snorkelface

I know there was a "which oil do you use" thread a couple of months ago, but I wanted to inquire about this oil specifically.

Once I'm done using the dino oil to break in the motor, I'm trying to decide what route to go permanently. This is the oil specified for our BMW M series cars.

The motor combo is what it listed below with a 9:1 CR and 15lbs of boost. I put together a pricey motor and am willing to spend a little more on the oil (This stuff is just over $9/qt my cost through my parts department) if it means more protection for the engine.

Would the 60 weight be too much for when the engine is warm, or is that going to be a benefit with FI? Anyone know anything else about this oil? It is German-manufactured Castrol.

mkent

I remember reading in Corky Bell's book "Maximum Boost" that he recommends against running oils with larger splits in the hot/cold viscosity ratings, (ie, he suggests a 10w-30 over a 20w-50) More specifically, he recommends a straight weight and of course synthetic is the best with a turbo due to its stronger ability to not break down under extreme heat.
Unfortunately, I don't have the book with me to tell you WHY he recommends against the 20w-50's and 10W-60's.

snorkelface

That sounds pretty interesting. I'll have to do some research on that.

Normally I use Royal Purple, but I've heard that the German-made Castrol is great stuff. I wasn't sure which viscosity would be best for a turbo application.

joe-96z1le

A wider split in viscosity is undesireable in dino oil since the viscocity enhancers added to achieve a 10W-40 result in less of the good stuff. Thus, a 10W-30 will have more of the necessary lubricants than a 10W-40. However, as I understand it, this is not an issue with synthetic oil.

mkent

I see you have a built motor...so remember your bearing tolerances are likely not as tight as the factory tolerance. I ran the german Castrol in my cam only LT1 for about 30k miles. Honestly, this is the only motor I've pulled apart, so my opinion is not an experienced opinion, but the aftermarket cam ended up coming out with a few scratches on the lobes and cam bearings which were deeper than any I found on the stock 85k mile cam.

I personally am still breaking in on Castrol HD-30 right now. However, once break-in period is over, I will be switching to a full synthetic...likely a 10w30.
I've never done an oil analysis, so I don't know if any synthetic is better than another. However, I'm willing to bet the big names like Pennzoil, Castrol, Valvoline, Kendall and Mobile full synthetics all perform about the same.

z96

My engine was built by Golen Engine (chad is the man) its a 383 built for boost but still havent install the charger yet. But he reccomended using 20-50 on my engine

snorkelface

I've been looking at the Redline 20W-50 as well. It's really too bad there is no actual quantifiable way to determine which oil would be best.

Lisa33

Have run Castrol rs10-60 since 2004 without trouble.

snorkelface

That's a good endorsement right there.

Did you find the the extra weight held up to the heat that the boost creating? How did the oil look come change time?

Lisa33

Never have had any problems widh oil pressure widh the 10-60, i normally change oil after aprox 30 1/4 runs and the oil looks just fine then.

Have done a test widh penzoil 20-50 earlier (got it fr free), after 6-8 1/4 runs i had lost 15-20psi of oilpressure at idle (hot engine)

After the new bigger oilpan and its a race only engine now i have mixed the castrol 10-60 widh a 5-30 mobil, oil temp is never over 170F now, earlier it wasnt unusally to se up to 230F.

DirtyDaveW

I run the Brad Penn Oil with all the zinc, etc, lubricity enhancers. It is a blended oil (half Synth, half dino) but the important thing is that is has many of the 'extras' that the government has had manufacturers remove because of catalytic converter issues or perceived pollution issues. The experts say that you're better off running the Motorcycle oils and some of the diesel oils because they too still are allowed to carry the specific properties automotive oils used to carry. More valvetrain failures are being mentioned now because of the unannounced switch to what amounts to an inferior quality oil. Go to Google, type in "Brad Penn oil zinc failures" (without the quotes of course) and see what you find. I fully believe that's what caused my first 355's oil pump drive to wear down the teeth completely and ruin that 3 year old motor. I've seen plenty of shorn pump drives at a local repair shop.

Other guys are just adding GM break in lube to their oil change regimen to retain the same caliber of protection we used to be able to take for granted.

snorkelface

Okay, gotta ask; why are you now mixing the two oils?

I looked at the Brad Penn oil as well and am considering it. I'm wondering why they do a synthetic blend only and not full synthetic. There's a lot of reading to do on that site. Do they mention that somewhere?

DirtyDaveW

I know that David Vizard was the first to advance the idea (that I'd read) that during his extensive testing you could get the same oil performance from a half and half Synth/Dino as you could from pure synth. This allows the user to get all the peformance but for a lower price. If you are unaware of whom David Vizard is, once again, I'd suggest a google search of "David Vizard small block chevy". Before I'd seen his name in a post years ago, I'd never heard of him.

snorkelface

I'll have to give that a look-see as well.