L98 high-mileage oil

[WreckWren]

Reality is we don’t have “very cold starts” in Australia, not like its minus 20 here like the northern USA

In Melbourne, where I am, winter regularly sees me starting at 5am, with a temperature of -2 - 3°C. Those are cold starts. Tas gets as cold or colder.

You may refer to my previous post:

I'm also running LS7 lifters. It depends on the climate, but on very cold starts, the GM lifters tend not to like anything thicker than a 5w and have trouble pumping up.
If you're in an extremely hot area (Darwin for instance), it's probably fine. If not, I'd probably have a look at that oil pressure and temperature.
If your main bearings are replaced with an aftermarket set that have greater than stock clearances, or yours are especially worn, it's probably an OK weight.

 

[J_D 2.0]

There are a lot of reports of LS7 lifter failure, even out of the box. A simple google search yields hundreds of results. I recommend researching the topic if you're interested.
The Johnson lifters are generally regarded as the option for people who want reliability.

Agreed that Johnson lifters are the better choice but traditionally the LS7 lifters have been seen as being more reliable than the other stock lifters.

 

[shane_3800]

Agreed that Johnson lifters are the better choice but traditionally the LS7 lifters have been seen as being more reliable than the other stock lifters.

I don't think LS7 lifters were used because they were more reliable, but rather they're shorter stroke so can rev higher.

 

[WreckWren]

Agreed that Johnson lifters are the better choice but traditionally the LS7 lifters have been seen as being more reliable than the other stock lifters.

They are slightly more reliable than the other stock lifters, but this is because of the slightly better quality bearings on them. All the OEM ones are nowhere near as good as the Johnson ones though.