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240 What oil do you recommend?

I use Mobil 1 15/50 in all of our Volvo's , Valvoline VR 1 racing oil {high in zinc}in our 1960 S2 Bentley.I am breaking in the new motor in my 1961 MK1 MG Midget on VR 1, will switch to Mobil 1 once it is broken in. My wife's 90 240 wagon now has 600K miles on it we have had it for 20 years always used Mobile 1. BTW how many mile on your car?

Would you recommend it in a warm climate like mines?
 
Yes, when it's hot out that M1 15-50 keeps good oil pressure in my turbo. I use it all year round. I changed to synthetic at 165k miles and it's got almost 340k now. My 93 wagon went to synthetic at 235k miles and now is at 433k.

"Don't change a high mileage car to synthetic oil." Myth busted....
 
"Don't change a high mileage car to synthetic oil." Myth busted....
I've always found that to be a load of crap. I get the concept behind it (seal swellers, etc... but that's more of a concern with "high mileage" oils), but every additive package is different. If your biggest concern is a seal blowing out, maybe you should perform regular maintenance on your car before blaming the oil.

There are so many oils that are good so it's really a personal choice. Just like many parts and things it's important to buy the correct weight that works for your climate/engine. I've found the synthetics to be worth it to me. Still use dino oil in my truck and my moms car. Just my Volvos get the synth.

Agreed. It's not as much about which brand, but that it's a quality oil and it works in your case. For my white block and BMW M5X cars, I swear by 0w40. Great year round oil with good cold start protection and little to no consumption. I'll use either M1 or Castrol, no real preference between the two. Basically whichever is cheaper that day.
 
I've wondered about how it would perform in red blocks, I've never actually tried it. I've read of people on here using it though.
I've always run 10w30. Although looking at specs the last time, I feel like they were very similar in viscosity. Can't say for sure though, and I'm too lazy to get into that right now :lol:
 
the research I have done, I found nothing but positive reviews about amsoil. I have a rebuilt engine, so running their breakin oil. Then Im gonna switch to 5-40 weight. Their oil has alot of zinc in it and handles high temps well.
 
If it's the M1 version of 0-40w it says it's the European car formula on the bottle. :lol: The engineers wanted that instant oil pressure at startup. It does get really cold in Germany.
 
If it's the M1 version of 0-40w it says it's the European car formula on the bottle. :lol: The engineers wanted that instant oil pressure at startup. It does get really cold in Germany.

My Honda FIT (RIP) took 0w20 that poured like lacquer thinner.
Surely the redblock is unhappy with such thin stuff?
 
0w20 and 0w40 are completely different animals. Second half of the oil weight determines viscosity at operating temp, first part is viscosity when cold. Theoretically, 0w40 is having your cake and eating it too when it comes to rapid building of oil pressure on startup paired with plenty of viscosity at operating temp for engine protection.

Bearing wear etc happens primarily immediately at startup (you know, unless something is wrong)

I know I've read to avoid oils with a wide spread of weights (10w60 common in M BMWs et cetera) due to the additive package allegedly degrading and separating if it sits for too long but at best that's a very outdated school of thought and at worst my car sees daily use so it can't hardly affect me.

Plus, it's dirt cheap at Wal-Mart as others have said.
 
I did an oil change on a friends Honda CRV that had in big letters across the top of the engine cover yelling at you to use the 0-20w stuff in there. :lol:
 
If I recall correctly some newer cars in the past few years run 0w16 with 0w8 on the horizon.

I decided to try 15w40 synthetic in my new to me B20. I wonder if 0w40 might work well. It would be nice to just go buy a bunch of the same oil for both my cars.
 
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Does it really matter? These blocks go hundreds of thousands of miles without special oils. Don't the bores and rings wear out before the bearings?

Diesel oils are nice because they have higher additive counts that are no longer allowed in conventional oils. If it is fairly stock, why not go with a diesel oil like Rotella or Delron in the weight recommended in the manual 15w-40.

I just picked up 3 gallons of 15w-40 Costco diesel oil for the racecar for about $30. I change it after every race.

Buying a high quality filter is probably more important than the oil.
 
The reason is the main bearing clearance is sized for that oil. Sloppy old red blocks need the thicker oil to maintain oil pressure.

Ford's 5.4 mandates 5w-20 be used. The interwebs believes this is due to the narrow size of the oil passages. I have no idea if that's correct.
 
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