Valvoline tech guy confused?

[gunny1]

I called Valvoline. Was chatting with the tech guy about their MaxLife specs. I asked him about mixing the MaxLife synthetic blend 10W30 and 10W40 to thin the 10W40 down some. I was thinking about going three quarts 10/30 and two quarts 10/40. The tech guy says the oil would still thicken to 40 weight no matter. Is he right? Or would the mix be approximately 10W35 when mixed, thickening up no more than 35? My reasoning is that the 10W30 MaxLife might be too thin for a 1970 Mopar big block engine with a flat tappet cam. Comments will be most appreciated.

 

[Johnny]

I guess my first question would be why would you want to thin the 10W40 down. In a 70's big block I would just use the 10W40.

 

[TallPaul]

His words are confused, but depending on the proportions, you will get either a thicker 10w30 or a thinner 10w40.

 

[TallPaul]

If you have the new label Maxlife, produced after this Feb, it is 11.5 and 15.3 cSt. Your 3qt/2at mix will be approx 12.9 cSt, a thin 10w40.

30 wt 9.3 to 40 wt 12.5 to
The older Maxlife is 10.7 and 13.9 cSt, so your 3:2 mix would come out to about 11.9 cSt, or a thick 10w30.

 

[Merkava_4]

gunny1,

Tell me the sump capacity and the thickness at 100C you want, and I can tell you EXACTLY how to mix it.

 

[gunny1]

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I guess my first question would be why would you want to thin the 10W40 down. In a 70's big block I would just use the 10W40.

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Because to me MaxLife 10-W40 at 15.3 cSt is rather thick. I was thinking 13 cSt would be much better. Question to you: Why would you go with 10W40 in an engine like mine?

 

[gunny1]

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If you have the new label Maxlife, produced after this Feb, it is 11.5 and 15.3 cSt. Your 3qt/2at mix will be approx 12.9 cSt, a thin 10w40.

30 wt 9.3 to 40 wt 12.5 to
The older Maxlife is 10.7 and 13.9 cSt, so your 3:2 mix would come out to about 11.9 cSt, or a thick 10w30.

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How can I tell what date the oil was made? 12.9 cSt would be what I'm after.

 

[gunny1]

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gunny1,

Tell me the sump capacity and the thickness at 100C you want, and I can tell you EXACTLY how to mix it.

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13 cSt would be good. I have a 5 qt oil pan.

 

[Johnny]

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I guess my first question would be why would you want to thin the 10W40 down. In a 70's big block I would just use the 10W40.

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Because to me MaxLife 10-W40 at 15.3 cSt is rather thick. I was thinking 13 cSt would be much better. Question to you: Why would you go with 10W40 in an engine like mine?

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70 Mopar big block, flat tappet cam. I assume this is not a grocery getter. I would want all the protection I could get and I doubt the 10W40 will reach the 15.2 cSt. More like 13.5-14.0 cSt.

 

[Blue99]

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gunny1,

Tell me the sump capacity and the thickness at 100C you want, and I can tell you EXACTLY how to mix it.

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I think TallPaul provided that information in his post above. And notice he used the term approximately rather than exactly.

The online viscosity calculators are only an approximation when "dumbbell" blending is involved of additized formulations with VI improvers.

Only an actual 100C test can determine the "exact" blended viscosity when VI improvers are involved.

 

[gunny1]

Thank you Johnny, that's the kind of response that helps me. I do want good protection, without over doing it. You're right about the grocery getter. The engine isn't a racer, but it's been "built" some. Running about 365 HP for a 383ci Mopar.

 

[Drew99GT]

With a flat tappet cam, I'd consider moving to an oil with more zinc to protect the valvetrain. A HDEO 10w-30 in the new CJ-4 spec would be ideal, such as Shell Rotella. Might have to look in the phone book for an oil jobber; 10w-30 HDEOs are hard to find. You could also use 15w-40 Rotella and mix in a quart of 10w-30 to thin it down a hair. Or, all 15w-40 would work great too!

 

[TallPaul]

If you want more ZDDP you could SLOB it. Some Big Lots may still have some CD-2 Street Legal High Performance Oil Boost, which they were selling for 1 to 2 bucks a pint. Has around 4800 ppm zinc and phosphorus (VOA on this site).

The new, thicker Maxlife is listed on a product info sheer at valvoline.com as effective 2-14-07. That particular date would show on the back of the bottle as code:

B147... (I forgot the rest, but there maybe a letter or something, but the first 4 places are month (letter), day, and year.

I know folks don't like Citgo, but as an example, I called Citgo last summer and was told the Citgo Ultralife oil has 1150 zinc and 1050 phos. Some other HM oils may be similar, but not Maxlife. Maxlife is around 800 ppm, but does have 300 ppm moly.

 

[Johnny]

As for as that goes, use the Maxlife 10W30 and pour in a bottle of the Valvoline VSOT (or whatever it's called). It has lots of extra additives and will thicken up your 10W30.

 

[Johnny]

Here is another oil that just might be the ticket for you, Shell Rotella T Synthetic 5W40. It has all the additives you could want, it's very shear stable, and you can buy it at Wal-Mart at a reasonable price. It is Shell's XHVI Group III synthetic so it won't mess with you seals or anything.

 

[TallPaul]

What Johnny said. VSOT is great stuff. Will thicken your oil about 2 to 2.5 cSt for a whole 15 oz bottle. Use 2/3 bottle if the newer, thicker Maxlife. Vsot as I recall has about 1700 ppm zinc, has moly, and a bunch of other goodies. In fact, I have Maxlife Synthetic and a bottle of Vsot in the Aerostar 3.0 right now.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

While I love the Maxlife's performance; got to tell you, if that was my ride, it would be getting the Rotella synthetic 5w-40 without a doubt.

It is around 14-15 cSt, IIRC, but I'm running it in two 3.2L V6 Isuzu OHC engines; and my Mom's 325E BMW V6 engine with excellent results in terms of having the same power/gas mileage versus the use of a regular 10w-30 oil.

The Rotella also already has excellent levels of ZDDP, so there's no having to add oil additives.

If my parents still had their '71 & '72 Dodge Challanger's, you'd bet this oil would be in them!

For an engine designed around the '70's era, I would for sure find an oil with the highest amounts of ZDDP within the base oil itself.

 

[gunny1]

Thank you all sooooo much. Now I have some great advise to go on. With your comments I'll be able to run some good zinc filled oil.

 

[gunny1]

By the way, what does SLOB mean?

 

[Patman]

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By the way, what does SLOB mean?

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CD-2's Street Legal High Performance Oil Boost