Favorite motor oil, First oil change Options

[robkammer]

Hey everyone: The BB is getting it's first oil change since it arrived. I'm thinking a good organic oil would be appropriate for this vintage motor with 121K on the clock.
The service records I have are not specific about what has been put in before.
I use Syn in every other car but I think it might be overkill and make it leak even more.

This should be fun!

[emerygt350]

I prefer a lighter weight synth like 5w40 mobile 1 euro blend. I find it takes the heat away better probably due to a larger volume of oil moving through (remember these are oil cooled). Synth also survives hot spots much better (critical temps in the 300s rather than the mid 200s). Thinner oil also gets to everywhere in the engine faster on cold starts and that is when the damage is done (thus the love of zddp, whether that benefit is real or not is also a huge area of debate).

That said, if you have a leaker, synth and thinner probably isn't for you.

If I were to use thick dino, I would change it pretty frequently on an old air cooled engine, at least keep a close eye on it.

[JamesM]

I prefer a lighter weight synth like 5w40 mobile 1 euro blend. I find it takes the heat away better probably due to a larger volume of oil moving through (remember these are oil cooled). Synth also survives hot spots much better (critical temps in the 300s rather than the mid 200s). Thinner oil also gets to everywhere in the engine faster on cold starts and that is when the damage is done (thus the love of zddp, whether that benefit is real or not is also a huge area of debate).

That said, if you have a leaker, synth and thinner probably isn't for you.

If I were to use thick dino, I would change it pretty frequently on an old air cooled engine, at least keep a close eye on it.

That could also be due to lower oil pressures from the thinner oil as well. At high oil pressure the oil cooler gets bypassed. I have always ran 20w50 but have considered running thinner oil for this reason (but i dont have an oil temp gauge atm so would have no idea if it made a difference)

Personally I run Gibbs DT50, can only get that mail order though. Prior to that I ran VR1 racing as it was the only oil I could get locally with decent zinc numbers. Whatever you go with I would recommend it be fully synthetic due to having much better breakdown temps.

Never ran Mobile 1 in a 914 but I was running M1 0W40 European Formula in my newer BMWs. I stopped when I realized the the engines ran a lot quieter with 0W40 Castrol (or Valvoline, or pretty much anything but Mobile 1), now I dont put Mobile 1 in anything anymore. Never really noticed to much difference between oils before that.

[emerygt350]

That could also be due to lower oil pressures from the thinner oil as well.

Recently I have been thinking about that. Because the cut off is pressure based and relies on the oil pressure falling below ...i can't remember... before it goes to the cooler I guess you could run into an issue with extra hot oil not going to the cooler because the pressure would damage the cooler. That would mean less ability to pull heat of of the engine as it circulates. That was probably all determined on the old 30 weight dino too.


I have always had luck with mobil 1 euro. Occasionally I try other brands but I keep coming back. You can't beat it for 24 dollars for 5 quarts at walmart. I spend the saved money on mobil 1 filters too. No clue if they are any better than any other but why not.