Recommended oil for 6.0 LS with a big cam

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Originally Posted By: tanman1996
Recommended oil and filter for 6.0 LS with a big cam, carbed, and headers?
a good synthetic w40 of some sort.
 
Go with an HTHS greater than or equal to 3.5 to make sure those cams are taken care of.
And slightly higher levels of ZDDP than -30 SN requirements.
My pick would be the Pennzoil Ultra 0w40, Amazon.com, ebay, (or from Chrysler-Dodge dealerships for their SRT engines). Its got 275 ppm of moly to help with those big cams as well. The Pennzoil 0w40 in the 5-quart jugs at walmart would be about as good though for cheaper, without as much moly as the Ultra one.
Filter: Fram Racing Oil Filter or Fram Ultra or Royal Purple oil filter or Amsoil oil filter. All very good, strong canisters, built well, filters well.
http://www.fram.com/media/1075/fram-racing-filter-sell-sheet.pdf
 
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Thank you all for the fast replies, was thinking about putting in some royal purple. Glad I posted this
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An excellent and commonly available choice is Mobil 1, 5W-40 Turbo Diesel Truck. It's a fully synthetic oil, capable of withstanding very high temperatures, with one of the most robust additive packages around.

HTHS is 3.8
ZDDP 1200 PPM
TBN 10.8
Excellent low temp flow, and pour point below -40.

In general, diesel engine oils make fantastic oils for highly stressed gas engines and motorcycles.
 
M1 0w40 would do. As long as the engine has a roller cam in it, no need for high zddp oil.
The carb thing would make me want to keep the oil change interval conservative until it can be proven that fuel dilution would not be a problem.
 
If I was buying on specification I'd go A3/B4 or E4 based on availability in Xw40.

If I was buying on brand I'd base my purchase on usage - a weekend cruiser would get max life. If was going to drive it hard and get it hot it would have to be Redline.
 
What about Chevron Delo's new (full syn SN/CK-4) XSP 5W-40? It's dual rated for gas and diesel engines and readily available at WM for $20/gallon. Will have lots of anti-wear additives and won't break the bank. It's a little thicker than Castrol/M1 0W-40.
 
Roller cam, even if big (how big?). Anything less than 0.600" lift is not going to be terribly hard to control unless very square shoulders on the ramps (which can lead to bounce). And, if the bottom end is near stock, you need a 30'ish grade for bearing clearances.

Yeah, a 40 will work OK, but it is not needed unless this is a track day car (road course) with hours of elevated oil temps.

You said it's carb'd ... You will have fuel dilution due to big cam (reversion) and you'll be playing with mixture control issues if it idles much ... So it's likely a waste to put synthetics in it as it will need 3,000 miles oil changes (if it even goes that far on an OCI ...).

So let's assume that it's a pretty square profile cam, trunion lifters, 550# springs over the nose, 108* lobe centers so it has plenty overlap, the carb is struggling at 800 rpm idle with maybe 7 inches of idle vacuum and it lopes pretty badly; and you are driving it on the street.

I would not push the OCI beyond about 2,500 or if the dip stick came out smelling "gassy", change it right then. In that scenario you need volume to absorb the fuel dilution and a tough oil. HDEO is your friend. 7 qt pan and the biggest filter that will fit (all volume). Any of the HDEO's with >1,000 PPM ZDDP are entirely adequate. The oil won't be in there long enough for synthetics to do you any good.

There is absolutely no proof anywhere that synthetics actually lubricate better than any premium dino oil. No engineering studies, no professional papers that I have seen ...

Since good HDEO's will take pretty high density turbo'd diesels beyond a million miles with hours and hours of high heat and turbos on full boost, I guess they'll take your LS pretty far. Delo, Delvac, Rotella, Mystic, just pick one and have a good time
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My brother's 404-cube LS2 block, LS3 headed 2000 Camaro SS runs VR1 20W50 and the cam is 246/[email protected]" with .638/.621" lift, on a 113*+0 LSA, 11.4:1 compression. He only drives it about 700-1000 miles a year (mostly 1/4 mile at a time
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) and changes it every spring. It idles around 900RPM and has a 4800 stall in the Turbo400. It ran 10.07@137 @ 3850 lbs (full factory interior + 12pt cage + fluffy driver).
 
Originally Posted By: A_Harman
M1 0w40 would do. As long as the engine has a roller cam in it, no need for high zddp oil.
The carb thing would make me want to keep the oil change interval conservative until it can be proven that fuel dilution would not be a problem.


ZDDP is also helpful for cylinder/ring wear issues, pusrod and valve tip wear.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11249-016-0776-6.pdf

Agreed on the frequent OCI's.
 
VR1 for sure. 10W-30 is my pick. And it's cheap enough to dump it twice a year. I have some Royal Purple 10w-30 I bought for $15 a jug. Gonna use it in the Tractor. The only Royal Purple I would consider running in a car with some grunt is XPR, but it's just too expensive compared to better or equivalent options.
 
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