Hey fellas,
Anyone here have some good recommendations for a quality synthetic oil for a 1988 Chevy Camaro IROC 350? From what I know, the car has been running dino oil since day one. I'd like to convert over to a full synth. I just started running Pennzoil Platinum Full Synth in my 2000 Alero, would that be a good oil to run in the IROC? Also, the car has been running dino oil (last change was GM Goodwrench oil) and has more than 103,000 miles on it. Should I start the conversion to full synth by mixing dino and synth first or should I just go directly to synth?
When it comes to the filter, I've heard amazing things about those Purolator PurOne filters, and I was thinking about trying one on this car. Before I go purchase one, I wanted to see if there was anyone here who might have opinions on a different filter to use for this car, one that works well with synthetic oil.
The other question I have is when I do figure out which filter brand I will sport, what size filter should I use? When I did my first oil change, the person who owned it before had an oversized filter on it when compared to the OEM model that the manual calls for. Since then, I have been running the car with a standard OEM size AC/DELCO filter. Is it better for performance and filtering efficiency to run an oversized filter, and if so, what size do you recommend? Thanks in advance for your ideas and opinions!
JCRULZ

 

There is alot of huge debate on oils and filters...
You have alot of mileage. I do not recommend synthetics. They work "too" well and can cause oil leaks by cleaning the sludge that is actually keeping your engine from leaking in the first place.
Just run a normal dino oil brand. Hell, you can use "supertech by walmart" its made by quaker state. As long as you change your oil when you need to you will never have any problems I promise you.
As for a filter, some people debate about the bypass valves and integrity and but the fact of the matter is, as long as you change your oil when you are suppose to and the filter you will not have any problems even when you use a discounted brand. All oils and filters have to undergo testing and meet a certain criteria anyways.

 

ac delco makes good filters, keep running what you have. you could use a larger capacity filter, but there is no real need to. for oil, i've always liked castrol gtx. i used mobil 1 fully synthetic on my truck when i first got it, but it didn't make a difference that would justify the extra cost. i agree with nelapse, stick with the dino oil.

 

It really depends on what kind of driving you do with the car. Is it a daily driver? Just every now and then? Do you race with it? I generally put synthetic into whatever I can - less breakdown, same to better protection. I'm still debating brands, though - so I can't help you there. If you don't drive the car much, it probably doesn't matter what you put in it.

By the way - I run PureOne filters on my cars. I haven't had any problems with them, so I guess they work fine

 

I swapped to Mobil 1 with over a hundred thousand on the clock (motor, tranny, and rear end) with no ill effects--that is the leaks were no more prominent than they were before. I use an oversized A/C Delco filter.
After breakin-in on my new motor, I went to Mobil 1 again. A search will bring you up to speed on synthetic vs dino and on the various filters. These arguements seem more emotional than reasonable in some cases. IMO, keeping whatever you use fresh may be as, or more, important than type or brand.

JamesC

 

Rotella T and Fram Tough Gaurd filters. It cost about 18 dollars to buy the stuff from Wal Mart and you're on your way. Rotella T is diesel oil and has alot of zinc and manganese in it compared to regular oil; I run it in my Camaro and it was clean as a whistle at almost 200,000 miles when I did my valve spring change a few weeks ago. I also wouldn't recommend going to synthetic, chances are at that milleage you'll develop a leak.

 

As I states before everyone has a different take. You will not find a single right answer, since there are dozens.

 

JamesC

 

Wow, I figured I would get a lot of mixed opinions. Because I live in this tundra we call Maine, my IROC will only be my daily driver from May-Oct. When I do drive her though, I tend to like to press the pedal a lot. I mean, I'm not psychotic around every corner, but I do like to give it some. I have actually thought about slowly building it up to be a street rod, but that would be way down the road when I actually have something called money. I don't mind spending a bit more on the cheaper maintenance stuff like this if it is going to help the car run more efficiently. However, the idea of my IROC popping all these leaks because of a synthetic transfer kind of freaks me out. These knowledgable guys over at Bob Is The Oil Guy thinks I should run AutoRx as an additive for one cycle to clean her up and then switch to Valvoline MaxLife 10W-40. Anyone here have an opinion about Valvoline? I haven't heard much bad about it.
I know for a fact that it is true that changing the oil regularly is one of the most effective ways to preserve your engine. I had older cars that lasted forever because of good maintenance habits.
I'm almost positive I will go with a Purolator PureOne just because the cost is not that much different from the typical filter and they have great ratings on every website I have visited. About the oil, I'm going to do a bit more research but I will take every comment received from you guys into consideration. Especially from you guys, because you actually have experience with thirdgen cars.
JCRULZ
PS Hey Woods, I actually used Castrol GTX in all my old cars. I never had an issue with that stuff, good oil and the price is not terrible. I've actually heard great things about Castrol Hi Mileage too.

 

Purolators are great filters, The test I read online that recommended the Fram Tough Gaurd as the only good Fram filter recommended the Purolator highly. I used to run Castrol GTX but swapped to Rotella T because of the additional ammounts of Zinc and Manganese in it I never had a problem with Castrol, just wanted the added protection.

 

Valvoline is the same as every other oil. You know when they have oil comercials they say that they are the best. The reason is because they all are. There are government regulations on oils and additives for cars. They have strict requirements. One company may have one small additive different than another but the have all the same viscocity. Obviously, synthetic has a different molecular structure all together. But it cost 2-3 times more. In the long run you would spend alot of money for nothing. as long as you change your oil every 3k or 3 mons which ever comes first, it doesn't matter if you are using the walmart special, you will not get any buildup. Do what you want, the only wrong answer would be to say that there is one 'magic combo' because that my friend is incorrect.

 

91, I'll have to do some research over at Bobistheoilguy.com when it comes to the Rotella, I haven't really heard about it until you mentioned it. It is obvious that the product is working great in your car.
Nelapse, I know that almost every mainstream oil brand out there has to be at a certain level to meet governmental standards. But what I wonder is if there are oils that go above and beyond those average standards, and what the major difference might be if used regularly compared to the typical average oil. The whole idea of there possibly being a "magical combination" of oil and filter out there that perfectly suits our cars and gives them added life and performance is sort of intriguing and exciting. It kind of reminds me of all those crazy fools back in the end of the dark ages that practiced alchemy, looking to put together that right combination of random elements that would miraculously create gold. Well, on a lot lesser scale, I guess. This car is the nicest car I have had as of yet. I enjoy it very much, and I am just trying to put the best I can into this car on a limited budget. So do you think that self-proclaimed performance oils, such as Redline, Royal Purple, etc., may be sort of a hoax?

 

As stated, facts are hard to come by on this topic.

The primary lubricant regulations are actually industry standards. The government is only involved from an environmental standpoint, not from a what-goes-into-it standpoint. The industry has established standards to meet those requirements, as well as self-imposed requirements that keep both the auto manufacturers and lubricant suppliers happy.

These requirements say what an oil must do and what it can't do, and to some extent what must be in there and what can't be in there, but they don't say what an oil can do or to a large part what it has to be made of. There are many tests they must meet, including viscosity (a very small part of the equation), but exceeding the tests is where you're going to get the difference. Painting with a broad brush, a synthetic formulation will typically exceed the testing requirements while a petroleum-based forumulation will just meet them, or one petroleum-based oil will exceed different requirements than another petroleum-based oil will.

The big problem is that "synthetic" doesn't necessarily mean what "synthetic" meant a few years ago. For non-technical reasons, highly-refined petroleums can now be legally called "synthetic" (in the U.S., at least), so you need to understand what "they" mean when "they" say what's in the bottle is synthetic. Mobil 1, AMSOIL, Red Line, and Royal Purple used to all be "real" synthetics, be even some of them have now started using the "faux-synthetics" in certain product lines. Again with that broad brush, whatever is called "synthetic" will probably be superior to any petroleum-based oil, but you need to understand exactly what you're getting before you make any assumptions about it.

Having said all that, I've been using AMSOIL synthetics since 1983. I truly believe they make a superior product apples-to-apples over anyone else's, although some of what they make will be out-performed in certain applications by what others may sell. However, pick the right product, and you won't be disappointed.

With regard to oil filters, many have tried to one-up the others, with varying degrees of positive results. Again, though, I've been thoroughly convinced that the best available at any given time have been the AMSOIL line, and that is still currently true, but how good it has to be is again up for discussion. The primary reason I use the AMSOIL filters is because they will last the life of the oil change of the AMSOIL oil, which isn't the case with any other filter design. Since I change the oil at 25k or one year/season, whichever comes first, that is important to me.

FWIW, AMSOIL has a crankcase flush that works very well to get out the major portion of the petroleum-based oil deposits before you put the good stuff in. It won't clean out really heavy deposits, but it will prep the engine to reduce the contamination of the oil sooner than it would be otherwise.

 

I like what I have heard about the AMSoil line of products so far. In fact, I really haven't heard a single negative thing about AMSoil. My friend told me that he heard their air filters are also amazing, and he read reports that they totally out perform K&N by decent margins.

 

I think we are beating a horse, that died a long long time ago.

 

Yeah, I guess we are. I just like to hear what people have to offer here for opinions and facts. There are so many choices out there and being able to research like this helps to make the tedious job of oil changes more interesting. I could take all this info here and some researched info of my own and go out and most likely make a wise decision on what products I choose for my car. Thanks again guys.

 

 

what is the best synthetic oil to rum in your opinion? ive heard royal purple,mobil 1,amsoil, redline??????

 

Man, you should be arrested for cruelty to horse corpses !

 

Penzoil Platinumwith the larger WIX filter. Some of the best quality available locally. Lots of good info in this thread. Walmart and 0'Reilley's, done and Done.