VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions Valvolene Oil

Went to Walmart yesterday to buy my Valvolene 10-30 conventional oil. Have used that brand for many years. Couldn't find any in their display so I figured they were just out of it. I then proceeded to the closest automotive parts store. Same situation there. Lots of Valvolene synthetic and blended synthetic but no conventional. When I asked about it, they told me that Valvolene no longer makes conventional oil. Everything from them is synthetic or blended now. Not sure the blended would be OK for my 47 216 mtr I ended up buying another brand of 10-30 conventional.
Has anyone else run in to this situation ?
Anyone using blended synthetic or straight synthetic in their old stovebolt six?

Dick

Blended will be just fine. All oils with the GM Dexos rating are synthetic anyway and have been that way for years.
If the "other brand" is Dexos rated it is also part synthetic.
There is nothing wrong with synthetic oils other than the price. Have all my cars filled with synthetic now.

Yes!
I use straight synthetics and blends in anything and everything including my splash oiler 216.
Synthetic is a superior base stock, but costs more. It can't hurt or have any detrimental effect on your engine just because it is synthetic.
That said, In my opinion the most important aspects of oil are still the additive package and the viscosity.
Synthetics have a superior viscosity index. So they can have a much better startup viscosity and still maintain their hot running viscosity, without worrying as much about shear down of the viscosity improvers.
And by far the fastest engine wear occurs after startup when your oil is the most viscous.

I actually pay less for synthetic. I buy it when it is on sale and not when i NEED IT.
Last week Citgo synthetic was on sale for $1.50 a quart with a rebate. This week it is Pennzoil for 5 Qts for $9.95 with rebate.

WOW!
Even after exchange rate, I've never seen anything remotely close to that up here!
Last time I changed oil in the 46', I left the best part of $50 Can. on the counter. Wasn't on sale though. Mobil 1 too. And of course a last hour decision.

Interesting discussion. I am not surprised that some of the bigger brand names are moving away from the "regular" oil market. It is a low margin product.

About a month ago I bought a case of 10w-30 regular Chevron Supreme motor oil at Costco. Less than a 90 cents a quart including our 7% sales tax.

It has an SNPlus rating so it is way better than anything that was available when these cars were built. Plus with the way mine leaks the oil never has a chance to get dirty.

Like many of you, I have heard that synthitic motor oil will cause an engine to leak more than with conventenial oil.

I have never put synthetic in any of my 41s so I haven't experienced whether is does or not.

As to the synthetic oil in our old cars, I think that it is okay except for costing more with little expectation of it improving life of the engine owing to the type of oil used.

My opinion is that if you can get it full synthetic or blend at a lower price than convential then go ahead and use. Just don't expect that the old 216 is going ever going to know the difference. (Your modern car that calls for full synthetic may)

This guy on Youtube tests a lot of things. Here's his test on whether full synthetic causes leaks. (Video is long and he talks fast. So one has to pay attention.

Best,

Charlie

The synthetic leakage is more of an old wives tail. I have not experiaced any more seepage than with conventional oil.

Thanks to all for chiming in on this subject. Looks like quite a few are already using blended or full synthetic.

Dick

Blended only has to have >5% synthetic to be called a blend so often is not significantly different than plain Dino Squeezings...

The biggest advantage to synthetic is it stays well within spec over large temperature extremes. It doesn't get thick when it's cold, so cold starts cause less wear and easier cranking which is a plus for 6v cars. It also doesn't thin out when hot so it's possible to run slightly thinner oil which is good for the misting needed for lubing the splash engines.

Leaks are a very old wives tale and in fact the opposite is often true since synthetics hold to it's spec very well as above.

Here is a good article that highlights many points discussed on this chain. Use what works for you and your geographical location.

http://www.adlersantiqueautos.com/articles/motoroil.html

Most oil articles make me want to scream as they perpetuate the myths and misinformation but that is a decent article and he was smart enough to stay away from viscosities....

Note that Bob Adlers great oil article is from 25 years ago.

Oil is always a topic that creates a long chain on VCCA chats. I spent some time watching YouTube videos of various brands being tested and still was not sure which is the best for my truck.

The article of 25 years plus still has relevance in today's ever changing world. Classics will continue to prove itself till the end of time.

What brands do you all trust for your classic cars / trucks?

Any oi that bears the Petroleum institute seal is good oil.

Thanks

I wont claim to be a professional in the oil department but will state "oil is the cheapest spare part you can buy". I generally use 10w30 in older engines with (pre 2000) with low mileage or 10w40 on high mileage and which ever of the known brands is the cheapest, later engines get 5w30 still in the cheapest known brand available. The only variation I use is between petrol and diesel.
Tony

Who on here has had an engine die while in use ( seize up, burn up, get the heebie-jeebies) solely because of the oil in the crankcase?

Great point! I remember that one of our Vice Presidents of Engineering at Deere always said that we have a lot more trouble with customers who do not put any oil in an engine compared to those who do not use the appropriate oil.

I also agree with Charlie's post. These old engines don't know the difference but I am very cautious about which oils I put in my modern vehicles

Usually because of the oil that wasn't in the crankcase.

During the recent bushfires down here the army had several chainsaws to throw away, apparently "bar and chain"oil does not lubricate the engine very well.
Tony

I can give you a list of owner engine failures from engine oil. We had a rash of them in our GMC group about 12 years ago.
Adler's post is actually from about 15-16 years ago. His references are from 19 years ago. Also, note that 25 years there was still plenty of ZDDP in oil and that was not an issue.

I did a lot of research on this topic and wrote an article for This Old Truck (now Vintage Truck) on oils when the first engine failures started. Make no mistake that engines were dying due to oil at that time. To answer the question, the issue was (then) related to the substantial manufacturer reductions of ZDDP, Zinc DialkylDithioPhosphates, in oils resulting from fouling catalytic converters. While roller cam and modern engines can live with a lot less ZDDP, our flat tappet motors cannot. The ZDDP forms a molecular level coating on the cam and tappet to inhibit wear. We had a rash of cam failures when ZDDP reductions were done, but most of couldn't figure out why. The cams were wearing down quickly and failing. I have always run diesel engine oil in my vintage motors and diesel kept the ZDDP levels high for a number of years after the "car engine" oils reduced the levels. Then Diesel oils also reduced the ZDDP level and when that happened, I bought all the "old" diesel oil I could find and hoarded it like was paper towels and toilet paper today. With 1/2 dozen vintage GMC trucks, it didn't take long to burn that inventory - maybe 2 years. But that was the time needed for the manufacturers to address vintage flat tappet engine owners cries for help and develop a vintage engine oil which now is offered by many. I still run diesel engine oil in my vintage motors, but I buy and add ZDDP and have never had a problem. The brand I've been using is called ZDDP Plus. However, with the advent of manufacturers formulating oils with high ZDDP levels again, you have a lot of options.


Do your homework on this topic if you are concerned about hosing a flat tappet motor from ineffective oil use. I know nothing of synthetic oils except all say that you cannot use synthetic and then use conventional and then synthetic again in the same engine without risk. Go all in or none but using different types and brands of oil tends to open up incompatibility risk for flat tappet engines.

Generally speaking, in my experience, Zn and P levels in the 1300 ppm (each) range are the target concentration for flat tappet engines.

As someone else here stated, "what engine oil to use" is one of the most hotly debated topics out there for classic and collector vehicle owners. I'm not here to debate brands - I'm only sharing what I learned after destroying a new cam and what works for me.

Thank you for sharing that wonderful insight. I notice you and others use diesel oil's for gas engines. Can you explain this reasoning in more detail? Forgive me for asking so many questions, I just want to do right by my truck and I am learning a lot from everyone's wisdom and experiences.