OK, read a post about some modern oils not being good for older cams? What's an ok oil to use in a low mileage 1974 1.8 from the local parts store? Both brand and weight please. Wanting to do a tune-up this weekend and the oil is the only thing I still need to get.

We use Chevron 20/50 at the shop.

Thanks.

I found a couple old topics and it seems most prefer 20w50.

Think I might go with Castrol gtx

From this report I gathered it was best to run Castrol GTX 20w-50 High Mileage & Mobile one Filter. Navarro Engineering I have hydrolic lifters and change my oil every 3 months like religion.

I've heard full synthetic can cause an engine with some miles to leak worse, and that's actually been my experience with my 65,000 mile BMW boxer engine. My wifes low mileage water-cooled in-line 3 cylinder doesn't leak with full synth (for what it's worth).

or the Brad Penn everyone wants.

Phil,
From what I've seen here from some very knowledgeable guys, the best to use are the Brad Penn 20W50 or Royal Purple Max Cycle 20W50 . If you look at enough threads here, you will see the same thing.
Tom

Ranked high is Castrol GTX. I have used it in 20w50 with great success for maybe 20 years. I now use it in all my engines except the John Deere.

Just to confuse the issue some more, 15W- 50 Mobel 1 full synthetic in the 914 per well respected Porsche shop. No drips in the garage floor. Brad Penn in the water pumping Ford track car, 347 stroker/440 hp. Using Penn based on recommendation of the engine builder. So far so good on both.

I have been running for years with (of all things) 15W-40 Rotella T Shell oil. Its a Fleet service oil (diesel). Its rated for Gasoline engines but in real fine print.

It has just been recently promoted by Comp Cams for all their flat tappet cams. I'll pull the paper work at the shop tomorrow and post what they say about it.

I too have been useing the Shell Rotella T but they recently ( late June ? ) changed the formula and it's not as high in zinc and phosporous. If you noticed the label colors and looks have changed and that is when the formula changed. I think any of the " racing" oils might be O.K. as they don't fall under the same EPA requirements but I'm not positive of that. Also most motorcycle oils are still zinc and phos. rich. I have found a local Brad Penn distributor but I'm not sure if that's what I'm going to use next or not. With M1 being available at Walmart for $19.99 for a 5 qt. jug I'm tempted to try it.

Been using Castrol Edge 10-60 full synthetic for a while now.
http://www.castrol.com/castrol/productdeta...ntentId=7013360
It;s the duck's guts. Even when the oil temp gets up to around the 120c area it holds great pressure. It doesn't appear to piss out on the floor like other synthetics.

Ended up just using regular Castrol GTX 20w50. It was on sale for $7.88 a gallon so I took it as a sign. The Mobil1 filter cost more than the oil!

I've heard (maybe from an old post by Jake) that Royal Purple is the best and Valvoline synthetic is good too. I always use 20W50.

The Castrol GTX 20W50 that we used to use was good oil. The stuff we get now has a rating use of SM and this has much less of the necessary zinc and phosprous than it used to. The numbers on Charles at LN engineering's report has high numbers unless the rating is SM. Better check closer. I did and the Castrol GTX I put in at the last oil change was SM rated. That's why I'm getting the oil that Jake and Charles recommend. Brad Penn 20W50 at $.48 per quart.
Tom

In Charles Navarro's chart it shows the Castrol 20w50 with a SM rating. I thought this was an ok oil to use?

Name... Castrol GTX
Vis... 20w50
P (ppm)... 1157
Zn (ppm)... 1422
B (ppm)...
Detergents (ppm)... 1848
API... SM
Date... 11/05
Type... DINO
Source... Staveley

The Brad Penn 20W50 would be best (Jake reccommends)...

I'm still trying to get my hands on some Swepco 306 which is THE shit to have appearently...

Castrol 20w50....yep

i remembered the old thread about shell rotella t when i saw it on sale at the local FLAPS (Advance Auto in Northern VA). i copied down the specs and they are:

CJ-4, CI-4 plus, CH-4, CG-4, CF4/SM, SL, SJ

if only someone could tell me what they mean.....

is the "SM" in the "CF4/SM" mean it's ok for our air cooled 4 bangers?