Question for 4x4HIGH

[Chief Brody]

What is your experience with oil...synthetic or standard...as I have my engine out and getting ready to paint it, and from all appearances it is fairly new rebuild 350...
Should I just put regular oil in there or AmsOil or some other synthetic...
or is synthetic a sham and if you keep the regular oil clean you get the same result?

I'd like to hear your opinion...

Also...there is warble in the harmonic balancer pulley, at least it appeared that way when it was running...is that something that I should worry about and change it out now? If so, how do you know what is the correct harmonic balancer for the engine?

And I have the engine on a stand...I am ready to flip it upside down...is there anything I need to be aware of before I do that that might damage the engine or any components?

 

[454Sub]

i personally run castrol syntec 10-30 plus 2 quarts of Lucas synthetic in mine and i swear by it. Once cut an oil cooler line on the crank pully because of lazy oil line running and once lost a drain plug in the pan. my 454 has yet to puke a single shaving and iv cut apart a dozen filters just waiting for the bad news. I would use synthetic personally... I also change mine after every mudbog or two. Expensive but my 454 was a fortune and cheap insurance never killed anybody. The balancer i would try removing and reinstalling to see if the wobble can be dealt with. That would damage the crankshaft bearings and possibly the valve-train depending on the vibes its sending through the block. Only thing you have to worry about when you flip it is tipping the engine stand, which happened to me on my 454... other than that no probs if everything is bolted into place and not just loose for mock up.

 

[Fordum]

FWIW, I'm a big believer in synthetic. Just not in a brand new or freshly rebuilt engine.
Its too slick and can cause breakin problems.
Or so they tell me.
I run Amsoil in every vehicle I own, engine oil, transfer case, front and rear end, even use their red wheel bearing oil.

I don't run it in my turbocharged genset, but I hope someday to have enough money that I don't mind doing so.
I really would like it in that turbo.
But, 6 gallons per oil change is just more than I can bring myself to pay........

 

[4X4HIGH]

My honest opinion is that if you are faithful in doing oil and filter changes there is no need for synthetic oil. Yes synthetic can do some amazing things but you also don't want to run it in a fresh engine as it could cause the engine to be an oil burner since the oil is so slick and keeps the rings from seating properly.

 

[DEMON44]

then why is it you hear some high performance engines such as in corvettes and exotic cars, come factory filled with synthetic engine oil?

 

[xpndbl3]

My honest opinion is that if you are faithful in doing oil and filter changes there is no need for synthetic oil. Yes synthetic can do some amazing things but you also don't want to run it in a fresh engine as it could cause the engine to be an oil burner since the oil is so slick and keeps the rings from seating properly.

rings are seated upon initial startup, if it takes more than a minute or two the engine builder didn't do his job. Use a high zinc content oil that your builder recommends. Some of our race engines are broken in on synthetic oil, some are not, depends on the combo.

 

[63chevyll]

Defiantly dont use synthetic while engine is breaking in.

After that, I'd say, do what you want. It's important to know synthetic oil doesn't have any more ZDDP properties as any other conventional oil.

 

[Fordum]

It's important to know synthetic oil doesn't have any more ZDDP properties as any other conventional oil.

In general thats true. But, Amsoil makes several high zinc synthetic oils.

Just go to Amsoil, http://www.amsoil.com and do a search for ZRT 10w-30, AMO 10W-40, or ZRF 20W-50

 

[1BEATK5]

1. Put a quality oil filter on
2. Put whatever oil in that tickles you fancy
3. Change it when needed
4. Dont worry about it. That's all that's really needed

 

[lectric80]

I so wish that was true, but after flat spotting the cam in my Toyota earlier this year I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep some zinc in the oil if you don't have a roller cam. In the last 2 years I know of about 15-20 in my little circle of friends who have flat spotted the cam, and it is all caused by the lack of zinc in the oil. When I change the oil in the Toyota now, at least 1 of the 4.5 quarts is high zinc content. In between changes I run an oil additive with zinc in it. Zinc is critical to flat tappet cam's long life.

 

[Deuling]

I broke mine in with royal purple break in oil. Then put in 15w40 rp synthetic. I talked to the rep at the hot rod power tour and he told me it is good oil for my motor, but he would recomend using 10w40 instead because 15w40 is considered a semi or heavy equipment oil and has more strict regulations on zinc and phosphorous content. Where he said the 10w40 is choked full of the stuff. So i have one more oil change and im switching to that. My motor will run Royal purple synthetic till it blows. I want to see if it really does make it last longer and make the extra money worthwhile. Plus the inside of my motor is purple, so i mean come on, what other reason do you need

 

[folkenheath]

Synthetic oil does make a difference. It can tolerate higher temperatures and doesn't break down as easy. My cousins who run up to 800 - 900 lbs of valve spring pressure in their dragsters have to swap mechanical roller lifters on a regular basis. Just switching to synthetic racing oil from conventional racing oil allowed them to double the life of the lifters from 100 up to 200 passes before lifter replacement/rebuild. Now, granted, most of us run ~1/3 of that valve spring pressure, but it does show you that synthetic oil does make a difference in wear. Whether or not it's worth it to you is a different story, it depends on a lot of variables.

 

[Fordum]

Well, two things sold me on synthetic. Back in the old days of Compuserve, there was an automotive forum you guys would have loved.

It was similar to this place, but for most any vehicle, and with even more expertise. I mean, not only did you have professional mechanics, and folks who had done lots of things to their vehicles, but it was not unusual for a factory engineer to drop by.

We were ragging on how hard it was to replace something one time, and the actual guy who designed it spoke up.
And apologized for that and said that when he was designing it, he knew it was going to be a pain to replace.
But, he told why he had had to do it that way, and the alternatives were much worse.
Another time one of the engineers told us a different way to replace something that he had designed in that made it a lot better.

Anyway, this guy came online, with a problem. He had a big Ford pickup, almost brand new, and was on his 4th or 5 rear end.
He hauled horses over some mountains, and about halfway up the oil in his rear axle would be boiling.
Ford had done several bearing replacements, one complete carrier replacement, all under warranty, and finally replaced the entire rear end including housing.

Dropping a gear size had helped, but not much. He was wanting to know how he could install a temprature gauge in the axle.
Said he did not mind pulling over when it got hot and letting it cool.
I helped talk him through an electric gauge install, and he was happy. But, one of the guys on there kept telling him to try some Amsoil.
He was a dealer, and offered him enough to replace his oil for free.

The warranty had run out, and he was looking for anything that might help, so he tried it.
Logged back on a couple of months later.
Said that normally he had to stop 2 or 3 times to let his axle cool off depending on how much load and the outside temps.
With the Amsoil, he had not had to stop once. Said the temp gauge never got hot enough to worry him.

This made me take notice. I have to change the grease in everything in my truck after every hunting season due to water.
Driving my old truck up and down the highway during the summer, the 205 under the floorboards would get hot enough to feel in the cab.
It would almost blister you if you crawled under and felt it.

I put in Amsoil gear lube, and could run for hours at 70, get out and lay my hand on the housing.
It was hot, but the difference was amazing.

Like I say, I use it in everything except for my genset. Including my 4wheeler and lawnmower.