Not this again, which engine oil?

Sludge, you'll find sludge, post pics of the sludge

 

great idea buying a engine to pull apart. The way learnt about cars and engines was through a simular hands on approach. Be sure that you research as you are pulling apart!
I will be running 15w-40 semi Syn by Nulon when i do my major service.

 

i ran magnatec 10w40 in my ls1 and some time before my 5000km/12 month oil changeover it was ticking when hot. it only used to tick for about the first 3 seconds on startup if it hadn't been ran for a few hours.
but was good to start with.
i then put some castrol edge 5w-30 a3/b4 in and once again only ticks for the first 3 seconds on start up. still sounds great when hot.
imo i think changing the oil more often is more important than getting the 'right grade' so to speak. as once the oil breaks down its not doing the job anyway

 

Agree.
I can hear the difference in general in the engine noise overall (not just at start up) when the oil starts to go off.

 

Agree.
I can hear the difference in general in the engine noise overall (not just at start up) when the oil starts to go off.

 

Yes Magnatec in my LS1 made it noisy. Penrite ten tenths all good..

 

IMO changing the oil on the recommended periods with THE CORRECT weight oil is most important.

 

my vx is at 420000+km i just run $15 bottles of gulf western quiet as a mouse hasnt had an oil change in 40000km poor thing but has been topped up a few litres over that time.
in our stock bottomend 10 second buick v6 its run gulf for many years but now runs HPR30 cant kill it for trying and again quiet as a mouse even with stock lifters on a decient size bumpstick.

 

but what is the correct grade?
im not saying the grade is not important
imo the quality of oils and regular change intervals is more important than grade
obviously not something stupid like 25w-50 when its -25 degrees but a 5w-30 or 10w-40 would be more acceptable than not changing when you need to or using poor oil

 

Penrite 20W60 in the ecotec. Beats the Castrol GPX 20W50 I was using, drains out clean after a few changes. Motor also runs a lot quieter when idling(you can't hear it, even with 300,000km on the clock).

 

Retail magnatecs a crap oil its a thin mineral grade that shears into nothingness even before 5k clicks. Also rumured to glaze bores in ls1's. In general, avoid it.

 

i got a couple of containers from a dealer as i heard that was better. but happy with the 5w-30 castrol edge atm

 

I think Castrol are still banned in the USA from using the words magnatec or any reference to magnetic oil as the oil is not magnetic, nor would you want magnetic oil.
You actually want viscus oil that will flow, not stick or drag.

 

What??
A 25W-50 oil is recommended for the VT Ecotec.

Whats the correct grade oil?? The one that the manufacturer suggests!!
I would suggest going by what the maker of the engine has specified, they have run up more kilometers in said car that what you will in yours.

 

Yeah that's all related to the tiny dash of ester that's added into the magnatec...it's true that ester does cling to metal and has genuinely good properties and applications. For example the excellent Castrol 10w-60 TWS Professional (until very recently the only oil approved for BMW M cars since they need really thick long life oil) is primarily group IV PAO with around about 20% group V Ester.

The ester in magnatec must be like 2% which makes it next to useless when added to a cheap mineral base oil. But they do it purely so they can make marketing claims about it.....which don't seem to work as well in the US of A it seems.

 

A thicker oil will make an older engine run quieter, so yes you running a 20W-60 oil vs a 20W-50 will be more quiet?
You do know the difference between oils don't you?

 

Penrite HPR 10 Tenths 15W-40. Changed every 10k.

 

Mate valvalione, 20-50, cant go wrong, stuff all these other stuff, where you going to get it when ya stuck in the bush, buy valvo eny where used it in my bikes for 30 yrs