Hey there,

Finally got my own car a 1989 Firebird Formula Now since it had been neglected the past few years it's now time for me to give it some serious attention. First of all I'll change all the fluids to give it a tune up with all filters and stuff.

Now my question is, what is the best engine oil for the TBI engine? I read that I need SEA 30 in my chiltons manual but I have no idea what kind of make is the best. Also whats with the break fluid and with the transmission oil. Any ideas?

Thanks alot for your help, and btw, here's the link to my baby

Warning might load a bit long
http://www.sunsetsensations.com/3rdg...ula/index.html

 

Damn man, that's pretty clean for one in Switzerland. Very nice I definately got a lot of looks riding around in 2000 LS1 Trans-Am in Europe.

Your topic might be better suited for the General Tech Section, but I'll summarize what you'll probably fine there. . .

MOBIL 1

 

I agree. This gets asked an awfull lot and it usually turns into a flame fest with everyone arguing. To avoid some of this I would try a few searches for best oil to use. You should find that there is tons of info debating the best lubes to go with.

 

Mobil (now Exxon Mobil) and Albermarle (spelling?) are the ONLY suppliers of Group 5 base oils. Most "Synthetics" on the market are Group 3.

There are 5 full synthetic oils on the market, I only remember three of them:

Mobil 1
Amsoil
Redline

The other two are very small limited suppliers, like Amsoil. All 5 manufacturers use one of the two base oils listed above, then mix in their own additives, balancers, and preservatives.

Castrol Syntec, Quaker State, or any other large-volume company that markets a "synthetic" oil is only a Group 3 base oil. The scale ranges from Group 1 - Group 5, and the accuracy of weights contained therein vary accordingly. If you have a Group 1 oil that is 30 weight, it has molecule chains that have every weight imaginable, from 1 to inifinity...and the average is 30. In a group 5 base oil, EVERY molecule chain is 30. No variation. The Groups in between are just that, in-between oils with increasing accuray of the molecular chain weights. The Group 5 oil producers actually took the other companies to court because their "synthetics" were Base 3, and the courts ruled that it was "close enough" so they were allowed to continue marketing Group 3 base oils as synthetic.


So, to answer your original question, I recommend a full synthetic from one of the companies above, my personal choice is Mobil 1. However, if you change your oil regularly (every 3-5K miles) you would be fine with any well-known manufacturers dino (regular grade) oil.