I went to the local ford parts store to pick up an oil filter and oil for my 64 galaxie. the parts manager (he's about 50) said I should use 10W 40 for high mileage cars. My car has around 116,000 miles. Have anyone else been told this? Thanks dimatorrman
I use straight 30w all year in south Texas. Further north maybe 20w or 10-30 in the colder months in 302.
You should do an intro post to let us know who you are. Oil questions seem to get an almost different reply from everyone.
Since you are listening to what other people tell you, just use 10w-40 oil and a Wix filter and everything will be fine.
I use 10-40 mobile in my OT 93 E150, just turned 300,000. For a long time used 5w-30, but now use the heavier weight. I am sure the bearings have SOME wear. Never had a valve cover or intake off this engine, and drove it since new.
It all comes down to clearances. Higher mileage generally has larger clearances, so heavier oil is generally a good bet. I usually use straight 30 on an older engine in the summer, and 10-40 in the winter. On a good rebuild with lower miles, 10-30 all year long. And yeah, different replies are to be expected on anything this arbitrary. Almost as bad as asking what brand to use. Mike
Reading threads about oil and what to use, is like asking what kinda beer you like. Always interesting to see what people have to say.......
rotella 15 40 in the race engine, and 30w non detergent in the 50 olds engine. the keith black engine gets Brad Penn.
Go by the car manufacturer's recommendation. For a 64 Ford it was probably 10W30, that was the default choice for every car of the fifties, sixties and seventies. There have been many changes in oil formulas since 1964. 10W40 is probably the modern equivalent. For pushrod OHV engines especially hi performance models there may not be enough zinc in new oil. This is why some prefer the Rotella or diesel spec oil, it still has zinc. Or you can buy zinc additive. This may be why the parts man recommended the oil for older, high mile cars. Could it be it is formulated for older pushrod engines and has zinc? (ZDDP = zinc additive)
As stated earlier the "High Mileage" or "Diesel" oils tend to have a higher zinc content and the other newer oils have less due to the emissions and the modern wideband O2 sensors that will foul with the older zinc oils. The specialty market is full of great oils for the older engines that really need the higher zinc content. Lucas, Brad Penn, Valvoline all make these for older engines and hi performance applications. Not a place to save money is my 2 cents. Years ago when I was first starting in the auto parts business a wise man told me that while I was clocked in that I was not to have an opinion on 3 things, "Religion, politics and motor oil" !! All are great in moderation!!
116,000 is a lot of miles for a 60s car. remember they were worn out at or close to 100,000 miles. I have a 62 galaxie with 89,000 miles on her now.i run 20w 50 or straight 50 wheni can find it and use brad penn. off the shelf oil is not good for older cars ...not enough zddp.my car goes to tn.and is drivin everyday.when the winter temps set in we go to 10w 40 as as soon as itr starts to get warmer its back to the 20w 50.
Basicly unless you want to buy zinc additive like ZDDPlus, you need pre SM/SN oil. it is out there. On the lower cost side Wal-Mart sells "Accel" brand 10W-40 SF rated oil, marked "for pre'88 cars". The new SJ diesel oil has little or no zinc in it.
yeah your right there.i know im no expert on oil but to me a older style engine like I drive could only benefit from the thicker oil.i know the oil pressure runs up more and stays there when ive run it down the interstate and 80 mph in 100 degree heat.tolerances were a lot looser back then in the bearings and with all the miles on it it sure wouldn't hurt it.we switch to 40 w because in the cold 50 w takes awhile to get movin.and sure as hell cant have that!!all the oil ive seen on the shelf at most places have very low or no zddp.so we go to lookin for it and it aint on the shelf!this is just my opinion but I like to think im right! lol
More oil, and gas threads please. Doing any personal research is way too difficult, and I need the answers handed to me. Plus the few thousand threads about it isnt enough already.
A few comments: a) Modern oils are made for modern engines, and the market's basically divided into two philosophies. The US/Japanese approach says thin oil for maximum MPG, small oil capacities for lightest weight and smallest package size, and relatively short oil change intervals. The German approach says thick oil and very stringent long-term temperature and shear-stability for durability and long oil change intervals, large oil capacity (7-12 quarts in the V8s, V10s, V12s) and very long change intervals (12-16K miles.) b) Oil viscosities (grades) are a RANGE. A 5W-30 oil labeled 'Energy Conserving' or 'Resource Conserving' is a thinner oil (for US/Japanese engines) than a 5W-30 labeled 'ACEA A3' or the German mfr scrambled-eggs (BMW LL01, MB 229.2, VAG 502.00). In general, any oil that's LL01/502.00/229.2 is similar viscosity to any other whether it's labeled 0W-30, 0W-40, 5W-30, 5W-40, etc. c) None of these oils are made for older engines that have stuff inside that slides. Modern emission-control warranties (EPA-mandated) have squeezed the EP additives out of oils, which doesn't matter to Ford or Audi 'cause modern engines don't have stuff that slides under high forces like the valvetrain in a flat-tappet pushrod motor. Everything now is low-tension this, low-friction that, and roller everything else. From API SL forward every subsequent spec has basically squeezed 50% of the remaining traditional EP additives out of the oil. d) Used to be that light-truck diesel oils (the Rotella T Synthetic 5W-40 was a great choice) had a better EP additive package, but they've all gone SM/SN now too. So here's where the judgment call comes in. If you're buying off-the-shelf modern 10W-30 API SM or SN 'Resource Conserving' oil you're getting an oil that's probably more consistent in quality than what you got thirty years ago, but it's also consistently thinner, and has virtually no traditional EP additives. Some oil mfrs will claim their EP additive package is better now and you don't need all the ZDDP, etc. and it's up to you whether you want to believe that. A 'Resource Conserving' SM/SN 10W-40 is roughly equivalent in viscosity to an old 10W-30. A 'Euro Car' BMW LL01 etc. oil, whether labeled xW-30 or xW-40, is roughly equivalent to an old 40-weight at temperature and is generally the best base oil you can get anywhere (because of the severe HTHS requirements), but still has minimal EP additive as it comes out of the bottle. There's a variety of oils out there now intended for older engines, but look for all the little API gibberish. If it's 'Energy Conserving' or 'Resource Conserving' it's at the thin end of its labeled grade and you may want to go up one grade. If it's SM or SN then it's got minimal traditional EP additives - you need SL or better still SJ, or a bottle of EOS. If in doubt google it and look it up over on BITOG. The EP additive thing really only matters if you've got a flat-tappet valvetrain. And...if anyone thinks their engine needs it, all the BMW M cars use a Castrol 10W-60 oil that's still SJ-rated, shop carefully as prices on this stuff vary widely. Ford Australia uses a similar 'Formula R' 10W-60 in some high-end models too...
Another read: www.ZDDPlus.com Power Punch is another good additive for older machinery; such as what we deal w/here on the JJ.
My reccomendation; Shell Rotella-T oil in 15W40: 100 Cst @40°C; 15 Cst @100°C; calcium 0.27%; zinc 0.135%; phosphorus 0.120%.
Hmmm... I thought that would have been cheese. What kind of cheese goes good with beer and 30 weight?
Stay Away from that Wal-Mart Accell oil if you do some online research it is very low in ZDDP(see the bob is the oil guy link).For years the go to oil was Shell Rotella, over the last couple years the new formulation is much lower in ZDDP and combined with the higher detergent is not really a good choice.You might give this a look:http://mustangs.about.com/od/accessories/fr/Quaker-State-Defy.htm I put this in my daily last oil change and the little driveway drips are now gone too after a week
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