Oil's

[Mjpmark]

Whats the very best engine and transaxle oil available and recommended by you guys?

Setup

LS3 Hot Cam
G50/52

Thanks

mark

Ps at the moment im considering the Mobil 1 - 0w/40

[V8Dom]

Id be very carefull using a 0- rated oil as 60 % of engine wear is caused at tick over and cold starting....

Ive been running V8's for 20 years and never ever used mobil 1 or a zero rated oil..

Ill tell you a little story about mobile 1... when i was drag racing bikes i used to change the pistons every meeting and we tested mobile 1, shell gemini, shell normal oil,castrol gtx,kendal oil and valvoline oil in 1 season.

bearing in mind this was a drag bike and the engine was used straight from cold because by the time i was at the start line after the burnout box and practise lauches the engine oil temp was at its optimum temp 94 degree, it was a great test of oil and its properties straight from cold.
The pistons were kept and inspected after each meeting.

The mobile 1 and shell gemini were the 2 worst in the testing and the forward and rear faces of the pistons were heavily scored .
The Castrol GTX, shell normal oil showed a minimum amount of scatches in the same areas, but the kendal and valvoline were great with next to no marks on the pistons, all that you would expect after a dyno run or 2. Now before anyone asks there were usually only 4-6 runs per meeting and bore wear was checked and the last set of pistons were not running in old run in bores. but we did find a slight gain in horsepowere with the ultra thin mobile 1 oil as when it was hot it was so so thin.

We also found with the mobil 1 oil, when we stripped the motor, there was not alot of oil still sitting on the componants after2 days of standing still??? worrying considering you need oil there on initial start-up...

So upto you... Id ask AS or an engine supplier but i personally wont ever use mobil1 oil ever again....but that was along time ago so things might have changed!!!!!!!!!!!!

personally i still use valvoline 20-50 racing oil in my AS 565hp engine as ive always done in the 20 years of V8's...it might not give as much horsepowere, but my engine will still be together....(and its changed every 1000 miles as recommended by AS

Dom

Edited by V8Dom on Friday 18th December 18:29

[Defcon5]

V8Dom said:

Id be very carefull using a 0- rated oil as 60 % of engine wear is caused at tick over and cold starting....



Dom

Isnt that better as its thinner and so flows better?

[JoulesCanAm]

Well I think a lot depends on what bearing tolerances your engine is built to. That said I like a balanced 15W40 and exclusively use Brad Penn (Kendall) Racing Oil (not sure if it is available in the UK though). I use it because it has some of the highest levels of zinc & phosphorous for my old non roller pushrod engines.

For the transaxle I use Redline, although a lot of people recommend the SWEPCO.

[Steve_D]

I use Mobil 1 15W-50.......17.5K miles now.

The 'box has Comma SX75W-90 GL5

Steve

[Stig]

I've used Valvoline Racing 10W/40 in all my V8s and whilst I was racing. Can't comment specifically for the LS3, but certainly older design engines seem to go well on it. A very 'forgiving' oil (if there is such a thing?)

[Mjpmark]

GM has given me their advice - 5W/30 is what is recommended for the LS3.

[DHGTR]

Mjpmark said:

GM has given me their advice - 5W/30 is what is recommended for the LS3.

So the ......... what is the 'best' 5W/30?

[738 driver]

The crate motors are usually filled with a Mobil 1 product.

[Mjpmark]

Dave that is a good question - No one will commit.

Ive found several sites that given comparisons of scoring at tick over on pistons etc.
Mobil 1 is about halfway down a pretty long list.

Wear scar diameter of .40mm is the best and thats Amsoil.
First time ever there seems to be no clear leader, even when money no object.

Answers on a postcard please.

[Dale B]

I've always found these guys helpful, just tell them the details of your engine and they will spec the best oil for it

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/

[ROWDYRENAULT]

i would suggest that the 5-30w that GM suggests and the use of synthetics is a great deal about mileage and not well related to our use of the motors. I use 20-50 vavoline racing oil in the LS 1. With that input I must add that the oil gets changed every 1000 to 1500 miles and I NEVER get on the car at all until I see at least 150f water temp. Those three parameters are quite a bit different than what the average GM product will see. Lee

[738 driver]

I'd second Rowdy's view when considering the operating environment and even though his local ambients are quite different to the UK's.

[Gulf -LS2]

Hi Mark

I will be running a good quality semi synthetic in my LS3, imo the fully synthetic oils will not suit our useage of the engines.

Regular changes is the way to protect you engine not a long life thin synthetic oil.

[Mjpmark]

Ho about fully synthetic, with regular oil changes.

[jschwartz]

I recommend 5w30 mobil 1 or other full synthetic. This is what comes in LS3 and LS7 Corvette from GM. Heavier oils such as 15w50 and 20w50 will cavitate the oil pump in LS engines at high rpm. Causing a drop in oil pressure. We have seen this on the dyno with heavier oils. The LS engines oil pump is run at 1:1 crankshaft speed. We learned this years ago, early in our LS engine development.
Jeff Schwartz

Edited by jschwartz on Tuesday 29th December 13:10

[spatz]

5W30 is what I use, and it is the official oil for LS engines as Jeff correctly stated