Oil for an 88 IROC Camaro

[jcrules78]

Anyone here have some good recommendations for a quality synthetic oil for a 1988 Chevy Camaro IROC 350? From what I know, the car has been running dino oil since day one. I'd like to convert over to a full synth. I just started running Pennzoil Platinum Full Synth in my 2000 Alero, would that be a good oil to run in the IROC? Also, the car has been running dino oil (last change was GM Goodwrench oil) and has more than 103,000 miles on it. Should I start the conversion to full synth by mixing dino and synth first or should I just go directly to synth? I would totally appreciate any opinions, especially from those who might own/work with a third gen Camaro/Firebird themselves.
Thanks,
JCRULZ

 

[dave1251]

Do an full cycle of Auto-Rx. With an 19 year old car there is all kinds of crud in there.
That is my 2 cents.

 

[Clyde65]

That IROC and Valvoline Maxlife 10W-40 are made for each other.

 

[dave1251]

Clyde65 ashland better compensate you.

 

[Rand]

Actually while I feel clyde65 does post alot of garbage I do actually agree with him here.
Although 10w30 might be ok too as maxlife is on the high side of the grade.

My dad tried syn in his mitsubishi truck and it leaked like a sieve out of the seals after a week.
His truck was a drug bust repo so who knows
how it was maintained before he got it.
He changed using maxlife and it reduced the leak
to minor seepage only (<1qt per 3000 miles)

 

[Don Stefanik]

I have several customers who use our AME 15W40 because of the Military Rust inhibitor. It's good for off season storage and will give good performance all around.
Price is not bad either.

 

[Drew99GT]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Rand:
as maxlife is on the high side of the grade.

---

Actually it's not. Castrol HM, Pennzoil HM, and Havoline/Chevron HM are on the thick side of each grade.

 

[jcrules78]

Thanks for the quick replies guys! Is Auto RX an oil, or an additive? I've never heard of the stuff.
I was actually checking out the Valvoline Max Life stuff for the Alero before I purchased the Pennzoil, because I heard lots of positives regarding its quality. The thing that turned me off is the fact that it is a synth/dino blend not a full synth. The idea of my Camaro popping all sorts of gasket leaks due to a dino to full-synth switch sort of freaks me out though! Is this common in older cars?
I notice that you guys are recommending different oil weights than what my car calls for. GM claims that 5w30 should be used. The weights you guys are recommending seem greater, such as 10W-40 and even 15-W40. Does the difference in grade help with performance? Can there be serious engine issues from using a different grade of oil than what the auto maker suggests? Sorry for all the elementary questions guys, I'm new to this stuff.
Finally, what do you mean on "high/thick side of the grade." I am assuming from what you guys are claiming is that you don't want an oil that is too thick for the engine because it could have negative effects on the engine's structure/performance. Is this the correct assumption? Thanks for your posts and your patience, I am very eager to learn about these things.

[ August 19, 2006, 09:57 PM: Message edited by: jcrules78 ]

 

[Clyde65]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Rand:
Actually while I feel clyde65 does post alot of garbage I do actually agree with him here. Although 10w30 might be ok too as maxlife is on the high side of the grade.

---

Rand,

Maxlife 10W-30 is 10.66 cst @ 100C
Maxlife 10W-40 is 13.09 cst @ 100C

This time it is YOU who is full of garbage.

P.S. That would be Clyde with a capital 'C'. Get it right!!!

 

[jcrules78]

Oh, I have no idea what cst is an acronym for or what the difference betwen the numbers 10.66 and 13.09 means in relation to the change in grade from 30 to 40. What is 100C? Man, I am such an oil rookie!

 

[flatlandtacoma]

quote:

---

Originally posted by jcrules78:
Oh, I have no idea what cst is an acronym for or what the difference betwen the numbers 10.66 and 13.09 means in relation to the change in grade from 30 to 40. What is 100C? Man, I am such an oil rookie!

---

cSt is not an acronym, it is an abbreviation for "centistokes" a unit of viscosity.

100C is 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit.)

30 weight oil has a viscosity between 9.3 cSt and 12.5 cSt at 100C.

40 weight oil has a viscosity between 12.5 cSt and 16.3 cSt at 100C.

That's it! Not so hard once you get past the abbreviations.

 

[Clyde65]

quote:

---

Originally posted by jcrules78:
I notice that you guys are recommending different oil weights than what my car calls for. GM claims that 5w30 should be used. The weights you guys are recommending seem greater, such as 10W-40 and even 15-W40. Does the difference in grade help with performance? Can there be serious engine issues from using a different grade of oil than what the auto maker suggests?

---

GM recommended 5w30 for a brand new tight 5.7 litre TBI V8. Being that you have a well used broken in engine with over 100,000 miles on it, I recommended a 10W-40 that is on the thin side of the grade to "take up the slack" of a loosened up engine such as yours and give you a slight gain in oil pressure.

Performance gain? It will run much smoother on Maxlife 10W-40 which will contribute to an increase in performance.

15W-40? I think that would be going a little too thick for your engine. And being that you have a roller valvetrain, you don't need it.

Don't want to stray from the Mfg's recommended viscosity? Well then High Mileage GTX 5w30 would be a good compromise with a viscosity of 12.1 cst @ 100C.

 

[Cutehumor]

clyde must work for valvoline.

 

[dave1251]

jcrules78 go to the additive section. Auto-Rx is a site sponsor. Over there is all the info you need. It will slowly dissolve any sludge build up you have in your engine. It will clean the old oil of your engine seals that make's them bridle. This will allow your seals to get fresh oil which will allow them to be pliable. This will also clean any false seals you may have.

 

[jcrules78]

Hey Clyde and Tacoma, thanks for the input. I should have gotten the 100C thing, I've done plenty of lab work, but it has been a while since I have dealt with temps. Now I get the whole weight thing too, it does make sense to run a little heavier oil in an old TPI engine to help lube and seal things up a bit. I think I will take your advice and whatever oil I end up using, it will probably be a 10W-40. Wouldn't hurt to try and see if it returns a little of the car's old compression.

Dave, I think I will go and check out the info on that autoRX stuff. This morning when I started my beast, I heard a loud tick ticking coming from the left side valve cover. Louder than the usual clicking of the fuel injectors. I think it might be a sticky lifter or something. I drove the car, and once it heated up a bit, the noise stopped. I'm thinking the car could use a nice cleansing in that oil case, it would be a terrible thing if I blew that engine.

 

[dave1251]

After you run your Auto-Rx if you don't have any leaks synthetic oil's should not cause any. If you where to use Redline or any other ester based oil your seal should swell a little. But that is an topic.

 

[jcrules78]

So Dave, what oil would you personally think works good with AutoRX? Is that MaxLife stuff pretty cohesive with AutoRX? It's good to know that I wouldn't have to worry about any seal leaks, I already have a few things to deal with when it comes to this car. What's up with the Ester based oils, is it common for them to have adverse reactions on the material the seals are made of?

 

[dave1251]

First with Auto-Rx you need to use a convential oil. I recommend that you use the lighest oil that you can possibly use and not lose sleep. This is so that the oil can cycle through out your engine because motor oil is a carrier for Auto-Rx. Second no Max life would not be a good blend for Auto-Rx because it uses some PAO. Third Ester's cause seal swell.

Hope this was helpfull. If you got anymore question's feel free to ask.

 

[jcrules78]

Thanks dave so you recommend like a light dino oil grade, like maybe a 5W-20 or something? Do you do a full 3,000 mile cycle with that oil, or an early change at 1,500?

 

[dave1251]

Use whatever you can tolerate for the Auto-Rx. The interval will come with bottle. It's something like 1,500. With a loose chevy 350 I recommend 5W,10W-30. For an Auto-Rx. I also advise that you don't do a solvent acid flush. But it's YOUR car. Do what you like.