementioned "halo" oils too.

You'll get enough different recommendations to further confuse you but I'll add another. Just got my relatively mild 427SO built. My engine builder recommended Joe Gibbs 10w-30 HR-2, which has an additive they call "storage protection" for cars that aren't driven every day. Claims to cling better and prevent internal rust and dry starts. No idea if it's a real benefit or snake oil, but it is a trusted brand. The engine builders on this forum can add their professional opinion on oil wt. and agree or disagree, but it is my understanding that unless you're tracking your car or driving it really hard a lot, a lighter wt. flows better and holds up fine. By the way, Joe Gibbs is now called Joe Gibbs Driven and eventually the Joe Gibbs name will be dropped.

Regards,

Kevin

This is also what Keith Craft provided me to initially use with my 428 based motor - Joe Gibbs 10W-30. So engine builders to at least some degree appear to think it's a good oil. I bought a couple more cases from Summit.

Dan

One more thought... Brent, who is building my engine, recommended the same, and said I should use Gibbs conventional, and not synthetic. I've heard different theories on this, but I'll just take Brent's recommendation and not overthink it.

Good point - I should have clarified I was referring to non-synthetic Joe Gibbs 10W-30.

Greetings, I'm the proud owner of ERA #448, with a 427 under the hood. As per recommendation from ERA and Cobra Automotive, I use Non Synthetic Castrol GTX 20W50 in my car. Good Luck........

Joe Lapine owner of Danbury Competition rec Honda 4 cycle 10w-30 or 10w-40 for my 428 stroker that he built. It has zinc like in the old days.

John

After 631 miles and less than a 1/2 quart of oil (10W40 non synthetic) used on the upgrades and repairs to the engine in ERA717, I am switching to MPT "Thirty-K" 10W40. This is a full synthetic motor oil and was recommended to me by my good friend, racer, and race shop owner in northern, NJ. He used it in his race car all season long with wonderful results, wants me to test it on the street in my motor knowing the documentation I did over the course of the first 631 miles. I will update my thread as mileage progresses on the car.


Bill S.

X2 for the recommendation from Joe Lapine for the Honda oil. He also recommended it to me several years ago when I asked him about it.
DonC