qwiketz

Hi guys. I have a vortech boosted lt4 in my car. What engine oil should I be using for maximum protection? The car is a california car and will never see temps at startup below about 50 degrees. I drained the oil to fix a leak and now it's time to buy some new oil. Since it's synthetic, I only want to do it once since it's expensive. What do you think? What would be ideal for my motor that is going to see a decent amount of time in the mid to upper rpm range and tough commutes in gridlock?

ubnpast

Very nice, would love to drive one. Wonder what its like compared to my stock lt4. Any 1/4 mile times? I think the 5-30 should be used unless someone else thinks different

qwiketz

compared to a stock lt4... night and day. This thing is a beast in the midrange where an lt4 ramps up more gradually.

nope, I just run the 1/8 because I'm out of gear before getting through the quarter. The car is an auto with 3.73's.

mn_vette

I stick with Moble1 on my car. Its the only thing I will ever use for the engine.

I've had my electric water pump die on me several times(wiring) and the car has over heated. The oil kept the parts moving just fine and prevented damage.

qwiketz

how about the weight of the engine oil.. ect?

ubnpast

did you just throw a lt4 in your car? you must have since the lt4s only came with 6spds.

qwiketz

it was the lt4 kit. Check my sig for more details. The car is all afermarket.

Mo_Bandy

I use either amsoil or mobil 1 10- 40

MO

BlowerWorks

To break an engine in I use a straight weight non synthetic SAE 30. After break in I recommend a 20W-50 synthetic for any non stock engine. The reason for the 5W-30 manufacturers recommendation (besides better fuel economy) is start-up. 80 or 90% of engine wear takes place upon start-up on a cold engine - the quicker the oil flows the less wear. However, on a non stock application where you are sometimes doubling the engine output the wear component now becomes the actual power and you NEED a heavier oil like the 20W-50.
If you are going to run the vehicle in a cold climate where the OAT drops below 30 degrees F I recommend you let the engine idle until the coolant temperature reaches 180 degrees F. In all cases I recommend never using WOT until the engine oil comes up to 180 degrees F which may take 10 miles or more of driving. Until the engine oil is fully hot the mechanical components are still growing and not set up.
Best regards, Greg

ztrips

Changing your filter and oil regularly is going to have more of an impact on longevity than the brand of synthetic you use. I would use a quality oil and filter (NO FRAM!!), change every 3k miles or better.

bill mcdonald

I see so many say the fram filter is a POS.

then I watch nelson racing engines screw a fram oil filter on a turbo engine. what gives?

qwiketz

nelson is actually where I picked my headunit up off of. They pulled it off a car that was going twin turbo. Funny that you mention it... But yeah, a fram on their $25,000 motor?... hmm, must not be too bad.