Valvoline 4-stroke Motorcycle Oil

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enigma57

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Just a quick mention here, as I never hear mention of it on automotive forums, but for my older flat tappet engines where I need a good additive package containing ZDDP...... And even for our newer roller cam engines which were originally broken in with dino oil and tend to leak and burn oil if even a synthetic blend oil is used at regular oil changes...... Let alone a full synthetic...... For the past 10 years, I have been running Valvoline 4-stroke motorcycle oil in these engines with excellent results. Additive package is similar to same weight VR1, only not a synthetic base.

This stuff. Looks like they have it in blue bottles now. The ones I have stashed here are black bottles......

Val-PCMO-Motorcycle-4stroke-product.jpg


Valvoline™ 4-Stroke Motorcycle Oil : Product Catalog - Valvoline

Best regards to all,

Harry
 
This is a good choice for older engines with 340 flat tappet cams and heavy valve springs. The specs show it's rated SF,SG,SJ. Not many oils are today.

It is not a long distance oil and shouldn't be used on modern Mopars. They require a thinner oil like 5w20 for their VVT [variable valve timing systems].
 
:) Points well taken, pt70! Yes, my wife's 2013 model car was designed for synthetic oil and that's what it gets. Our older cars such as my '62 Dodge Lancer with the original slant 6 and my '57 Chevy run flat tappet cams and the Valvoline 4-stroke Motorcycle Oil has been really good for them. My youngest son is finally getting around to building a '96 roller cam engine for his older car and he will be running the Valvoline motorcycle oil for its excellent additive package and wear properties, as well.

I might add that for the past 5 years, I have been adding 4 ounces of MotorKote at each oil change, as well. Now I will be the first to say that I consider the great majority of oil and fuel additives to be snake oil at best and at worst some can even damage an engine. However, I have found that MotorKote is one of the few that actually work. I use it in all our engines following break-in and it does reduce friction as it claims. Yes, I even use it in my wife's 2013 model car after the dealer changes the synthetic oil. 135,000 miles on it so far and the car runs great......





MotorKote_logo_web_180x.png


Best regards,

Harry
 
Looks like 1120 ppm zinc and 1030 ppm phosphorus. Good enough for older engines. 1000 ppm is a guideline.
 
Thanks for the info. How much is a qt of that Valvoline?

I haven't bought any in a while...... Have been using it in our older cars for 10 years. I stocked up on it 5 years ago. I got mine from AutoZone. As I recall, it was around the same price as other name brand oil. Its available in 10W40 and 20W50.

OK...... Here ya go...... Looked it up on line. Current price is $6.99 a quart from AutoZone and $6.72 a quart from Wall Mart. O'Reilley's is supposed to carry it as well, but I couldn't find price online......

https://www.autozone.com/motor-oil-...10w-40-motorcycle-engine-oil-1-quart/365426_0

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Valvolin...0W-40-Conventional-Motor-Oil-1-Quart/16879749

This price is for dino oil. There are also synthetic based motorcycle oils available from various suppliers if you're into that sort of thing. We have not had good luck with synthetics in our older cars that were broken in and run for some while on dino oil. We had the oil in my wife previous 2003 model car which had been broken in and run on dino oil (had around 170,000 miles at the time) changed at a mechanic shop. Without telling us, they put a synthetic blend in her car and in a couple of days, it was smoking, burning a quart of oil every 500 miles and leaking oil from seals.

We brought it back within a week and once we learned it had synthetic in there, had it changed back to dino oil and by the next 3,000 mile oil change, the smoking and leaking had stopped and I only had to add 1/2 qt. every 1,500 miles to top it off (same oil consumption rate as before). We drove that car until it had over 250,000 miles and then we bought her 2013 model she has now. Oil consumption remained the same until we sold it...... A half qt. every 1,500 miles. Her 2013 model was designed for synthetic and we have the dealer do the oil changes now that my knees are too shot to do it out in the driveway.

Best regards,

Harry
 
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Looks like 1120 ppm zinc and 1030 ppm phosphorus. Good enough for older engines. 1000 ppm is a guideline.

That's why I went with it in our older cars, Mike. I was chasing ZDDP content in those years and one after the other, each brand of oil I changed to dropped zinc content. So I got to researching the subject and realized that Valvoline 4-stroke motorcycle oil still had the goods. Bought a few cases and stashed them in the garage.

Happy Motoring,

Harry
 
"Without telling us, they put a synthetic blend in her car and in a couple of days, it was smoking, burning a quart of oil every 500 miles and leaking oil from seals."

don't get upset, but your credibility just took a hit with that,, maybe you should have added a dose of your MotorKote.

Motor oil is motor oil, synthetic can have better properties than motor oil made from crude. Assuming that the SAE weight of the oil is comparable, synthetic will not leak more or burn more than conventional motor oil.
 
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"Without telling us, they put a synthetic blend in her car and in a couple of days, it was smoking, burning a quart of oil every 500 miles and leaking oil from seals."

don't get upset, but your credibility just took a hit with that,, maybe you should have added a dose of your MotorKote.

Motor oil is motor oil, synthetic can have better properties than motor oil made from crude. Assuming that the SAE weight of the oil is comparable, synthetic will not leak more or burn more than conventional motor oil.

Believe what you will. That was our experience with synthetic blend oil put in my wife's previous high mileage car (2003 Nissan Maxima) that had dino oil run in it since new. Began burning oil, smoking and leaking past the seals onto our drive. Changed back to dino oil and all was well by next 3,000 mile oil change.

Wife's current 2013 model car has had synthetic oil in it since new and yes, I add 4 oz. of MotorKote at each oil change, same as our older cars running the Valvoline 4-stroke Motorcycle Oil. I had not discovered MotorKote when she had her 2003 car and never tried it in that car, so cannot say. Its not marketed as something that will lessen oil consumption nor restore seals and I wouldn't expect it to. It reduces internal friction and wear. Noticeably. That's why I use it.

Best regards,

Harry
 
I run Valvoline racing VR1 in my GTS. It is a good oil with a nice amount of ZDDP. I like how it performs.
 
Looks like 1120 ppm zinc and 1030 ppm phosphorus. Good enough for older engines. 1000 ppm is a guideline.

I run Valvoline racing VR1 in my GTS. It is a good oil with a nice amount of ZDDP. I like how it performs.

Where are you finding these specs? I've only ever been able to find them for Mobil1.

"Motorcycle" oil doesn't tie anything to ZDDP. Unless ZDDP is the friction modifier for use with wet clutches, which I honestly don't know. All I do know is that the 'motorcycle' oils are rated so for clutch friction modifiers, not for flat tappets (although a great number of the jap bikes are flat-tappet).
 
Where are you finding these specs? I've only ever been able to find them for Mobil1.

"Motorcycle" oil doesn't tie anything to ZDDP. Unless ZDDP is the friction modifier for use with wet clutches, which I honestly don't know. All I do know is that the 'motorcycle' oils are rated so for clutch friction modifiers, not for flat tappets (although a great number of the jap bikes are flat-tappet).
I clicked on the link above in the first post. That info is in the
"pi sheet".
 
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I had a rough day today. Really tired. I looked at this thread title and thought "Vasoline don't make motor oil, he's crazy". LOL
 
I had a rough day today. Really tired. I looked at this thread title and thought "Vasoline don't make motor oil, he's crazy". LOL

Rusty...... In a hot moment of flagrante delicto with your lady, if you reach for der Viener-Schlider in the dark and grab the Mentholatum by mistake......
icon_eek.gif


Er...... Uh...... Don't ask me how I know that......

Harry
 
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I run Valvoline racing VR1 in my GTS. It is a good oil with a nice amount of ZDDP. I like how it performs.

I know quite a few guys who run the non-synthetic VR1 in their older engines and they tell me the same thing, Ddaddy. Its good stuff. I just went with their 4-stroke motorcycle oil because it has nearly the same additive package and both VR1 and the motorcycle oil are available in 20W50, but I wanted 10W40 and I could get that in the motorcycle oil but the VR1 was only available in 10W30 or 20W50. A bonus was...... The motorcycle oil is typically a $1.00 cheaper per qt. than the VR1.

There is also a synthetic version of VR1 for those who are into that. But even if a synthetic will do well in your particular engine, the added cost isn't worth it to me, as I will change oil in my older engines between 3,000 and 4,000 miles to get the dirt and acids/contaminants out of my crankcase. The added cost of synthetic only makes sense money wise if you are going to go a good many miles between oil changes.

FWIW...... My wife's 2013 model car uses synthetic oil and the mfg. recommends oil changes at 10,000 mile intervals. A couple friends who have their own mechanic shops both told me to change it at 5,000 miles, as it is a direct injection engine and that particular type of engine sludges and carbons up inside much worse than the older type EFI designs. A great many of these particular engines will require pulling the head(s) and spending big bucks to decoke the engine and reassemble just North of 100,000 miles. Her engine has 135,000 miles on it now and still runs great (touch wood).

Best regards,

Harry
 
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