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European ignorance: What oil and oil filter?
I'm getting SP1352 ready for the first ride out's.
Rick, the previous owner, always used Mobil1 15W-50 for the engine. I figured I'd stick to the same if it worked for him. 15W-50 Synthetic Oil | Mobil 1™ 15W-50 Temperatures over here never exceed 95°F, and even that is exceptional. Normal warm summer days will be around 86-90°F. And I'm not counting on driving it under 50°F. The engine is a Ford racing crate 351W, 385HP, installed in 2003. Reference : M-6007-A351R I don't have any other details. (where can I find a cast or serial number that could tell me more about the engine?). It has done around 10.000 miles In Europe, the only Mobil1 15W-50 I can find is sold as a motorbike engine oil. Also what oil filter size and type / brand should I use? Dan |
Ford FL-1A, extremely common filter. fill with oil prior to installation. I am sure there are a billion cross references you can find local. i assume you are using the remote filter mount stock with a superformance
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15w50 is awful heavy. i would recommend mobil 1 10W40 high mileage. High mileage has a little added zinc and phosphorus.
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I see they recommand 20W50 oil. What now? |
.0018 to .0024 main bearing clearance wow. Most say .002 to .0022 glad good ole ford quality is alive and well. Shocked they did mention 20w50, I would think bearing clearances in excess of .0025 would fit that bill.
Kudo's to ford showing their specs. Blykins would roll over if he saw that spread on acceptable bearing clearances. |
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All in all the choice in 10W40 is very limited, and most dealers have never heard of the ZDDP issue. Would a ZDDP additive be an alternative? |
I had put 20/50 synthetic in my motor. (very similar to yours) It did NOT like it and started to smoke like a freight train. Went back to Good old fashioned motor oil.
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Dan,
I live in the Netherlands. My SPF has a 351W stroked to 427 cu (7lt). I use Valvoline VR1 20W50. Cold oil pressure is about 65 psi and hot about 62 psi. This is racing oil and it has more ZDDP as normal, which is good. Not for modern cars with a catalytic convertor in the exhaust. Just for old cars or racing cars. Sold for prices around 50 euro's for 5 lt Not cheap, but good stuff). My engine takes about 5 lt. Do a search on the internet and you will probably find a dealer that can send it to you. I buy 10 lt at a time, which saves some shipping costs and I have some spare oil. Good luck. BTW It normally is good practice to stick with the oil the engine builder recomments. |
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Do you mean oil pressure at idle? I always read that anything above 20 psi at idle is fine and then it should go up approx 10psi per 1000rpm. Can someone enlighten me what oil pressure to expect? Yesterday with the oil at around 70C or 160F, I had around 45 psi at 3000rpm. Didn't push it since it was too cold for the engine to warm up. |
With my previous Cobra's (I had three before this one) the oil pressure was between 40 and 50 psi (driving around). At idle it was lower, about 5 to 10 psi, average maybe 7 psi. It did go up when driving, but not 10 psi per 1000 rpm. It went up going from idle to maybe 2000 rpm and then it was pretty stable. Ofcourse cold psi was higher than warm psi.
From what I have learned: if you have the correct viscosity the psi goes down only a bit ( max 3-5 psi) from cold to warm. It should be between 20 and 80 ( at 80 psi the hoses might burst). My pressure stays pretty constant from 2000 rpm and up. Just my 2 cent. If I am wrong, someone will correct me. |
Any more tips or ideas guys. I appreciate all input.
Dan |
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Smoking stopped. |
Valvoline 20W50 All our 351's W run that just fine
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I should have started a poll. :o I once read there is a way to figure out the right oil by observing the oil pressure cold and warm at idle and a higher RPM's, can't find the article anymore though. Any insight on that? That way I could stick to the 15W50 that Rick used for now and see what it gets me. |
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live here in Germany and have the 460SVO engine with flat tappet cams. I just made an oil change with the Valvoline VR1 20W50 and she seems to like it. Oil pressure around 68psi cold and 60 warm - due to the heavy oil. However, the VR1 has sufficient zink additives in it and should be heavy enough for the large clearances. The 460 with the Canton racing pan needs about 9 quarts (also 2 x 5 Liter kaufen). Just did a run on the Autobahn and hard acceleration. No smoke ( I was followed by my son who watched). So far - I am happy with it. Of course I can't speak for long term testing. Hope this helps Jürgen |
I believe the majority of the UK guys with older engines (not the LS series or Ford equivalent) use 20w50 either Valvoline VR1, or Millers Classic 20w50.
I use 20w50 Valvoline in my 383 SBC (have also used Millers Classic) These both have more ZDDP in than the others which i understand the older engines require (don't quote me on that, i'm not an engine builder, it's just what i've read/been told :D ). Check out the UK cobra club forum for a fair number of threads of this very subject :) rgds Gary |
Hi Dan, I am living in Spain (near Valencia). On my 302 with approx 400+Hp I am running Castrol Magnatek 10/40. No problem in winter or summer times. Driving the car be 10° up to 35° on sea side and mounten roads.
Oil pressure cold 50psi, warm 40psi and accelerating 60psi. Thiner oil has more flow and aswell les stress on the distributer gear, which is moving the oil pump drive shaft. Good oil prices and promt service. Levoil - |
Because of the way the engine is built by Ford, use the recommended 20W50 oil.
There's really no need to spend the big bux on a synthetic oil, unless you plan to actually race the car. Otherwise use whatever's local, and change it once a year. If you do that, the engine will last just about forever. |
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