I was wanting to know what oil (brand and weight) the inline guys run? Im in Nor Cal and it gets hot and somewhat cold haha. The engine is all stock at this time. The guy a got it from said 15w-40 and i saw someone else on another thread say 15w-40. Every oil i find 15w-40 is diesel oil. Any thoughts on what to use? I always get good feed back and learn a lot from this forum!! Thanks Shawn
I used to run 20W-40 in my 200, but it needed a rebuild and leaked and burned oil. The only reason I've heard for the higher viscosity oils is to make the full run down the oil channels when the engine is hot and running at high RPMs. The higher weight will make it leak slower if you've got a leak. I ran Castrol GTX with burn protection for high mileage motors at 20w-40 went from putting in a quart every other day to a quart every 2 weeks, and zero oil pressure problems. What oil you run can be pretty motor dependent. If you've got a nice clean refreshed motor 5w-30 should be all you need for sure.
Unless it's using a lot of oil or has oil pressure issues, you don't need a 40w, 5W-30 is fine... With high spring pressures a higher zinc level is recommended but on stock 6cyl springs it isn't necessary... If a 40W is needed, in colder weather I'd use a 5W-40... For synthetics Mobil 1 0W-40 is one the best off the shelf oils there is, and has 1100ppm zinc which is enough for most street driven flat tappet cams...
I thought it was but was not sure so i posted. I might run 10w-40. Anyone have an opinion on synthetic or convectional oil?
i use castrol 20/50, but i have ran delo(15/40) just because it's rated for diesel don't mean it's not ok in a gas rig too,but my motor has 350k miles and i like to see 30 pounds idle pressure warm. but for the wintertime, unless you have a high mileage/high tolerance engine 10w30 will work just fine and likely get slightly better fuel mileage.
The only thing I can say for sure is that you need a higher viscosity because the oil channels run from the front pickup in front of piston 1 and run the whole length of the block to behind piston 6 (or something I'm not a complete gearhead and its been over a year since I was read this). A low viscosity oil thins out too much and generally starves the 5 and 6 cylinders and pistons from getting oil (I do not have a full understanding of this) and causes them to wear out and leak faster which exacerbates the issue. This is also why people like to drill the oil channels on the 6s out so more oil can flow down them, but according to the engineer I talked to a higher viscosity oil, with a higher thermal breakdown has the same effect. So once you know where you want to be on the second portion (40 or 50) you use a chart like found here : http://www.upmpg.com/tech_articles/motoroil_viscosity/ and determine what your initial number needs to be based on factors like average operational temp of the engine, crank rotation, average outside temperature, to come up with what you want. And if your engine leaks you want a higher initial number because it will be thicker at operational temp and leak slower. TL/DR read my above post.
Original recommendations for the 250 in '69(only factory specs I have) below 32*F ....... 5W-30 -10*F to +90*F ..10W-30 or 10W-40 Above 32*F ........20W-40(AFAIK this grade no longer exists which is why many are using 15W-40)... Even with Zinc reduced to around 800PPM, the 5W-30 oils of today are far superior to any of the above and are what I'd use in a fresh or original mostly stock engine with in spec clearances... I consider the statement about #5 & 6 being starved for oil BS, thinner oils actually flow faster and can reach the far extremes of the oiling system faster than thicker grades... Baring a restriction, any loss of flow to those bearings would kill oil pressure in all areas... If there is a restriction, the thinner oils will be able to pass through a small opening more quickly than thicker weights...
Yes, thinner oils flow faster and they run down faster with gravity, so as a natural design the oil level gets lower and lower as you go back in the engine, I'm not certain on this part but I think I remember someone saying the channel gets smaller as well to keep the pressure up. But as the natural design #5 & 6 can get starved for oil. I spent 2 years planning a 300 six build before realizing I just couldn't afford to do what I wanted and went for the 302. Drilling the oil channels is important in a long block.
Uphill, downhill or sideways has very little to do with oil flow when it's being pushed with 30-60PSI or more... Just place your thumb on the end of a garden hose and see if it's easier to hold with it pointed upward or downward... In 44 years of working with different Ford engines, a 6cyl that doesn't oil the rear is a new one on me... May be a problem in a race application turning 7/8K+ RPM, but in a street engine that rarely sees 5K RPM, I'll say it's a non issue... BTW any engine build should have the oil passages cleaned and verified they are drilled properly, not uncommon for the mains to be drilled off center which restricts flow to the bearings, FEs(352-428) were notorious for this issue...
I run 10w-40 on mine. Only to avoid the diesel. Seemed to work fine. I'm putting the same in after the rebuild as well.
Yes it happens in race applications for sure, supposedly it also becomes an issue in a worn out engine. Like I said it was the only reason I had come across for running the higher viscosity oil in the inline engines. Just repeating nonsense I read while researching or experiencing myself. Just like most of us on the board who aren't trying to go out of our way to call bull**** on each other.
I can see the issue in a highly worn engine, but in that case you'd need something like a 50 or 60w just to have enough oil pressure to keep the lifters from clattering... Sill it's going to mostly effect the engine equally... If the majority here are perfectly happy to be fed BS that's fine, but I'll question anything that goes against 44 years of real world experience... If someone told you it was OK to use cooking oil in your engine(which could be done in a absolute emergency) would you just say OK and and head off to the grocery store??? Maybe ask Olive or Canola, Wesson or house brand??? If I'm unsure on something, I'll check references before I post anything... As a FYI, besides cars as a hobby I spent almost 40 years repairing consumer electronics(mostly TV)so know just a little about electrical circuits... Need head gaskets and your factory AM radio repaired??? Assuming parts are avail, no problem(these days it's far cheaper to find a operating unit vs repair), I've repaired alts and starters as well...
