What grade of Oil do you use?

[Frogware]

I finally got my other Reatta out of storage and am doing some normal maintenance on it.

 

I am pretty close to the mileage of changing the oil and I was wondering if I should change the type of oil I am using or stick with the recommended weight?

 

What do ya'll think, I really like Royal Purple and have had great results with it on my other vehicles and have a supply of 10W-40 & 10W-30?

 

Anyway what do you all suggest and use, especially Dave since you have a practically new Motor.

 

Thanks!

 

Scott

[DAVES89]

I use 10w30 and I use Dino oil. Whatever is on sale. I drive my cars on a regular basis and change oil at 3000 miles.

[2seater]

Dave would have a good handle on what works long term :) Of course lots of miles with a warm engine is easiest on the oil, and the engine for that matter. It would seem the 10w-xx is a little thick with the tight bearing clearances on this engine but I know it is acceptable in the manual, unless way sub-zero.

 

I have gone the other way using 0w-xx in all my vehicles. If you think about when oil is thickest, it's when cold, and bearing clearance is at its tightest. JMHO

[DAVES89]

I just use the same weight oil that I used when I first started driving. And being a bit on the "cheap" side because I drive so much I do like to change the oil often which is why I buy cheap oil [and filters]. It also gets me under my hood/car more often so I can see what else might need attention.

But I am not the authority, I would listen to what 2seater or Ronnie have to say.

[Frogware]

Thanks Dave & 2seater for the very good points.

 

Dave, when I first changed oil I too would use 30W, my dad would alternate between 30 & 40 depending upon the season, because of how the cold would affect it and like you said 2seater upon startups.

 

Dave I also like your thinking about getting under the car more often to see what else may need your attention.

[Ronnie]

Me and Dave are opposites on oil. I've been a Castrol GTX man for over 30 years and I think it's worth the extra money. I don't use anything else in my cars unless it calls for synthetic. Then I use Castrol Edge. I always change the filter when I change oil.

 

I run 10w30 in my Reatta and add a half bottle of Lucus oil treatment. I use Lucus for two reasons.

1.) Because almost all my driving is in hot weather and a lot of stop and go traffic. I rarely drive on interstate highways.

2.) My friend, who has never worked anywhere but his father's engine shop (his now), recommends it in high mileage engines.  If Doug uses it and recommends it then that's good enough for me.  He doesn't recommend using Lucus with synthetic oil.

 

I change oil and filter in my Reatta once a year because I don't put many miles on it. I average less then 3000 miles per year. I use to change the 10w30 GTX in my '99 S10 Blazer every 3000 miles when I was driving 40 miles one way to work but now I have moved up to every 5000 miles. I'm getting lazy now that I'm retired. :)

 

Now, here's an interesting story. I knew a chemist years ago who worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He bought a 1967 Barracuda with a slant six engine brand new. He put well over 200,000 miles on it and NEVER changed the oil and never had any engine problems. He changed the filter every 2000 miles and put his own concoction of additives in the oil. He said he intended to patent the additives he was putting in the engine but he died of lung cancer shortly after he sold the Barracuda....

[2seater]

This is one of those subjects that will likely have many, many opinions. Generally I am a believer in using whatever you have had good luck with. Dave's usage is far different from mine, and it sounds like Ronnie's too. My Subaru spec's 0w-20 and the others, a Ford, Chrysler and my Buick all spec 5w-30. Since I turbocharged the Reatta, I switched to synthetic, as it plays better with the turbo heat. After reading articles by Bob the Oil Guy, I decided to try 0w-30 in my Ford Ranger 4x4 as it is pretty much a winter only and when I was last employed, it sat in a very exposed parking lot during the worst of the winter weather and I found improved starting ability, ditto for my old PT Cruiser, which has a tiny battery and needs lots of help in cold weather. It is easier to stock only one, or at most two, types of oil, so now those three get the same. In the interest of full disclosure, I did notice possibly higher oil usage in the PT, but no change in the Ford or Buick. Just for reference, the factory bearing clearance is pretty tight, much like a modern engine. When I put the last one together, the mains were at .0013" and the rods at .0015"

[Ronnie]

This is one of those subjects that will likely have many, many opinions. Generally I am a believer in using whatever you have had good luck with. Dave's usage is far different from mine, and it sounds like Ronnie's too.

 

I agree. Most modern oils are probably good. Some people like additives, some don't. Whatever you do that gives you the most confidence is the best way to go.

[Frogware]

I knew there would be a bunch of different opinions and that is what I was counting on...plus I like to hear the stories (Ronnie) thank you for the input I will take all of it into consideration.

 

As a side note I used Q**State for a few years then for the past 25 or so I have been using Castrol in my daily drivers, I was just fishing to see if any of you were using something special. ;)

[Ronnie]

On a similar subject... I was at Lowes looking at a power washer a couple of weeks ago and I noticed that the new Briggs & Stratton engines on them are now built to NEVER have the oil changed. I thought the tag on the motor was a misprint so I asked the Lowes guy about it and he confirmed that you never change oil "OVER THE LIFE OF THE ENGINE" but you do have to add oil. He said the engine would shut down if you run it low on oil. The engine has a 2 year warranty so I guess that is what they consider the "LIFE OF THE ENGINE". :huh:

 

Maybe C.J. Wright, the owner of the Barracuda, was way ahead of his time. :)