The best oil?

[gbabcock]

Hey - I'm new to the site and semi-new to the z world, and I was just wondering if there is any type of oil and/or filter that tends to work best for L28s (I'm about due for an oil change). I've been going with mobil one 10/30 every 2,500 - but I'm interested in what other people run - thanks

[Arne]

Oil is like politics, religion or sexual orientation - everyone has their own, and discussions of these topics are likely to spawn heated argument, discontent and war. I'm not going to start that here. I've seen it far too often on other sites.

[MikeW]

I've been going with mobil one 10/30 every 2,500 - but I'm interested in what other people run - thanks

I'm with Arne about the religious wars. In my opinion the 2,500 part above is more important than what you use. I'm very skeptical of the claims of some manufacturers about going 10,000 miles with their oil. Sure, the oil itself may still be good by that point - if there's any left that hasn't burned off. We all know that the L-series engines are very reliable for many miles. Plenty of those engines made it to those high numbers on whatever Nissan recommended (Castrol 10W30 or 10W40 as I recall). I'm sure that today's oils are even better than what was available when the cars were new.

[240ZX]

Well said Arne! Just a note gbabcock....your throwing $$$ down the drain if you are changing your Mobil#1 every 2500 miles. With the quaulity of synthetic oils now days, you can easily double the miles before an oil change is necessary. Just my opinion! By the way, Mobil #1 is my choice of oils. I run it in my 240Z, Toyota Prerunner, and my Honda CRF450R....good stuff!!!!

Tom

[TomoHawk]

There's plenty already on this..... do a search of the site!

[John Coffey]

The best oil is the stuff that comes up from the ground as a bubblin' crude when you're out shootin' for some food.

[Arne]

The best oil is the stuff that comes up from the ground as a bubblin' crude when you're out shootin' for some food.

"Oil, that is. Black gold. Texas T."

[zbane]

My thoughts on the oil issue would have more to do with your weather conditions. The manufacturer of the oil is, by neccessity, a matter of personal preference. With you being in Alaska, your weather is much different than ours in the lower 48 (and the rest of the world), so I would think it to be

1. a matter of personal taste

2. weather/climate appropriate.

If you are thinking about using the extended 10,000 mile stuff, just remember one thing-The oil may last that long, but your filter wasn't designed to.

[gbabcock]

Thanks all - this is a great forum

[Carl Beck]

Hey - I'm new to the site and semi-new to the z world, and I was just wondering if there is any type of oil and/or filter that tends to work best for L28s (I'm about due for an oil change). I've been going with mobil one 10/30 every 2,500 - but I'm interested in what other people run - thanks

Hi Neil:

For the most part, natural nor synthetic lubricants don't really "wear out" when used in your engine (that's one reason they can be reprocesses and reused). What mainly happens is they become "saturated" with containments. Dust particles from the atmosphere drawn in through the intake, gasoline washed off cylinder walls, carbon particles from the combustion process, as well as other caustic chemicals etc.

So which oil is best and how often you change it and the filter - depends a lot on your use of the car, how clean you keep the intake air, having your carb.'s properly tuned and feeding the correct A/F mix to the engine, the condition and performance of the ignition system etc. etc. etc.

Mike mentioned the fact that todays oils are most likely better than when the Z's were new... and I don't think there is much doubt of that. The question is "better in what regard"?. They are far better in their ability to suspend, and surround the above mentioned particles of the containments. This keeps these containments from attaching themselves to the internal parts of your engine (ie varnish, sludge etc), as well as providing greater capacity to suspend them, without diluting the lubricant to the point of ineffectiveness.

For examle: Lets say that I keep my stock 72 240-Z in tip-top shape... the air here in Florida is among the cleanest in America. The car is used 99% for freeway and highway driving with very little in town use. I use OEM Oil Filters... with Mobile 1 - so 6,000 mile oil & Filter changes are all that's needed. I peeked inside the engine at 70K miles... everything is as brand new. Dropped the oil pan, and not a hint of sludge build up. NONE AT ALL.

Back in the 80's I ran Castol Oil in my other 72 and changed it every 3K miles.. dropped the pan at 35K miles and the sludge buildup was unbelievable.. 1/4 inch of crud hardened in the bottom of the pan! Then I switched to running Valvolene Racing Oil... far less sludge in the pan at 80K miles... but still a bit... Mobile 1 leaves the pan and entire engine clean as a pin.

The main reason I now run Mobil 1 is that it drops normal engine operating temperatures by 10-15 degrees F. Heat is always a major factor here in sunny Florida... As these L series engines age.. and they are now at least 33 years old (the L24's anyway)... the cooling passages inside the cast iron blocks build up calcium/rust etc.. this makes heat transfer from the block to the coolant less efficient.. and changing to Mobil 1 simply allows less friction to begin with which helps off-set the effects of the aging block...

So the bottom line is - what's best for you depends on a lot of factors that you'll have to consider ... If you don't have an over heating problem, and you have clean air and air filters... your Z in in Fine Tune... you are most likely wasting some money on Mobil 1 changes at 2,500 miles. If your car is always running rich mixtures, the choke is on 50% of the time to warm the car up, your car needs tuning.... maybe 2,500 mile natural oil changes are what's needed...

BTW - since 1970 I've seen what must be over a hundred L series engines torn down. Almost regardless of the amount of sludge and varnish in these engines - the rings and bearings seem to last way past 250K miles before they actually wear out. On high mileage engines, which have not had the best of care - it's the cam and rockers that go south first.. So keeping the lubricant passages that feed oil to the valve train is most likely the key to long engine life...

FWIW,

Carl B.

[zman525]

anyone use synthetic? i was doing an oil change on mine not to long ago and i was quite sure what to buy for a fairly high milaged Z. the person behind the counter reccomended to run a synthetic blend for like 2 oil changes then go to full synthetic. is this correct and is synthetic good/bad to use? sorry for jackin the thread if i did but i was curious. theres so many damn oil types nowadays its overwhelming.

[MikeW]

anyone use synthetic?

Have you seen Mobil 1 mentioned any in this thread?