What is the best oil to use in an 82 camaro? I purchased a 10W-30 full synthetic motor oil, just want to ask the experts before I dump something in my engine.

That's fine. Opinions vary widely on what's "best".

What people prefer to use would probably be a better way to find what you're looking for.

I personally only run synthetic in my 2000 SS because that's what it came with. I run Valvoline VR1 non synthetic in my 86 camaro.

I use Valvoline 10w-30 with a AC Delco filter in my zz4. its All on what you want to run. everybody has there own opinion on whats good and whats not.

I get what your saying, depends on the person, thanks for the input though I appreciate it. Just figured I'd run it by the expert because I just recently picked my 82 up and the basic necessities weren't kept up.

I run on my 86 camaro Castrol GTX. expensive yes. but I do know not to us Penzoil yellow bottle cant' remember how to use it. Seems to lunch motors. But i used valvoline its also good. I seen good results when i changed the oil with Castrol GTX 10w30. Not so sludgy like molasses.

id like to ask my own question, on the topic of "best oil":
Ive been told running full synthetic can have negative effects on a motor thats lived on non-synthetic, anybody have any idea on switching to full synthetic? (im fairly certain the car currently has non-synthetic, but i only got it three days ago, so i cant be certain. figured it'd be best to change out all fluids myself so i can be certain its up to date.)

But dino oil is more eco friendly, it comes out of the ground, so when your done with it, you can just pour it right back where it came from.

Plus dino oil is solor power generated. The sun grew the plants, that feed the animals that feed the other animals and when all 3 died, tunred into oil.

You can't get no greener then that.

With an '82 flat tappet engine you ware going to want an oil with lots of anti ware addtives. So stay away from mobil 1.
A synthetic diesel engine oil is a cheap alternative to an overly thick and pricey racing oil or desigener oil like royal purple.

Diesel oils don't have a lot of zinc anymore either. They also produce sludge in gasoline engines. Better to use an additive. See this article:
http://www.hotrod.com/pitstop/hrdp_0...ive/index.html

Just get the right diesel oil, one rated CI-4++/SL (pre-2007) and it'll have the ZDDP anti-wear additives.

Personally I'm using AMSOIL Series 3000 5W-30 http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/hdd.aspx in my flat-tappet engines (well, "engine" - I only have one flat tappet engine left).

From what Ive always understood is that, if you r car ahs been running none synthetic and you switch to syn...its bad ****ing news. I gyu I know bought a porsche and switched to syn. What happened was that all the sludge from the previous oil loosened from the engine and gunked up the everything.

With that been said....I personally have always stuck with what the enginie has had. Its up to you...but just get a good quality engine oil such as recommended by others on here.

I run Mobil1 10-40 in my car, but it's got a roller cam, so it doesn't need the additive. Also, I usually find the best deals on oil at wal-mart - the 5qt jug of Mobil1 is around 22 bucks, cheaper than buying individual quarts. They also have syntec, and a few other synthetics that come in the 5qt jugs.

Oh, and gumby, I think if you pour enough used dino oil onto the ground, the EPA will eventually come knock on your door

I agree with Ward on the walmart prices... and i decided to not use the Mobil 1 full synthetic and just keep using a non-synthetic with kdp additive. Thanks for the advice.

In my '86 Camaro i use Castrol GTX, i had been thinking of switching to royal purple though.. Would this be bad/cause problems?

it will only hurt your wallet :-)

I don't think you need to worry about zinc additives on a well broke in engine, just on engines with new flat tappet cam and lifters. I recently read an oil test and the result was 5w-20 made the most horsepower. I recommend Valvoline synthetic.

Bought my ride in April of 92 with 34,020 miles. Who knows what oil it had it in before that. Did the first few oil changes with regular mineral oil, mostly Pennzoil, then switched to full syn Pennzoil at 43,021 miles. Maybe ran 2 changes with the Pennzoil, then switched to Mobil 1 full syn. Been running that ever since, car now has about 77,700 miles. I haven't had any issues, and not really any leaks, maybe just a tiny bit around oil pan.

Sure the full syn is pricey, but a better quality oil, no matter what brand. The new Corvettes come with Mobil 1 full syn......
Royal Purple also got good reviews, but no doubt the most expensive. Amsoil would also be a good choice, but that is pricey as well. Their claim is to go lots of miles on 1 change, so in long run doesnt cost you as much.
good to see what folks are running.......

Only thing I don't like about RP is the color, I used it in my new trans and its god awful hard to read on the stick. Had to sand blast the stick to make it dull to help some.

With an engine even new carbon will get in and make it darker so thats no problem.

But if I did it again id go RedLine in my trans so I could see it easier.

Yes stay away from any thing rated "SM".
I looked at the new rotella oil at wall mart today and rotella is SM rated now. Guess I will have to find something else.
Mobil 1 "Racing 4T" and "V-twin" oil have a ton of zinc, nearly 3 times as much as standard mobil 1 oil. But those oils are expensive and seasonal in most walmarts because they are mostly used in bikes and ATVs.

I was running Quacker State in my truck, that is just becuase it has Zinc additives in it. I need to run that because of my Cam and valve train. I would say stay away from bargain store brands and stick with well known name brands and from there it is mostly personal opinion on which is the best.

worked at a lube shop for years. Anyone else ever notice that quaker state/pennzoil usually smells like rotten eggs out of a fresh bottle? I like RP, ammsoil, Mobil 1, Syntec and I personally run castrol syntec 5w30 and K&N oil filters. only cause i get the filters for 6 bucks. as long as its a quality filter like delco, kralinater, wix etc.

i know you were joking, but animals make oil, plants make coal...
haha

as for the oil, go for it.

good site to check out.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/

100,000 oil threads I have seen

Oil is just hydrocarbon chains like gasoline. they are just heavier chains- more than 8 carbons per. A chemist may use the word "alkanes" to describe engine oil carbon chains OR gasoline OR butane OR propane etc...

They perform the chemical reaction known as "combustion" under the right conditions. That is, the free radical chain reaction in which oxygen radicals attack and break the C-H bonds forming CO2 and H2O releasing HEAT thanks to the greater stability of the new formed bonds.

Ah, the question about oil quality. Not all oils are similar, and yet they are. The weight should match the clearances of the journals in the engine- a tight clearance calls for a thin oil. If your pre-2002 V8 engine is OEM or rebuilt, in either case, the bearing clearance will be large enough to use a 10-30 oil of any brand. From there, you need to decide on the operating conditions. If the engine will be getting VERY HOT such as driving around a track at full performance for several hours, a thicker oil should be used because the hotter oil gets the thinner it gets. Also, as it mixes with gasoline, it becomes more "thin" aka contaminated due to the presence of short carbon chains of gasoline (5-8 carbons long).

An oil pressure gauge that is ACCURATE should be your monitoring device for oil performance. You can follow the 10/1000 rule, 10psi for every 1000RPM, as a general safety protocol. You should record your oil pressure at different temperatures, so that any inconsistancys will be noted IMMEDIATELLY (wow yesterday it was 20PSI at idle and now its 5 WTF!)

besides this, change it often as possible.

Oh, you wanted an oil recommendation too?
Either buy the cheapest (least additives)
or buy some nice synthetic oil
Or mix the two together in any proportion (my favorite method for the daily driver)

buying regular mineral oil that isnt the cheapest is like buying 89 octane. WTF!

to clarify, the 10/1000 rule (very good rule of thumb btw) is a minumum, so at 1000 rpms, you want a minimum of 10 psi, but more is better... to a point

Not true.

Also not true. The ZDDP in the break-in oil may protect for an oil change or two, but eventually, you'll start getting excessive wear with an oil that has the limited/reduced ZDDP levels.

Because of its thinner viscosity, not due to protection from wear. Unless your engine was built with tighter clearances for the thinner oil, you shouldn't use it.

One of the cheapest (for the manufacturer, not the user) synthetic base stocks out there. Technically, it's not a synthetic, but is allowed to be called "synthetic" by regulatory fiat.

I clicked on this thread expecting to see a LOT of misinformation, all i have to say is five7 saved me a bunch of typing.

Kingtalon, sure base oil may be just a chain of hydrocarbons, but you must understand that there is a lot more to actual motor oil than the base.

Figure I would throw my opinion in here also since everyone else is. I use Valvoline VR1 20w-50 oil.

http://valvoline.com/products/consum...e-motor-oil/6/

Everything else everyone else uses is cr@p.

Nice technical input there.

Hey, its as informative as I can make it. I just got to work and I'm still needing some sleep.

QFT.

lol @ valvoline.

My latest winter beater had 305k miles on dino oil when I got it and I switched it to full synthetic shortly after and now have 314k miles on it with no issues at all. All my previous vehicles have been switched to synthetic at higher mileage but this was the most extreme. Just trying to stop a stupid myth from continuing to spread.

There really is no "best", sure, one may out-perform the other, not by much though.

I've always liked Valvoline. I used Valvoline in the transmission of my YZ250, which was essentially an all out race bike, revved to over 14 grand, that transmission went through a lot of crap.

A lot of sub 4 second 0-60 times, sure do miss it.

How about this one:
I have a couple hundred miles on a fresh-built engine. Gonna do my "first" oil-change on this engine.
What do you recommend?
Break-in oil was dino. Zero oil-leaks. I always use a "truck" type oil filter for the extra half-quart capacity.
One time I tried to switch to synthetic oil on a high mileage engine and I had LOTS of oil leaks afterwards,,anyone ever had "this" happen. This was 10 or 12 years ago maybe synthetic has changed or maybe it already "had" leaks and I just didn't notice. 10 years is a long time for an old-guy.
I also figured that oil-companies are the richest people in the world and "none" of them would put out a sub-standard product.
I also figured that the bargain-type oils were made by the "big-boys" anyway.
Now; THATS thinking with your "DIP-Stick",,,,,,,,,,,,,,Jimmy..

The drain back or cold flow rate was my only problem with full syn.

Sitting for 2-3 days on cold stay up id get lifter tick til lthey pumped back up.

With regular dino I can let it sit for a week plus and get no noise on start up.

The full syn just flows to well and drains right out of the lifters.
[V8 car]

5w-20 made the most horsepower.”

Thin azz oil will do that, can find guys at the track running a quart ore more low to gain HP but they don’t care about longevity.


I run about a 1/2 quart over full, flame away but I want to read full on the stick, with the top end full of oil.

Piss on a few HP for the added protection.

I do that on all my cars n bikes.

I cringe every time I see a "best oil" thread, because I know there will be a bunch of misinformation in it before long.

For instance. . .

I use castrol edge 5 w30 all year round with a can of Restore.
next year I'm going to add a Dual Remote Oil Bypass Unit

I use valvoline, It is kinda a family thing going back to my grandpa, so it is well tested. We use it in all are cars and have had great results. I use a 10W-30 for my V6 Camaro and a 10W-40 for the V8 El Camino.

In most cases it's not WHAT you change the oil with, but WHEN and HOW often you change it.

I run 10w-30 Brad Penn racing oil. It has the high phosperous and zinc levels. Its USA oil refined and pumped out of Pennsylvania. Expensive yes, but i would rather have something I can trust and know does a great job. I also broke my engine in with their break in oil. Its great stuff and does a great job. I have talked to several different machine shops that do full out race engines and stock rebuilds and they recommended it so i bought some and haven't looked back. I only change my oil once a season anyway so its not going to break the bank.

Im also running a flat tappet motor so I need the higher levels of zinc and phosphorous.

i heard of that oil it in a off-brand looking bottle and is great stuff where you buy yours because i can't find it in any auto parts store in NJ that sells it. and since you don't seen to be to far off from me

THANK YOU, SO REAL ADVISE THROWN IN TO THE MIX!!!
3000 miles or less/ 3 months or less
which ever come first!!!!


<----Castrol 10w 40 FULL senthetic, K N filter (A Z deal, Half price on total package deal...)

I feel your pain. I didn't even bother reading much of this, It messes with my eyes when people do not type in paragraph form.

It's just sentence after sentence of mis-information, with no spaces in between.

Another. . .

simple if you don't change your oil & filter
this will happen...... simple just change it every 3000 miles and use a good brand ....

Oversimplified, actually.

You have to be operating the engine under mighty severe conditions to need 3000 mile oil changes to avoid what you showed in your pic. A quality synthetic (not these faux synthetics out there) can easily go 25k/1 year without leaving deposits or compromising wear protection.

wow 25k castrol EDGE is just at 15k mark for oil life.

i drive 50-320 miles a day between 5 states spend 1-3 hours in traffic now the 3000 is my little rule or to the oil is near black or dark brown and My company pays for it so why not

and i beat the living hell out my engine between nitrous and just a heavy foot.