GT40 Oil Again

[chris196]

I know this has been discussed before, but I'm having trouble finding Valvoline VR1 40W oil for my GT40.
My local Carquest stopped carrying it. I can find 50W, 60W or 20W-50.
What do folks think about the 20W-50?

Thanks

[jmo]

RE: GT40 Oil Again

Chris,

Do you live in a climate that is warm year round? If not, can you get Castrol 15w-40? It has the zinc additives your engine needs and gives you the 40 wieght viscosity your engine wants at operating temps, I would worry the 50 or 60 weight will make the engine sluggish. The first year I had my boat, I believe it had straight 30 or 40 weight oil in it and once it got cold (50's F) it didn't like it.

jmo

[8122pbrainard]

RE: GT40 Oil Again

I'd stick with the VR1 even if you can't find the straight weight. I've been running the 20 50 in all my boats.
The VR1 is classed as a "of road" so it doesn't need to meet the current API standards so it still has the high level of the ZDDP.

It's interesting to find this statedment directly from Castrol. It's from this : http://forums.noria.com/eve/forums/a...5/m/3011052071 From Castrol: "We are beginning to see a pattern emerging on older cars. It may be advantageous to use a non-approved lubricant, such as oils that are Diesel rated, 4 Cycle Motorcycle oils and other specified diesel oils."

[TRBenj]

RE: GT40 Oil Again

Id recommend 20w50 over the straight weight regardless. Im running the 20w50 VR1 in all of my boats, just like Pete.

[M3Fan]

RE: GT40 Oil Again

I had to special order the 40W VR-1 from my local Napa store. It was around 6.00 a quart!

[TRBenj]

RE: GT40 Oil Again

Ive found the same thing with NAPA- they usually have it, and can get it when they dont... but youll pay dearly for it! My local Acme has it for $3/qt. Nothing wrong with the 40w, but Ive had great experience with the 20w50 on all my Fords.

[jedgell]

RE: GT40 Oil Again

I'm using the 15W-40 Rotella in my GT-40, is this OK, or do I need to be using the straight 40? I'm in Montana so I'd like to use a multi-vis.

[TRBenj]

RE: GT40 Oil Again

Shell dropped the level of zinc in the multiweight Rotella. Id switch to the straight weight or VR1 (any grade).

[chris196]

RE: GT40 Oil Again

Ok, I'll go with the VR1 20-50.

Thanks

[mf01]

Re: RE: GT40 Oil Again

Shell dropped the level of zinc in the multiweight Rotella. Id switch to the straight weight or VR1 (any grade).

Straight weight Rotella has the same zinc as multiweight Rotella according to Shell. I was going to switch to straight weight until I emailed Shell.

[TRBenj]

Re: RE: GT40 Oil Again

Shell dropped the level of zinc in the multiweight Rotella. Id switch to the straight weight or VR1 (any grade).

Straight weight Rotella has the same zinc as multiweight Rotella according to Shell. I was going to switch to straight weight until I emailed Shell.

I was told the opposite by someone who spoke directly to a Shell engineer. I havent confirmed the exact zinc levels in either, as I switched to the VR1... but you'll notice that the straight weight and multivis Rotella dont meet the same API spec. More recent API revisions have lowered the max amount of zinc- FWIW.

[mf01]

RE: Re: RE: GT40 Oil Again

We had a very similar discussion in July, so I contacted shell. Here's the thread: http://planetnautique.com/index.php?...=101103#101103


Not sure what the right answer is, but the guy I talked to said they both have about 1200 ppm of Zinc. That is lower than the previous 1400, but both multi and straight Rotella supposedly have the same amount.

[Mikeski]

RE: Re: RE: GT40 Oil Again

IMO...

Ford motors - 40W straight if you let it warm up and don't ski in cold weather. If you are impatient and ski in warm weather I would use 20-40W.

Chevy motors - 15w-40 multigrade, I bought a 6 pack of Chevron DELO gallons about a year ago and have 3 left.

[jmo]

Check out this link to the spec page for Castrol 15w-40, its lists the Zinc content at 0.13 % weight. Not sure how that converts to parts per million to compare with the shell numbers. Of interest the straight weight HD30 & 40 they has has less zinc (0.09).

http://www.castrol.com/liveassets/bp...GTX_Diesel.pdf

[AirTool]

Check out this link to the spec page for Castrol 15w-40, its lists the Zinc content at 0.13 % weight. Not sure how that converts to parts per million to compare with the shell numbers.

1300 I believe. (% x 10,000) or decimail equivalent x 1,000,000