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Princess Valiant

Princess Valiant

A.K.A. Rainy Day Auto
FABO Gold Member
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i was told in school to think of oil weight as the size of microscopic ball bearings in the oil. so with that in mind i tried to envision tiny ball bearings on every surface in the engine.

i used to run 5w 20 in my 72 swinger that had a 75 cast crank 440, the logic was a wider ball bearing size for the smaller ones for cold starts and the larger ones for worn surfaces within the engine ....wait does that make sense LOL

So the point of this is:

what is the best oil weight to use and why.....i know its subject to application, so it comes down to what do you use and why?
 
The climate has alot to do with it too. Where it gets really cold, you want to use a lighter, thinner weight oil. If you run a heavy weight, the engine has to work alot harder to turn over and get warmed up. This probably applies to most smaller engines and cars that are parked outside all the time in the winter. I remember As a kid I ran a heavy weight oil in my 225, it always turned over hard in the cold, changed to a lighter weight, car started alot easier!

But I could be wrong lol, oil has changed alot over the last 20 years, now most oil can go way past 3k miles before it really needs to be changed.
 
I have had good luck with 10w30 year round . Its readily available all year , and I have never had problems with clatter and knocking on start-up . But the only brand of oil I will use is Quaker State . No Pennz in even my lawn mower or oil squirt can !
 
What we say as weight we really mean viscosity the w real means winter so your 5w20 is 5 winter 20. The numbers are the temperature that the viscosity of the oil starts to get thick in the winter or starts to get thinner in the summer. That is a misconception also because like 5w20
the oil wouldn't pass their test at 0w meaning it's thicker then at 5w
and 30 it's thinner then at 20. I guess it's their safety margin.

Like Keith said the oil has changed over the years and the additives that are added are sure to add to the lube properties.

I don't know if this helps, but I hope it gives you a little bit of an idea.
 
I run either synthetic Mobil 1 15W-50 or Valvoline VR1 20W-50 for the zinc content in my 360. It has loose bearing clearances so the extra 5-10 psi oil pressure when hot (compared to 10W-30) is good assurance.
 
Rani, just so you know.
They say that natural oil is like ball bearings that vary in size, and synthetic all the ball bearings as they call them are the same size.
(More uniform due to being synthetically made)
 
ok so let me throw this out there.


how about a quart of trans fluid in the oil.

i was told by an old timer to do that especially with a older engine that has been neglected .....and the logic is:

the trans fluid has detergents that will actually help clean up the engine on the inside and condition the oil as the oil breaks down from age and blowby washouts.


what is the popular opinion on that :happy1:
 
inkjunkie said:
How long before this turns ugly??
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oh come on ...why would it turn ugly .....we are having a fun general discussion.....end of the day each to her own ......but its nice to compare notes :prayer: :D

no grumpy wumpy in here......or i might have to send you a cupcake :cheers:
 
RaniDart70 said:
oh come on ...why would it turn ugly .....we are having a fun general discussion.....end of the day each to her own ......but its nice to compare notes :prayer: :D

no grumpy wumpy in here......or i might have to send you a cupcake :cheers:
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It always turns ugly when the discussion of oil bubbles up. Anyway 10-30 oil for your 440, year round, and never add anything to the oil (especially tranny fluid, I've heard before that dumb assed idea) except cam breakin additive which usually contains a high degree of zinc.
 
demon seed said:
It always turns ugly when the discussion of oil bubbles up. Anyway 10-30 oil for your 440, year round, and never add anything to the oil (especially tranny fluid, I've heard before that dumb assed idea) except cam breakin additive which usually contains a high degree of zinc.
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yep.....More often than not oil dissensions get ugly here. Always start out innocently enough.....
 
inkjunkie said:
yep.....More often than not oil dissensions get ugly here. Always start out innocently enough.....
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i see and the uglies prolly happened before my time here so thats why im surprised to hear of this .....well no grumpys in a thread i started please .....


if someone thinks im dumb ...then pm me and tell me there and keep it off the board......but i am open to public constructive criticism.

i am just trying to get into this in depth bcoz i have heard a lot of different ways.....but as with everything else there are more than one way to skin a pig.

we can be civil adults FABO :cheers:
 
Haven't tried it myself but I hear if you put half a quart of atf in and run the engine a bit then drain it, it will clean the inside up pretty nicely. I probably wouldn't run it every oil change though.


As for oil, give me whatever is on sale and a wix filter.
 
RaniDart70 said:
ok so let me throw this out there.


how about a quart of trans fluid in the oil.

i was told by an old timer to do that especially with a older engine that has been neglected .....and the logic is:

the trans fluid has detergents that will actually help clean up the engine on the inside and condition the oil as the oil breaks down from age and blowby washouts.


what is the popular opinion on that :happy1:
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This is true, and I have seen it used as well as the before and after results.
It does do exactly what he said it does.
Just because someone has never heard of doing it does not mean it isn't being, or been done.
That being said, it is only usually used on an old nasty engine to clean it out of some of the sludge and deposites and sometimes the engine does not live through it.
On a particularly nasty engine it can plug the oil pickup with so much broken loose crap that it can't get oil then it fries.

Ah crap, I forgot to get ugly. :)
 
I use Mobil1 10w30 year round in so cal and have never had an issue. If you know so cal the weather goes from around 115 on the hottest days to mid 20's on the coldest days. And about the trans fluid. Trans fluid should only be added in place of your really expensive oil flush additives. Trans fluid is much cheaper. But you use it the same way. Add a half qt. or full qt. if you have a high capacity oil pan. Run the engine until hot. Drain the oil and change the filter. This would be fine, but as a precaution I run the engine for another 50 miles or so and change the oil and filter one more time. I am a youngster like you Rani so I am interested in what everybody has to say. This is just what I have been taught by my two grandfathers and my pops.
 
Hey Rani, is this the view you see through that heart?:angel9:
 

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RaniDart70 said:
.....but as with everything else there are more than one way to skin a pig.
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fyi......that is the very reason these types of discussions often turn ugly. Oil viscosity is often closely related to tolerances. Case in point, I had a 455 in a Lemans years ago. And it was beyond worn out. 20-50 ran threw it like crap thru a goose. Motor was worn enough that even with gear oil in it it would still start when the temps were in the single digits. And it still burned it.
 
inkjunkie said:
fyi......that is the very reason these types of discussions often turn ugly. Oil viscosity is often closely related to tolerances. Case in point, I had a 455 in a Lemans years ago. And it was beyond worn out. 20-50 ran threw it like crap thru a goose. Motor was worn enough that even with gear oil in it it would still start when the temps were in the single digits. And it still burned it.
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I'm surprised that 455 had enough compression left to even run being that worn out.
 
inkjunkie said:
fyi......that is the very reason these types of discussions often turn ugly. Oil viscosity is often closely related to tolerances. Case in point, I had a 455 in a Lemans years ago. And it was beyond worn out. 20-50 ran threw it like crap thru a goose. Motor was worn enough that even with gear oil in it it would still start when the temps were in the single digits. And it still burned it.
Click to expand...

It stinks don't it?
A long time ago I got two Ford pickups for free from some old lady that lived not to far away.
One was a 1945 and the other a 1946, both with flathead V8's and the oil still in them.
The 45 oil came out like a turd and took a good 20 min to stop making it's pile. (I swear it looked just like a dog takin a 6 foot crap. :)
The only way I could get hardly any oil pressure was with 90wt gear oil.
But it ran, and stunk to high heaven.
 
aprfct0 said:
I'm surprised that 455 had enough compression left to even run being that worn out.
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It shocked me that it stayed running. Had no idea where it was timed, I just kept turning it up until it kicked on the starter. When it was cold out it sounded like a diesel starting in the cold. I was curious once and put 10-30 in it. At 2000 rpm, operating temperature, the oil pressure was in the single digits. That car took a pounding before it gave up........
 
inkjunkie said:
It shocked me that it stayed running. Had no idea where it was timed, I just kept turning it up until it kicked on the starter. When it was cold out it sounded like a diesel starting in the cold. I was curious once and put 10-30 in it. At 2000 rpm, operating temperature, the oil pressure was in the single digits. That car took a pounding before it gave up........
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That's amazing I rebuilt a 455 and had it in a jet boat. I over revved it once and found out it spun a bearing. It was also pushing about 450-500 hp on a fresh rebuild. Maybe if i set everything looser it would have continued to run.
 
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