383 Stroker with German Castrol 0w-30?

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Put in a 383 stroker in my 97 Silverado during the summer, and started its life on mobil 5w-30 (non synthetic) oil. I am very new to this board, and do not know a whole lot about oil. Sooo

1.) Was the Mobil 5w-30 a decent break in engine oil, or was it a bad one?


2.) I 've just switched over to synthetic oil and..... (upon hearing rave reviews from this board, and awesome oil analysis) put in the German Castrol Syntec 0w-30 with K&N oil filter today. The Mobil 5w-30 is going to Blackstone Labs. for analysis to get checked out.

So what do you guys think of what I've done? Good or Bad? I heard of this board through LS1tech.com and am very excited to learn more about the life-blood of our engines!!!!!
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[ November 02, 2003, 01:43 AM: Message edited by: Silverado ]
 
The dyno oil was a good choice for break in. From what I read here the GC 0W30 is very good stuff. They have me tempted to try it.


BTW:
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I think GC with a K&N oil filter is a great match in a small block Chevy engine, based on my excellent results using this combo in my hard driven LT1 Firebird.
 
To truly compare M1 to GC, you need to compare the 0w30 M1 to it. And it's safe to say that 0w30 M1 isn't exactly the most consistent oil in UOAs.

GC may not have a lot of UOAs on here so far, but it has yet to post a bad showing.
 
M1 is a great oil and I don't think GC is any better to be honest. GC is hard to find. It is showing good results but it's hard to find. M1 is now thicker from what we have been seeing and should be a better fit with large and small block V8's.
 
With a 383 I'd lean toward a 0W40 or 5W40 because of the higher rod and main bearing speeds with the large journal and longer stroke.
Who built the engine, or is it a GM performance piece?
Make sure that the high performance oil pump was used and not the low volume one.
I trust the cam is a hyd roller, making the high skuff areas limited to the rockers and pushrods.
If the valvetrain is heavly loaded I'd go to an HDMO with the better AW package.
Rod angles are also bad on 383s which put extra side loading on the pistons.
An 0W30 might not cut it when the weather gets hot with your foot in it.
A Fram PH373 or equiv will add 1/2 qt capacity to your engine.
A 6 qt pan would have been a nice addition.
 
quote:

Originally posted by userfriendly:
With a 383 I'd lean toward a 0W40 or 5W40 because of the higher rod and main bearing speeds with the large journal and longer stroke.

An 0W30 might not cut it when the weather gets hot with your foot in it.


But if GC 0w30 starts at 12.2cst and stays pretty close to there, wouldn't you agree it's better than using a 5w40 or 0w40 which might thin out to a thinner viscosity than 12.2?
 
Patman, You started your sentence with "but if"
and ended it with "might".
Now lets "assume" that "perhaps" it is "likely" Castrol 0W30
"could" stay in grade longer than some of the other XXW30 engine oils.
What is the down side of using a quality XXw40 synthetic in Baskersfield California other than "perhaps" a 1% or 2% change either way in fuel efficiency?
In my "opinion" there is a heap of difference between a cost effective come-department-store consumer synthetic oil that good ol' M-1 has lowered itself to, it "seems", and Mobil's own Delvac-1 CI-4 that costs 50% more.
Any CI-4 engine oil had better not thin out of grade, or the oil company responsible could be in a heap o'trouble with the API.
What does the 12.2 cSt@100C have to do with anything if you don't know what temperature the engine oil is operating at in the first place?

[ November 03, 2003, 06:19 PM: Message edited by: userfriendly ]
 
quote:

In my "opinion" there is a heap of difference between a cost effective come-department-store consumer synthetic oil that good ol' M-1 has lowered itself to, it "seems", and Mobil's own Delvac-1 CI-4 that costs 50% more.

userfriendly , what specifically are you saying by "it seems"? Mobil 1 is a fully API certified fully synthetic oil that has shown excellent results. Please show us how Mobil 1 has "lowered itself" to with full details.
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Patman, I take back what I said. GC is a better oil then M1 0w-30. I have a habit as always thinking of 10w-30 when refering to M1. M1 0w-30 is not impressive at all.

IMO, and Patman has been saying this for awhile, a thick 30wt oil around 11cSt + oil that borders more towards a 40wt. is the most ideal oil for most V8's like the LS1 and 4.0L Jeep engine. I like to follow the general idea of using the thinest viscosity you can but maintaining the best protection. The range of lets say 11 to 12.2 cSt seems idea to obtain a A3 rated oil and HT/HS of 3.5>. I would take an oil in this range for a V8 over a 40wt bc flow would be better with the thicker 30wt. However, it all really depends on the quality of the oils you are comparing and the additive packages they contain. A 0w-40 will thin out in most cases and most brands as it's a huge spread to cover. Even the most shear stable VII's will shear under stressful conditions. I personally like the 5w-20, 5w-30, 10w-30 range of oils. GC seesm very shear stable and very impressive so far.

[ November 03, 2003, 06:50 PM: Message edited by: buster ]
 
Buster; Very good, but when a post is wrapped in vague discription, inuendo, likelys, probablys, seems, opinions and so on, it needs no qualifications.
Its interesting that you suddenly embrace the API and their certification process, and judge the oil on its credentials instead of board opinion, and inuendo.
Now lets look at the marketing aspect of M-1.
I've seen the stuff on sale at XYZ for $4.00/L CDN$ which translates to about $2.80 USD/qt.
I would expect that retailer XYZ to be making at least 35% profit to cover employee expenses and so fourth.
That brings the in the door price to about $2.00 US per qt.
M-1 can be purchased for that price in labeled packages, boxed and shipped once to the warehouse and once to the store, unpacked and put onto the shelf one at a time.
What would be the real cost of M-1 if you drove up to their refinery with a tanker truck and said "fill 'er up"?
A buck a quart?
Now, do you think you are going to get a single cut PAO/ester blend for a buck a quart in bulk?

[ November 03, 2003, 07:07 PM: Message edited by: userfriendly ]
 
quote:

Its interesting that you suddenly embrace the API and their certification process, and judge the oil on its credentials instead of board opinion, and inuendo.

userfriendly,lets look at the facts here and maybe make some assumptions being you or I don't really know what is really true.

First of all, Mobil 1 is factory filled in many cars and owns 63% of the market. For this reason, Mobil 1 has to be fully API certified. I for one, would rather it not be and take more after the Amsoil approach. I'd rather have more ZDDP then what the API allows. So lets get that one straight. It does however show great results and for most driving conditions in the US that are regulated with speed limits, to be perfectly fine. Corvettes as far as I know don't have engine failures do to Mobil 1 not having enough ZDDP. In fact those cars are good for 200+K miles with M1 5w-30.

Second, used oil analysis has shown on this website that Mobil 1 SS is a very good oil for most cars, NOT ALL. It is a fully PAO + V ester based oil. I've emailed them and that is what they have told me. Economies of Scale suggest that the more ExxonMobil produces, the cheaper they can make it and sell it in the long run. Amsoil buys tons of PAO from ExxonMobil and is probably paying more for it. I believe that for the money, Mobil 1 is an excellent oil. Tooslick has said this before, and it really comes down to common sense in that there is only so much chemistry you can package in a bottle and sell it for $4.50 to $5.00qt which is what Mobil 1 goes for in the US. If they were to make a polyester based oil or add more esters like S2k, then YES it would cost about $7qt. I still believe they could sell it cheaper if they did bc they manufacture the materials. It's simple economics.

As far as the "it seems" blah blah blah...it's a forum where people exchange thoughts and ideas. The only factual information we find on this board comes from Used Oil Analysis or a companies Product Data Sheet. The whole "Mobil 1 makes my car sound like sh$t and my car is now 100Hp faster bc I use GC" is just opinion that is not based on any real fact and it then comes down to whether you want to believe that person.

[ November 03, 2003, 07:52 PM: Message edited by: buster ]
 
Silverado, here is my take on it! I doubt that you will ever be able to do extended drains on your stroker. So in warm weather I would a 15W40 like Delo,Delvac1300 or Pensoil Longlife.

If you have cooler weather like a winter were you live and will be driveing the 383 under cold conditons I would use a 10W30 Synthetic like M1,Redline etc. German castrol does not have enough additives AW/EP for me to ever recomend it for a 383.
 
quote:

German castrol does not have enough additives AW/EP for me to ever recomend it for a 383.

Are you sure about that? Whatever they use could be undetectible in a typical UOA (if they're using antimony for instance) and some of the credit could go to it's base oil too. It's hard to argue with the great results I saw in my LT1 under hard driving, and his 383 is pretty similar in design to my 350 LT1.
 
I think like Delvac 1, other things are used instead of moly as EP additives. GC works well so something is in it that is doing the job. The only thing I hate about GC is the company that makes it and trouble you have to go through to get it. It's the best 0w-30 on the market at this point and a great buy.
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I find it interesting that most people would recomend XXw30 for a 350 in most any climate, but as soon as the words stroker or 383 appears many peoples opinions change to XXw40 oils. I don't think the minor .27 difference in stroke should necisarily dictate a heavier oil, or that there's any reason why the 383 would be any less capable of extended drains. I'd probably use 10w30 M1 myself, come to think of it I do. I'm still not there with the 0wXX concept, but I'm listening.
 
Buster;
Locomotive engines use an oil that does not contain zink, moly or chlorinated products and last for 50,000+ hours.
Copmpressor, I would never recommend an XXW30 engine oil for someone living in So-cal.
Without more information, everything posted here is educated guess work, not-so-informed opinions, and/or BS.
Unless the maximum operating temperature of an engine oil is known, then one better stay on the heavy side of the viscosity scale.
Anything less is folly.

[ November 04, 2003, 10:13 PM: Message edited by: userfriendly ]
 
quote:

Originally posted by userfriendly:
Buster;
Locomotive engines use an oil that does not contain zink, moly or chlorinated products and last for 50,000+ hours.
Copmpressor, I would never recommend an XXW30 engine oil for someone living in So-cal.
Without more information, everything posted here is educated guess work, not-so-informed opinions, and/or BS.
Unless the maximum operating temperature of an engine oil is known, then one better stay on the heavy side of the viscosity scale.
Anything less is folly.


Bakersfeild is in North Cal, which was 57 degrees today and will be around 40 tonight. I still think 10w30 would be the way to go with current conditions, a XXw40 for summer might not be a bad idea at all, especially if the truck see's much hauling. Silverado did ask for opinions based on what he presented.

[ November 04, 2003, 11:00 PM: Message edited by: Kompressor ]
 
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