My Ranchero/Falcon with a 302 (unknown year) I am using Valvolene HDEO 15/40 in it, but then it is always in the garage that never gets below freezing, and is usually well warmed up when driven. Also, at the present time a Napa gold filter
Engine oil for 1960's cars
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I'd run 10W-40 Maxlife red bottle syn-blend. Good add package. Good oil in its own right. Something like Valvoline VR-1 "lite". 10W is good to below freezing and you will prolly not be going out then ...
1960's cars/engines lived a long time on the VII high percentage multi-vis oils from back in the day and they were nothing special. It'll run well and long on good modern oil. If you want a good candidate that is not Maxlife, I'd prolly go with Kendall "green" oil in a similar grade
You could go crazy here with Red Line, or AmsOil or something ... But those engines just do not need it. Now a full built 273HP 289 might want something a bit better, but prolly not. Once you get outside Ford Performance spec parts, maybe then you step up the game with an oil off the Porsche A40 list ...
1960's cars/engines lived a long time on the VII high percentage multi-vis oils from back in the day and they were nothing special. It'll run well and long on good modern oil. If you want a good candidate that is not Maxlife, I'd prolly go with Kendall "green" oil in a similar grade
You could go crazy here with Red Line, or AmsOil or something ... But those engines just do not need it. Now a full built 273HP 289 might want something a bit better, but prolly not. Once you get outside Ford Performance spec parts, maybe then you step up the game with an oil off the Porsche A40 list ...
10W30 Maxlife Synblend or PYB 10W30
Originally Posted By: Building3
So I am trying to rid the engine of the sludge. It runs fine, no smoke, and plenty of power. Lots of opinions but it seems like Rotella synthetic
If sludge detergency is the main goal use the Rotella 15w-40 or syn blend 10w-30, both have 2000+ ppm calcium levels.
Rotella 5w-40 is good oil but with calcium levels below1000ppm.
So I am trying to rid the engine of the sludge. It runs fine, no smoke, and plenty of power. Lots of opinions but it seems like Rotella synthetic
If sludge detergency is the main goal use the Rotella 15w-40 or syn blend 10w-30, both have 2000+ ppm calcium levels.
Rotella 5w-40 is good oil but with calcium levels below1000ppm.
So it seems like I can't go wrong with Rotella, Valvoline VR1 or Valvoline Max Life. One further question, there seems to be a so called "common wisdom" in the collector car world that you should not use synthetic oils in older cars because it will cause the engine to leak for a variety of reasons. No one here mentioned that. So I should file that under "old wives tales" and move on?
Originally Posted By: Building3
So it seems like I can't go wrong with Rotella, Valvoline VR1 or Valvoline Max Life. One further question, there seems to be a so called "common wisdom" in the collector car world that you should not use synthetic oils in older cars because it will cause the engine to leak for a variety of reasons. No one here mentioned that. So I should file that under "old wives tales" and move on?
There is some truth to it, synthetic oils are very good at cleaning, so often they might dissolve the "gunk" that has built up on the cooler parts of the crankcase like around seals and gaskets, and then you might get an oil leak, you say your engine has sludge, so i wouldn't use a full synthetic oil for now.
Take the rocker covers off and post a few picture on here so we can evaluate how much sludge it has.
What you should definetly NOT do is an engine flush, i know a person who did an engine flush on an engine which had some sludge and it basically dislodged all that sludge and it went straight into the oil pump pickup tube, blocked the screen, lost oil pressure, and the engine was toast and needed a full rebuild, thankfully he caught it early, otherwise the engine would have to have been junked completely.
So it seems like I can't go wrong with Rotella, Valvoline VR1 or Valvoline Max Life. One further question, there seems to be a so called "common wisdom" in the collector car world that you should not use synthetic oils in older cars because it will cause the engine to leak for a variety of reasons. No one here mentioned that. So I should file that under "old wives tales" and move on?
There is some truth to it, synthetic oils are very good at cleaning, so often they might dissolve the "gunk" that has built up on the cooler parts of the crankcase like around seals and gaskets, and then you might get an oil leak, you say your engine has sludge, so i wouldn't use a full synthetic oil for now.
Take the rocker covers off and post a few picture on here so we can evaluate how much sludge it has.
What you should definetly NOT do is an engine flush, i know a person who did an engine flush on an engine which had some sludge and it basically dislodged all that sludge and it went straight into the oil pump pickup tube, blocked the screen, lost oil pressure, and the engine was toast and needed a full rebuild, thankfully he caught it early, otherwise the engine would have to have been junked completely.
I have already cleaned the valve cover area and the oil pan, so those areas are clean. However I was surprised by the amount of sludge. Given that the car was pristine in paint, interior and drive quality I was expecting a very clean oil pan and valve cover area. That was not the case so I suspect that the 50 years of trips were of short duration and the oil change intervals infrequent and the oil used not to be the best. That engine would benefit from the higher detergent being that it is original and 50+ years old with unknown maintenance and not optimal driving conditions; that is many short trips without a full warm-up of the engine.
The rebuilt engine I have no issues with using synthetic since it has modern gasket and seal material and is nice and clean. I just want to keep it that way.
The rebuilt engine I have no issues with using synthetic since it has modern gasket and seal material and is nice and clean. I just want to keep it that way.
The Buick gets 10w-30 of various flavors though I have mostly used Quaker state Defy with no problems.
The rear main seal has finally taken a dump on me and leaks like a sieve until the pan drains down to about 3 qts then stops.
The rear main seal has finally taken a dump on me and leaks like a sieve until the pan drains down to about 3 qts then stops.
Originally Posted By: Building3
So it seems like I can't go wrong with Rotella, Valvoline VR1 or Valvoline Max Life.
The Valvoline Max Life is nothing special, just a tad more additives than the average SN grade semi-syn PCMO.
So it seems like I can't go wrong with Rotella, Valvoline VR1 or Valvoline Max Life.
The Valvoline Max Life is nothing special, just a tad more additives than the average SN grade semi-syn PCMO.
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Well ... another popularity contest underway - T6 never left out. Yeah, good news is your mill can run most of the Walmart sourced premium conventional and GIII Synthetic lubes based on OCI plans. Don't hurt to get under that vintage often ... so spin the plug & filter a bit more if on good Dino ...
Originally Posted By: Rock_Hudstone
Originally Posted By: Building3
So it seems like I can't go wrong with Rotella, Valvoline VR1 or Valvoline Max Life.
The Valvoline Max Life is nothing special, just a tad more additives than the average SN grade semi-syn PCMO.
Maxlife is nothing outstanding, but it does work well in the engines it's designed for, high mileage engines, so it wouldn't be a bad pick certainly for that Mustang.
Originally Posted By: Building3
So it seems like I can't go wrong with Rotella, Valvoline VR1 or Valvoline Max Life.
The Valvoline Max Life is nothing special, just a tad more additives than the average SN grade semi-syn PCMO.
Maxlife is nothing outstanding, but it does work well in the engines it's designed for, high mileage engines, so it wouldn't be a bad pick certainly for that Mustang.
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