First Oil Change

[BigIke]

Yeah, i went with 10w-30 High mileage. Between me driving back and forth to all the autoparts stores looking for filters and oil, this is the most expensive oil change ever! LOL

I'm going to do 6,000 mile oil changes i believe. Might send a sample off at 3k.

Thanks fo' tha' help

[BigIke]

@ Xfire, i use diesel oil in my racecar and vmax...

[secondchance]

Originally Posted by BigIke

Yeah, i went with 10w-30 High mileage. Between me driving back and forth to all the autoparts stores looking for filters and oil, this is the most expensive oil change ever! LOL

I'm going to do 6,000 mile oil changes i believe. Might send a sample off at 3k.

Thanks fo' tha' help

Big Ike,

FYI - 5 qt jug of Mobil 1 High Mileage 10-30 or 10-40 are about $25 each at Walmart. Two jugs are good for one oil change and leaves 1.5 qts for top-offs. Also, I order Mobil 1 oil filter 3 packs from Ebay - about $13 each.

[Billy Mild]

RockAuto had Mobil 1 filters for $6.

Also it seems the only auto parts store who has our filter was advance auto parts. I had a harder time finding a oil filter for this car than I did for my 86 944 turbo...weird

[BigIke]

That is why i went with 10w-30 they had them at AZ for 36 vs 9.99 a QT for 10w-40. I'll look at wally world next time

[Jim Nolan]

I use Mobil 15-50, If you read the back of the container it says high ZDDP content for racing engines. It is also available at the local Walmart for $25 for a 5 qt. container.

[edram454]

I use 10w40 high mileage on my zr1. I like the higher viscosity since I live in hot florida weather all year. I use new nos oil filters a fellow club member had stored when he had a zr1. he sold the car and forgot he had the filters. He gave me a bunch of them. How often to you all change your oil? I have only driven 200 miles this year and I dont feel I should change this oil yet even though it will be a year that I changed it. It still looks like honey so it doesnt look dirty. It is synthetic oil.

ed ramos #3028

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by edram454

I use 10w40 high mileage on my zr1. I like the higher viscosity since I live in hot florida weather all year. I use new nos oil filters a fellow club member had stored when he had a zr1. he sold the car and forgot he had the filters. He gave me a bunch of them. How often to you all change your oil? I have only driven 200 miles this year and I dont feel I should change this oil yet even though it will be a year that I changed it. It still looks like honey so it doesnt look dirty. It is synthetic oil.

ed ramos #3028

Ed, please drive more!
You got to shake out the Spiders!!!

[Paul Workman]

Marc's article on AMSOIL (some years back) put me on that regime from the first. It's pricy, but just a drop in the bucket compared to the price at the pump for gasoline (is the way I rationalize it...).

Viscosity and Change intervals... A good question; and no doubt varies with synthetic vs dyno, ZDDP levels and other additives, and oh, yeah...DRIVING CONDITIONS (e.g. racing, etc), driving habits, temperatures incl summer vs. winter, etc, etc.

Change intervals? Too often and the benefits in terms of engine wear are small, if any. Too far between changes might save $$ on oil, but cost much higher $$ in wear: again so dependent on how the car is driven. (Better too change it often than not often enough.)

Perhaps the only way to know how good the oil is and how often to change it requires a fairly comprehensive (lab) analysis; several oils over several driving conditions/mileages. The sad thing is, we poor consumers can't look to the oil manufactures for anything resembling truth in advertising. Seems to me, NOTHING related to automotive "stuff" is as rife with marketing hyperbole as oil.

So... what's a poor bloke to do? Personally, I take comfort in the pragmatic approach by mechanics like Marc Haibeck or Cory Henderson, or Aron, or AES, etc. recommend, having torn down "a few" LT5s and would have a better handle on what works and what doesn't...maybe. SO! Out of all the hype, and what actual data there is available on our LT5's in particular, AND with a keen eye on what the key ZDDP levels were when these engines were being built, is perhaps as good a start as any.

Bottom line: No prize is given for the longest interval between oil changes or using oil with the lowest ZDDP. But, I have personally witnessed and replaced a cam that was wiped smooth (no "bumps") on Ami's 350 SBC which had been on a diet of 10W-30 Dino oil, "API M" (with the inherent reduced levels of ZDDP due to catalytic converters...which her 69 C3 never had).

So, for better or worse, AND per Marc's recommendation and documentation AND experience with the LT5, I'm using AMO 10W-40 which has ZDDP that nearly matches that available when the engines were built. And, being it is a full synthetic, it has the extended durability and viscosity stability (that synthetics are noted for). So, I change it at 5000 mile intervals or at the beginning of the driving season (whichever occurs first). Dom is using diesel oil (Rotella?) on 3000 mile intervals. (to error on the side of safety, I guess).

I recon the great oil debate will not end soon. Armed with the info supplied by Marc and others with regard to what was recommended for the LT5 when it was being built, and what is availabile today (synthetics), is as good a place to start looking as any, I recon. Good luck!

[edram454]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

Ed, please drive more!
You got to shake out the Spiders!!!

Big John it will be driven this weekend finally. I only drive it when the weather is nice and right now is the driving season in south florida. sunny cool and breezy make for an enjoyable drive. summers here are too hot and uncomfortable. I try to stay in my town car most of the summer and wait for the later months to drive.

ed ramos #3028