Need Recommendation

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Sep 23, 2003
Messages
66
Location
Virginia
I have a remanufactured engine - 3.0 Vulcan - in my Taurus. I live in VA, and this is a commuter car in city traffic. I put about 300 miles a week on it.

I obviously changed the oil & filter after the first 500 miles, and because there was a small leak & the tech went back & re-sealed my oil pan, I want to change it again after an add'l 500miles just in case there was some residue or something from that. After that, I plan to run this next change, Dino oil, for about 3000 miles & then switch over to synthetic.

I think I've pretty much got the synthetic thing down from these threads, but what would you recommend for dino oil? I have all the usual stores & dealers around here, so I can pretty much get my hands on anything.

What's a good dino oil for this application? What is a good weight to stick with? For the break in & currently it's got 20W50 in it (the mechanic's choice, not mine)
 
The top three conventional motor oils based on VOA and UOA testing presented at this site are probably Pennzoil, Castrol, and Chevron Supreme.
 
I agree with Mystic; if it were me (and I have a Vulcan 3.0) my ordered preferences would be Castrol GTX, Chevron Supreme, Pennzoil.
 
I have a different list. Motorcraft or Havoline/Chevron.
wink.gif
 
Schealer's, Chevron, Pennzoil

But the engine sounds like an ideal synthetic candidate.

You know this, but get that dino 20W-50 out of there before the weather gets any cooler.
 
All - Thanks for the recommendations! I have been a GTX guy for a number of years, but was unsure of it's quality (if that's a good term) considering all the threads about Syntec. I'm glad to hear that does not carry over to their dino stuff.

Pablo - I am glad you mentioned the weight of the oil. When I lived in So Cal & drove a Honda CRX-SI I used to run 20W50 all the time. Now that I'm here in VA, I don't know what is a good oil for this time of year. . . 5W50? 0W20? My gut says 5W30, but that's just because I see that weight mentioned a lot in posts. I have no idea what it really means.
rolleyes.gif
 
Hey Randy,

The 3.0 Vulcan in my Ranger had Havoline 10W30 up to 44000 miles. It had one change with the old Havoline Full Synthetic 10W30 and currently has SuperTech Full Synthetic 10W30. I also drive it 300 miles a week.

I'm here in Houston TX, so our weather is on the hot and humid side. Temperatures below freezing aren't very common. 5W30 and 10W30 have both worked fine in all my cars. Heat is more of a problem than cold around here.

I wish I would have known about UOAs back when I got the truck. Would have been lots of useful info.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Randy:
All - Thanks for the recommendations! I have been a GTX guy for a number of years, but was unsure of it's quality (if that's a good term) considering all the threads about Syntec.

Randy,

I would challenge you to critically assess the Syntec threads and determine for yourself whether they are based on fact or reason or whether they are predominantly undocumented accusations probably stemming from someone who feels offended by the way they believe Castrol has behaved. Unfortunately, the application of an implied "everybody knows that..." is frequently employed by board participants. If they document what they say, then listen; if they don't...then don't.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top