Synthetic engine oils?

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Motorcityman
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Synthetic engine oils?

Unread post by Motorcityman » October 8th, 2017, 9:41 am

I switched to synthetic engine oil in all my vehicles a few years ago, including all my equipment for my business, I own a landscaping business. I run Amsoil, Amsoil has a product called Zrod it's a fully synthetic oil with a high content of Zinc formulated for flat tappet lifters. I've only ever run straight SAE 30 in the 151 and the only Zrod oil amsoil has is either 10w30 or 20w50, is 10w30 cool to run in the mutt? My 151 hasn't run in over 10 years and I'm just a few weeks away from starting it. Thanks.

https://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-product/ ... motor-oil/

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rickf
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Re: Synthetic engine oils?

Unread post by rickf » October 8th, 2017, 10:03 am

10W-30 will be fine, synthetics do tend to leak more with old style seals so be prepared for that.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

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m3a1
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Re: Synthetic engine oils?

Unread post by m3a1 » October 8th, 2017, 11:00 am

Coincidentally, when I was looking into a variety of greases, I recently read an article about synthetic oil, in which Amsoil's business model was prominently mentioned (and what was written might just surprise you). However, I would like to stress that the author stopped well short of saying anything derogatory about the Amsoil lubricant itself.

It is thought-provoking to say the least and I offer the link below just to give everyone a more broad look at what lubricants are out there and how they are promoted and remember, this link is only one person's view of things. Late in the article is a time line that's a fun read (and contains an insight into how the military deals in lubricants (with many mil-spec numbers for you info-hoarders).

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/u ... er=3052733

Is it really worth looking at this stuff? Well, there are some big ol' bear traps just waiting for the unwary when it comes to lubricants but In my opinion, the final word is this.... if the product you've selected is working for you you can sleep well at night. You've obviously made the right choice.

Cheers,
TJ

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raymond
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Re: Synthetic engine oils?

Unread post by raymond » October 8th, 2017, 10:57 pm

Some of the best benefits of using synthetic oils, whether type 3 or 4, is that they are more true to their viscosity range at stated temperatures and they hold viscosity over many thousands of miles. I.E. they are as thin as stated on startup, and thicken with increase in operating temperature, and they retain their rated viscosity over time. Conventional oils tend to thicken over time, which can lead to wear at cold weather startups. I use plain old conventional Rotella T 15w40 in my M151. I change it every fall, which for me is at about 3-500 miles. So for me, it does not make sense, especially since I won't drive mine in the winter when they start salting the bridges around here. It is never in the engine long enough to suffer viscosity break down. I also run it in my push mower and my Sea Doo. My Sea Doo jet ski specifically says that running synthetic oil can damage the clutches in the motor. But I do run synthetic Rotella T6 in my 2015 F150 with the eco boost engine. I figure diesel engine oils have had to stand up to turbo chargers a lot longer than any passenger car motor oils have. I also run synthetic Rotella T6 in my tractor. All other vehicles and my generator and my Yamaha F150 four stroke outboard, I have switched over to Mobil 1.

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Re: Synthetic engine oils?

Unread post by raymond » October 8th, 2017, 11:08 pm

As for greases, there is nothing on a M151 with enough shock load to demand anything other than a standard #2 grease. Not even an extreme pressure #2. Same with all the rest of my equipment. I don't own anything with the high temp demand or shock loading demand some greases protect against. I stopped using some of the more expensive greases because all the black additives are almost impossible to get out of clothing, and they provided me no extra benefit.

And years ago, I was in Houston Texas at a Shell lubricants training seminar and one of the engineers there said that in all his years of experience, he had only seen a handful of cases where the wrong grease resulted in a lubrication failure. And all these were due to using a conventional grease in an aviation application where the base stock adversely affected the synthetic seals that were designed to work in a wide range of temperatures an airplane experiences, from hot tarmacs to exceedingly cold temperatures at high cruising altitudes. All other failures were found to be due to failure to grease, not failure to use the correct grease.

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Re: Synthetic engine oils?

Unread post by rickf » October 9th, 2017, 9:37 am

I was wondering how long it was going to be before you chimed in on the oil discussion.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

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raymond
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Re: Synthetic engine oils?

Unread post by raymond » October 9th, 2017, 10:45 am

rickf wrote:I was wondering how long it was going to be before you chimed in on the oil discussion.
I like synthetics for most, but not all, applications. I am especially impressed that they do not thicken with extended drain intervals. Take a cup of used conventional 10w30 motor oil and a cup of used 10w30 synthetic motor oil and put it in your freezer and see which one pours. While I would run it in an old motor, I would not attempt to do extended drain intervals with synthetic oil on an old carburated motor as they put too much soot, carbon, etc into the oil, especially during warmup. This will clog the filter before the additive package is used up and the oil no longer is holding it's viscosity. And today's modern engines don't run as dirty as older engines so there is much less combustion by products for motor oil to hold in suspension. Thus, the oil filter won't clog during long drain intervals on modern fuel injected motors.

So my advice is use synthetic motor oils in anything you want. Just remember that you should not extend your drain intervals on older engines, thus negating any potential savings in money or labor.
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Re: Synthetic engine oils?

Unread post by rickf » October 9th, 2017, 11:21 am

I run 15W-40 Rotella in everything except the Mustang since it requires 5W-20 synthetic for the cam phasers.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

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