I'm new to fords, especially an engine I know next to nothing about, and i know that back in the day these cars had oil problems, but I've read that modern oils have gotten better for these engines. Now my 1954 Ford has an all original 58k mile 239 cubic inch y block OHV V8. any ideas on what engine oil is good for these cars? is a multi viscosity okay? or do i have to run straight 30 weight oil? i normally run Valvoline 10w40 high mileage with 1 quart of 20w50 to thicken up the oil just in case of a leak. i have a 6 volt system on this car so running all 20w50 may not be a good idea lol.
You might want to give this article a good read: http://mustangs.about.com/od/accessories/fr/Quaker-State-Defy.htm Older engines need extra zinc to protect camshafts and lifters from wear so this should be a good choice it also contains sealing conditioners so you should not need thick oil.
Valvoline VR1 conventional. If you can find the "not street legal" labeled oil, it has 1% more zinc and phosphorous than the non-labeled stuff. Has enough zinc as is to keep internals happy. Pulled from Bob is the oil guy, a post with a direct message from Valvoline.
OK, First I'll touch on the Y block oil problem. It's a myth. The reason they have a reputation for that is simply the Average Joe in the 50s did not maintain his car properly. Y blocks oil well as long as they're clean. This means a regular change of oil and filters per 1954 specs. Do you know what type of oil was run in the car? If a all it ever had was straight 30wt, you better stick with it. Switching to a detergent or cleaning oil could loosen all the decades worth of sludge, requiring a rebuild very soon. If the engine is very clean you might could try it but do not be surprised if it starts to smoke and use oil and rattle do to all the crud turning loose. Since detergent oils have been around for 50 years or better it may already use that type. Try to find out what the PO used. Viscocity de-coded. This is the rating explained in laymans terms. 10w30 The above rating means that it flows like lighter 10wt oil. The 30 means it lubes, sticks or has the squeezabilty factor of heavier 30 wt oil. 20W50 Flows like 20wt but has the lube clearance or squeezabilty of heavy 50wt.
20W-50 When cold it as thick as 20W is wnen cold, when it gets hot it gets no thinner than 50W is when it's hot. If sludged up don't use diesel oil in it.
Go to the American refining group website, this is the old Kendall plant. They produce the Brad Penn products that will work well in all our old cars. Look for Penn grade 1. It is available in several viscocities, weather you engine is old and tired or rebuilt.
Are you sure the zinc will be okay for the engine? I've always thought that racing oil stuff was designed for engines that were fresh. One thing that makes this difficult is I'm gonna get 1500 different oil suggestions. I mean I may do 20w50 conventional x brand oil and then I can buy some zinc additive locally too
Zinc is a lube for the cam, believe they started adding it in the 50s, but even if later it can't hurt to have it.
If you have a lot of y-Block related questions, PM "mctim64" here on the HAMB, or email him through his website yblockguy.com IIRC correctly he likes Brad Penn due to the zinc content, but also runs Valvoline VR-1 for the same reason. I run VR-1 in everything I have, including my Y-block 'Bird. It's expensive, but so are engine rebuilds. Valvoline does rebate offers about once a year, and so do the auto parts stores.
I don't recommend Brad Penn for an old motor as it is a synthetic blend. I'm sure it will work great for a rebuilt motor, but when I put it in my 1965 292 6-cyl the lifters started tapping... and from what I reseached lifter tapping is a common side effect of switching to sythetic or blended in a motor that has always used petroleum products. Google "lifter noise sythetic" and see what I mean. Also, synthetics have been known to break down "oil clots" around seals, so a non leaking engine might start leaking.
The 1951 Studebaker owner's manual says "most of the higher priced motor oils sold today contain chemical detergents......" . There is a caution that the detergents will hold stuff in suspension, making the oil "look" in worse condition than it really is, and thus making oil changes based on mileage, NOT how the oil looks. It makes no mention of mult-viscosity oils. If I looked inside/under the rocker covers to get an idea of how sludged the engine is, and saw thick build up I'd be in a quandary what to do, since along with detergents most Non detergent oil (SA rating) also lacks any of the wear or corrosion resisting additives that engines of the 50s and 60s need (and had additives sufficient for effectively an SA or SB rating) . I think I'd clean the gunk out of the rocker area, flush a few gallons of kerosene or diesel thru the engine, working thru the oil drain plug to to rake out gunk and scrape the oil pickup, then fill er up with modern 10W-30, and do several oil and filter changes at 50 mile increments. Also look for any anomalies in pressure that might indicate the pump screen has been overcome with sludge. And check that the rocker feeds are flowing OK.
If I recall correctly Oreilys has VR-1 on sale to the end of the month for about $4 a quart. I picked up 2 cases.
Your engine was built several years after multigrade detergent oils were introduced. They were recommended by oil companies and car makers, 10W30 was the default choice in all garages and dealerships from the fifties through the seventies. Chances are your car never used anything else. As others have pointed out the Y blocks were prone to sludging up and starving the valve gear of oil, a good reason to use detergent oil. It would be a good idea to take the pan off and scrape out the sludge if possible. 10W40 Valvoline will be fine.
Holy Cow! I actually spaced out reading all this, like it was 10th grade science class. The intellect on this sight is amazing. That being said, and being a dumb redneck, I run Valvoline 10w40 High mileage in my '55 Fairlane and haven't had a problem. She seems to like it just fine, and I've been doing it for the last 5 or 6 years on the original motor. just my 2 cents.
I want to chime in on this as I also have a Y-Block. My brother has a 55 Crown 292 that he has driven 15+ years all over the place. He has always ran Quaker State 10w30 with zero problems. I don't know if it is regular maintainance, luck, or there really is no differance in modern quality oil brands except price.
www.zddplus.com Your answers are on this web site. They are Alliance dealer here. I've also started using 'Power Punch' as an additive to 'on the shelf oil' - the PP company has been around since 1952.
I personally don't see a big benefit with the high zinc oils on an old broken in engine, chances are the valve springs are sloppy anyway and there isn't much pressure on the lifters. I have been running regular oil in all my cars without problems. My 1967 F-100 6-cyl had for 10 years and never had a problem with regular castrol motor oil. My chevy 292 6-cyl used regular oil for three years with no problem until I changed to Brad Penn it started ticking.
yeah i think i'll just be alright using a conventional oil multi weight, and just so you know, this car isn't like its a barn find, its been on the road since it was new, its in awesome shape, it does however have very low miles for the age of the car. I was primarily concerned with what weigh oil to go with, as i know these engines don't have nearly as tight of clearance tolerances inside the engines like newer engines do.. a high melage oil would help with the older seals, and leaks as well as oil consumption it may have after a couple to few thousand miles.
Top end lube is fed from center cam bearing to top of block thru the heads to the rocker stands. Dropping the pan and cleaning/inspecting things would be a good idea as would be pulling the valve covers and doing the same. Removing the rocker shafts for more cleaning would be prudent. Center shaft stand removal will reveal a 1/4" hole that feeds the rocker shaft assys. I favor using a pressure tank to charge a lube system, some guys like the drill motor on the distributor drive, what ever charging the lube circuit with the rocker stands off will prove out the feed volumn, or not. Once you get oil flowing there, reassemble and life will be good. The 239 '54 engine is stand alone, I'd be looking for a 292 if this one proves to be weak, source a 57 up distributor what ever you do, the earlier ones don't have centrifical advance, that's not good.
Concerning the oiling problem, there is an oil passage that goes up through the block then into the head. The holes don't always line up perfect and this makes a great trap for dirt and sludge. Once these holes get plugged up no more oil to the valve gear. So it pays to change oil regularly and have a good filter. The Frantz oil filter is valuable here. If you ever have the heads off check where the oil holes line up by the head gasket. You can enlarge the holes with a die grinder so they line up better, just don't go outside the hole in the gasket.
The last new car my family bought was a '65 Galaxie. Dad used QS in it. Tore it down around 90K, the lifter valley looked like it was paved by the Road Dept!
Dad taught me that there's nothing like Quaker State, but when he wasn't looking I switched to Valvoline. Been happy with it for over 50 years
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