VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc Engine Oil Recommendation

Just wondered if anyone can recommend an engine oil for a 1932?

Your likely safe with any oils of today. It's all SAE certified. Just stay away from synthetics. That fancy extravigant oil is not needed for those engines. STORE BRAND oil, like Autozone brand, is a far leap from what oils use to be...which was not much but that was all they had.

Prefrences? Im a quakerstate man. Born and bread. You cant break born, tried and true habbit. BUT...you got your valvoline, Mobile oil, coastal oil, castroil, Pennsoil, .... ect. Hell you even got that purple flirp stuff...what do they call that...Royal purple? Probably a good oil..but again...that kind of extreem for those engines? Definitly not needed.

Weights? 10W - 30 HD is fine. You can run non detergent but it just means pulling your oil pan to clean the sludge out which you will EVENTUALLY be doing, instead of letting the detergent oil do all that work FOR you.

I am far from an expert,but,you may want to look at previous posts about detergent oil vs. non detergent oils before you choose.Not to disagree with Mr Oilspot at all myself,but some others have posted that using detergent oils loosens all the sludges built up in a dirty old engine,including that build up on the bottom side of piston rings,which,when it is removed causes the engine to smoke quite a bit because the seal created by that sludgy buildup is no longer stopping oil from leaking past the rings---just sayin'---always good idea to listen to several of these guys input,weigh your options then do as you will---there are many differing opinions out there so you have to figure out which one to heed---best of luck!!

Oil as we all know, is the Lubrication of life for our cars. Lots can be said and debated. Try a look atthe Web site:Bobistheoilguy.com .

Thats a very good point you bring up. Alot of truth in it, too!

If im not mistaken, i actually mentioned that along the lines of that post aswell. In one of the "oil talk" posts atleast.

The exhaust will smoke when the oil return holes in the oil rings and pistons are plugged up with carbom. Not oil or any thing else will remove the carbon as it is baked on and must be scraped off with a sharp tool - and carbon does not disolve.
Since 1948 Most good oils have had detergent in them so its nothing new.
If you think your engine internals are that dirty remove the pan and clean the oil pump screen and the oil pan.....and detergent oil with a stiff brush to get rid of the sludge.

This engine only about 5000 miles on it since a rebuild although it had been sitting for about 5 years. It seams to run fine other then I can here a slight knock at idle thats probable coming from the bottom end. So I should probably go with a detergent oil. A friend told me use straight 30W but you guys recommend a multi viscosity.

There should be no sludge in a 5000 mile engine.

There is no such thing as 30W oil. #30 oil is not rated for winter use therefore no "W". Its just #30 and recommended for tempertures above 50 degrees.

It was #30, my mistake. You guys know best. I will go with 10-30. Thanks for all the input

in Texas we have some 30 wt.

Go with the 10W-30 detergent oil and forget what they use in Texas.

We use 30# in lawn mowers (mechanical kind) in Texas. Some use it in their old Chevys in 90 deg+ heat but most knowledgeable Texans use 10W-30 instead.

We use 30# in our lawn mowers in Minnesota too but they get a little hard starting in the winter time at -40.

Now I am not an expert but believe that you don't use a lawn mower to cut down the snow drifts but something called a snow blower. Never seen one in the flesh (or metal) as we still mow grass all winter down here. Moved from the frozen North when snow shovels were still in vogue. Haven't missed the exercise but Doc thinks otherwise.

When i use to work on mowers in the repair business, at the time, me and a local dealer were buddy's i guess you could say. One hare away from "freinds" i guess. ANYWAY..He once told me about a gentleman that braught his mower in and was running 90 weight gear oil in his engine. He told me (the dealer) that the customer said it made the engine stop smoking...but upon inspection (by the dealer) the inside was sludged up to heck wouldnt have it. Ofcource the rings were shot and cylinder was badly scored.
I guess if you have a smoking engine...Run 90 weight. HAHAhahaha No really...dont do that.

Having realized that I hadn't updated my oil paper in about 2 years, and that people are still downloading it 11,000 times a month (between the English and Spanish versions), I decided to review it and update it.

The English version is up, so you can click on the link and on over to the new version.
Selection of the right oil for flat tappet engines

As for detergency. I yes, a good detergent oil will clean up a bit. That may smoke for a couple thousand miles, but once it has finished you will have better compression and cooling. Those deposits harm the air flow that pushes out the rings, clog the seals that need good oil to keep them soft, etc.

As for the gear oil, SAE 90 gear oil is the same viscosity as SAE 50 engine oil. It just has no detergent and no polar additives. The additives chemically adhere to the surfaces in the presence of heat. I imagine that engine was really something.