Engine oil
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Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 57
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Car: 85 Camaro Z28
Engine oil
Hey guys, first time im changing oil on my 1985 z28 and what would be the best type of oil to put in it? Its a 1985 z28 with about 145,000 miles on it. I live in New York if that helps. Please let me know what you guys think?
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 415
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From: Pasco, WA
Car: 88 Iroc Z, 00 SS
Engine: 5.7 HSR, 5.7 LS1
Transmission: 700r4, T56
Axle/Gears: 3.23, 3.42
Re: Engine oil
5w-30, alot of guys like running synthetics like Mobil1 or Royal Purple, but if you dont feel like spending 70 on an oil change you can just run regular oil. We run valvoline on the other cars at my house and it hasn't ever given us issues. Although I do recommend running a good oil filter like a WIX, K&N or Napa Gold, its worth the extra 10 dollars over a Fram
Supreme Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 2,036
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From: knoxville tn
Car: 86 IROC
Engine: 5.0 TPI
Transmission: 700-R-4
Axle/Gears: 2.73 open
Re: Engine oil
5w30 is allright for a engine that has less than 80,000 miles ,however i find as the miles go up, so should the viscosity.i reccomend castrol GTX 10-40 or 20-50 for your car .it will run cooler and quieter for longer.and i agree with the other poster you cant do better than a wix filter
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 84
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From: Central Square, NY
Car: 1984 Camaro sport coupe
Engine: 5.0(H/O) 305 carb'd
Transmission: TCI St. Fitr stge 2 700r4 man.valve
Axle/Gears: stock gears, Limited Slip
Re: Engine oil
5w-30, alot of guys like running synthetics like Mobil1 or Royal Purple, but if you dont feel like spending 70 on an oil change you can just run regular oil. We run valvoline on the other cars at my house and it hasn't ever given us issues. Although I do recommend running a good oil filter like a WIX, K&N or Napa Gold, its worth the extra 10 dollars over a Fram
5w30 is allright for a engine that has less than 80,000 miles ,however i find as the miles go up, so should the viscosity.i reccomend castrol GTX 10-40 or 20-50 for your car .it will run cooler and quieter for longer.and i agree with the other poster you cant do better than a wix filter
i choose the Royal purple oil filter(yes they make them now for our gen camaro/birds) WIX i have never heard of until i watched Pinks All Out tv show. Fram had manufacturing issues couple years back with their filters, their issue was: the glue that they said they used to hold the filter together was coming off and going into the oil into the engines and causing problems, so i stay away from Fram. NAPA Gold is good choice i agree with that but i still stick with royal Purple. as for the weight of oil (i.e. 10w 30) it would behoov you to get a HIGH MILEAGE oil, Castrol makes a great one so does Mobile 1.
I agree and disagree with the 2 guys im quoting above, but its a matter of preference.
Supreme Member
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 4,526
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From: Henrietta NY
Car: 1984 Trans Am L69
Engine: Sniper EFI Powered 355
Transmission: WC T5 w/ Steel Support Plate
Axle/Gears: 3.42 10 Bolt Posi
Re: Engine oil
I like rotella T 15w40 with extra zinc for flat tappet cams. And less than $20 for a gallon.
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 84
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From: Central Square, NY
Car: 1984 Camaro sport coupe
Engine: 5.0(H/O) 305 carb'd
Transmission: TCI St. Fitr stge 2 700r4 man.valve
Axle/Gears: stock gears, Limited Slip
Supreme Member
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 4,526
Likes: 238
From: Henrietta NY
Car: 1984 Trans Am L69
Engine: Sniper EFI Powered 355
Transmission: WC T5 w/ Steel Support Plate
Axle/Gears: 3.42 10 Bolt Posi
Re: Engine oil
Probably because Rotella T is a good oil. It had more zddp than most oils and is great for and designed for flat tappet cams. It does not break down easily. Their 5w synthetic is even better. I have read a lot of blackstone tests of rotella vs other brands such as mobile one and rotella often comes out on top
I guess I could be wrong but I usually trust independent lab tests such as blackstone. Who did the testing that makes you think the oil is bad?
here is an example
Left is Shell Rotella-T @ 8100 miles, second column is the avg., and the third column is Mobil 1 @ 2600 miles.
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From: ms. gulf coast
Car: 91 R/S , 89 dodge p/u
Engine: L31 GM crate re-cammed , 318
Transmission: T-5 , 4 speed auto
Axle/Gears: 3.42 , ?
Re: Engine oil
asking brands/types of motor oil is like asking types of underwear you prefer . (i prefer fruit of the loom boxers) almost all major brands of 5/10w30 are fine for a regular driver . if you are a new owner i would try a can of eng. flush just before drain . it would help clean out any crud that might in the eng. good luck .
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From: Readsboro, VT
Car: 85 IROC-Z / 88 GTA
Engine: 403 LSx (Pending) / 355 Tuned Port
Transmission: T56 Magnum (Pending) / T5
Axle/Gears: 3.42 / ?
Re: Engine oil
The reasons there are so many opinions is because few people know enough about oil to know any better. Spend some time on the Bob Is The Oil Guy forums if you want a real oil education.
That said, while some may be better than others, they all get the job done. In most of my cars I run Wal Mart oils unless something is on sale. Changing your oil on time is way more important than the brand you use.
That said, while some may be better than others, they all get the job done. In most of my cars I run Wal Mart oils unless something is on sale. Changing your oil on time is way more important than the brand you use.
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Joined: Jan 2000
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From: Mercedes Norte, Heredia, Costa Rica
Car: 1984 Z28 Hardtop
Engine: 383 Carb
Transmission: 4L60
Axle/Gears: 3.54 Dana 44
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 84
Likes: 0
From: Central Square, NY
Car: 1984 Camaro sport coupe
Engine: 5.0(H/O) 305 carb'd
Transmission: TCI St. Fitr stge 2 700r4 man.valve
Axle/Gears: stock gears, Limited Slip
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Posts: 962
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From: Canada
Car: 1979 Malibu
Engine: Blown LSx
Transmission: T56 Magnum
Axle/Gears: 9"/wavetrac/35's/3.70
Re: Engine oil
I like Joe Gibbs Hot rod oil, High zinc, lots of rust inhibitors(good for people that dont drive their car in the winter. and its reasonably priced. Id go witht he HR-2 which is a 10W30.
Supreme Member
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 4,526
Likes: 238
From: Henrietta NY
Car: 1984 Trans Am L69
Engine: Sniper EFI Powered 355
Transmission: WC T5 w/ Steel Support Plate
Axle/Gears: 3.42 10 Bolt Posi
Re: Engine oil
I found another rotella blackstone from September almost 10k miles on the oil and still over 1200ppm zddp awesome
Just got my UOA back on this vehicle. VERY happy with the results! Im not sure how to post their report on here so I will type it out. Duramax LBZ. Oil was rotella 15w40 CJ-4. MIles on truck 61,339. MIles on oil were 9,054 miles in about 5 months. One quart of makeup oil added halfway thru run. No additives added to oil. I did run fuel injector additives in the fuel though. I also noted that this truck is "tuned" being that I added more power to it, and they mentioned if I would not have mentioned that to them, that the could not even tell. Oil filter was a bosch "distance" plus with two "filtermags" installed. They noted that they found a "trace" of fuel but it was no concern. TBN read strong at 7.2! EGR system is disabled on this truck I wanted to add also. I tow hard with this vehicle (13,000 pound trailer) in summer months....and I can now be rest assured that dino HDEO used for reasonable intervals are the way to go! HOWEVER.... just to be different..for my next run I will be trying out the rotella T6 synthetic for a longer interval. I wanted to run this batch at least until the "change oil light" message came on...but I got skeered only because I added the computer tuner to this truck and was worried about that taking it's toll even more on this oil with possible fuel dilution. This obviously was not an issue and blackstone recommended to run this oil next time to 11,000 miles and then UOA.
Here are the rest of the numbers...
Aluminum 2
Chromium 1
Iron 18
Copper 2
Lead 3
Tin 0
Molybdenum 5
Silver 1
Titanium 0
Potassium 7
Boron 27
Silicon 8
Sodium 3
Calcium 2477
Magnesium 33
Phosphorus 1120
Zinc 1237
Barium 0
SUS Viscosity @ 210 f 77.4
cst viscosity @ 100 c 14.86
Flashpoint F 420
Fuel % TRACE
Atifreeze % 0.0
Water % 0.0
Insolubles % 0.2
TBN 7.2
Here are the rest of the numbers...
Aluminum 2
Chromium 1
Iron 18
Copper 2
Lead 3
Tin 0
Molybdenum 5
Silver 1
Titanium 0
Potassium 7
Boron 27
Silicon 8
Sodium 3
Calcium 2477
Magnesium 33
Phosphorus 1120
Zinc 1237
Barium 0
SUS Viscosity @ 210 f 77.4
cst viscosity @ 100 c 14.86
Flashpoint F 420
Fuel % TRACE
Atifreeze % 0.0
Water % 0.0
Insolubles % 0.2
TBN 7.2
Supreme Member
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 3,178
Likes: 48
From: Tracy, CA
Car: '87 IROC
Engine: LB9
Transmission: TH700R4
Re: Engine oil
The reasons there are so many opinions is because few people know enough about oil to know any better. Spend some time on the Bob Is The Oil Guy forums if you want a real oil education.
That said, while some may be better than others, they all get the job done. In most of my cars I run Wal Mart oils unless something is on sale. Changing your oil on time is way more important than the brand you use.
That said, while some may be better than others, they all get the job done. In most of my cars I run Wal Mart oils unless something is on sale. Changing your oil on time is way more important than the brand you use.
Just run an API certified oil in the proper viscosity with a good oil filter and you'll be fine.
I avoid all E-Core type oil filters (plastic cage). Here's a couple of E-Cores that came off two different vehicles in my family fleet. E-Cores include some ACDelco and some Super Techs. YMMV:
Super Tech 3614 removed from a 1998 Lexus LS400 - Unsupported filter media. If that piece of filter media broke off there's noting to prevent it from getting into the oil passages.
Same Super Tech 3614
Super Tech 3980 removed from a 1992 Lumina Euro
Same Super Tech 3980 - Plastic "Cage" - Short Shot Mold Defect
I run Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30 and Bosch Premium oil filters in my '03 Safari, '98 LS400, '92 Lumina and '87 IROC.
The '87 Legend gets Delo 15w-40 and a Fram (
) cartridge filter. 
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Re: Engine oil
I was thinking of using Rotella 15-40 in my high mileage 86 camaro 305 tpi. I dont see what it would hurt and I can get it free where I work because we use it in our road tractors.
Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 44
Likes: 4
From: York, Pa
Car: 1989 IROC-Z
Engine: 5.7L
Transmission: 700R4
Re: Engine oil
Zombie thread...
I use the Rotella in my old cars, pre-1980. 87 and older should have roller cams, no need to worry about zinc content. 15w-40 is a little ‘heavy’ for stock 305/350 with a roller, IMO.
I use the Rotella in my old cars, pre-1980. 87 and older should have roller cams, no need to worry about zinc content. 15w-40 is a little ‘heavy’ for stock 305/350 with a roller, IMO.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 576
Likes: 507
Car: 1989 Firebird GTA
Engine: Motown Aluminum 427
Transmission: TH400/GVO
Axle/Gears: Dana 44 IRS 3.75:1
Re: Engine oil
http://speedtalk.com/forum/viewtopic...c1c1c3#p433871
Most technically inclined gearheads understand the value of real world, motor oil “load carrying capacity/film strength” testing. The results show us how various oils compare when it comes to wear protection. And we can use that information to make an informed decision as to which oil we want to select for our engines.
Though, there are some folks who are extremely set in their beliefs about what they’ve always been told and read, regarding high zinc oils providing excellent wear protection. But, the truth is, like all things in life, motor oils are NOT all created equal. And some oils are simply better than others, no matter what their zinc levels are. Anyone would have to be delusional to think otherwise. And “Wear Testing”, RATHER THAN ZINC LEVELS ALONE, can show us how various oils stack up against each other regarding wear protection capability, as you will see in the real world test data below.
Some folks, who REALLY believe the notion that more zinc in their oil will provide more wear protection, often throw a tizzy fit and get very nasty when test data shows a low zinc oil providing better wear protection than a high zinc oil. But, the fact is, behavior like that will NOT change the facts regarding what oils provide excellent wear protection and what oils do not. However, to keep everyone’s blood pressure down this time, we’ll look at ONLY HIGH ZINC OILS here. That way, all the oils are on an even playing field. However, true zinc lovers will no doubt be disappointed, because not all high zinc oils tested well, even though they all have plenty of zinc.
And keep in mind for comparison with the oils below, that earlier oil industry testing has found that above 1,400 ppm, ZDDP INCREASED long term wear, even though break-in wear was reduced. And it was also found that ZDDP above 2,000 ppm, started attacking the grain boundaries in the iron, resulting in camshaft spalling. So, no matter what zinc fans might “believe”, there is such a thing as "too much of a good thing".
The following group of 40 oils have zinc levels above 1100 ppm, and are ranked according to their “load carrying capacity/film strength”, or in other words, their “wear protection capability”, at 230*F. The tests were repeated multiple times for each oil, and even though all the results for each oil were consistent within a few percent, those results were averaged to arrive at the most accurate and representative final psi numbers shown below. And every single oil was tested EXACTLY THE SAME, so they all had the same opportunity to perform as well as their chemical formulation would allow.
But, before we get into the ranking list of those 40 oils, let’s take a closer look at one of those oils in particular. The oil is:
10W40 Summit Racing Premium Racing Oil, API SL conventional
The bottle makes some bold claims, such as:
* Double the zinc for superior flat tappet cam protection.
* The additive package contains 1800 ppm ZDDP, providing levels of protection unattainable from conventional motor oil. Provides excellent protection from metal to metal contact.
Problem is, this oil fell FAR SHORT of living up to that inflated boasting. These claims were obviously created by the Marketing Department with no regard for what this oil can actually do. This oil ranked a pathetic 85th out of the 94 new oils I’ve tested so far. And it ranked only 34th out of the 40 oils examined here. Once again, here is an oil with high levels of zinc that DID NOT help it perform very well, even among other high zinc oils. Buyer beware. Motor oils are among the worst products for false advertising.
Now let’s consider the claim on its bottle of 1800ppm ZDDP. Since Oil Companies typically don’t publish the ZDDP values of their oil, I sent this oil to Professional Lab, ALS Tribology in Sparks, Nevada, to see just what is really in it, and to see how that claim of 1800ppm ZDDP compares to reality. Here are the results that came back:
zinc = 1764 ppm
phos = 1974 ppm
NOTE: Most of the time, an oil’s zinc level is higher than its phos level, but the phos level here is greater than the zinc level. That is NOT a typo. That is how this oil’s results came back from the Lab. I’ve seen phos levels higher than zinc levels in approximately 40% of all the oils I’ve sent in for component level Lab Testing. So, it varies and just depends on a particular oil’s formulation. And the values listed below are all just the way they came back from the Lab.
If you average the zinc and phos values of this Summit Racing Oil, you come up with 1869 ppm. And that value is of course more than the 1800 ppm ZDDP claimed, so it appears they’ve averaged the values and then rounded down to the nearest 100 ppm, to be on the conservative side.
And since the ZDDP values are not usually available for most oils, we’ll calculate the ZDDP values for all the oils below, in the same manner as this oil, which should get us very close, if not right on target. But, for quick and dirty mental calculations, you can just figure the ZDDP value as approximately half way between the zinc and phos levels.
Here’s the ranking list:
Wear protection reference categories are:
*** Over 90,000 psi = OUTSTANDING protection
*** 75,000 to 90,000 psi = GOOD protection
*** 60,000 to 75,000 psi = MODEST protection
*** Below 60,000 psi = UNDESIREABLE
The higher the psi number, the better the wear protection.
1. 10W30 Lucas Racing Only synthetic = 106,505 psi
zinc = 2642 ppm
phos = 3489 ppm
ZDDP= 3000 ppm
NOTE: This oil is suitable for short term racing use only, and is not suitable for street use.
2. 10W30 Valvoline NSL (Not Street Legal) Conventional Racing Oil = 103,846 psi
zinc = 1669 ppm
phos = 1518 ppm
ZDDP = 1500 ppm
NOTE: Due to its very low TBN value, this oil is only suitable for short term racing use, and is not suitable for street use.
3. 10W30 Valvoline VR1 Conventional Racing Oil (silver bottle) = 103,505 psi
zinc = 1472 ppm
phos = 1544 ppm
ZDDP = 1500 ppm
4. 10W30 Valvoline VR1 Synthetic Racing Oil, API SL (black bottle) = 101,139 psi
zinc = 1180 ppm
phos = 1112 ppm
ZDDP = 1100 ppm
5. 30 wt Red Line Race Oil synthetic = 96,470 psi
zinc = 2207 ppm
phos = 2052 ppm
ZDDP = 2100 ppm
NOTE: This oil is suitable for short term racing use only, and is not suitable for street use.
6. 10W30 Amsoil Z-Rod Oil synthetic = 95,360 psi
zinc = 1431 ppm
phos = 1441 ppm
ZDDP = 1400 ppm
7. 10W30 Quaker State Defy, API SL semi-synthetic = 90,226 psi
zinc = 1221 ppm
phos = 955 ppm
ZDDP = 1000 ppm
8. 10W30 Joe Gibbs HR4 Hotrod Oil synthetic = 86,270 psi
zinc = 1247 ppm
phos = 1137 ppm
ZDDP = 1100 ppm
9. 15W40 RED LINE Diesel Oil synthetic, API CJ-4/CI-4 PLUS/CI-4/CF/CH-4/CF-4/SM/SL/SH/EO-O = 85,663 psi
zinc = 1615 ppm
phos = 1551 ppm
ZDDP = 1500 ppm
10. 5W30 Lucas API SM synthetic = 76,584 psi
zinc = 1134 ppm
phos = 666 ppm
ZDDP = 900 ppm
11. 5W50 Castrol Edge with Syntec API SN, synthetic, formerly Castrol Syntec, black bottle = 75,409 psi
zinc = 1252 ppm
phos = 1197 ppm
ZDDP = 1200 ppm
12. 5W30 Royal Purple XPR (Extreme Performance Racing) synthetic = 74,860 psi
zinc = 1421 ppm
phos = 1338 ppm
ZDDP = 1300 ppm
13. 5W40 MOBIL 1 TURBO DIESEL TRUCK synthetic, API CJ-4, CI-4 Plus, CI-4, CH-4 and ACEA E7 = 74,312 psi
zinc = 1211 ppm
phos = 1168 ppm
ZDDP = 1100 ppm
14. 15W40 CHEVRON DELO 400LE Diesel Oil, conventional, API CJ-4, CI-4 Plus, CH-4, CF-4,CF/SM, = 73,520 psi
zinc = 1519 ppm
phos = 1139 ppm
ZDDP = 1300 ppm
So, as you saw above, the highest ranking high zinc oil that provided the BEST WEAR PROTECTION of this group of 40 high zinc oils, had 3000 ppm ZDDP. But, the lowest ranking high zinc oil had one third MORE ZDDP at 4000 ppm. Even though this lowest ranked oil had far more zinc in it, it provided LESS THAN HALF AS MUCH WEAR PROTECTION, making it by far the worst of all 40 oils tested. Then the 4th place oil had only 1100 ppm ZDDP, and the 7th place oil had only 1000 ppm ZDDP.
So, the results above show 2 distinct things:
1. My tester and test procedure have no problem at all showing excellent performing high zinc oils. Therefore, no one can justifiably argue that my testing somehow works against high zinc oils. The absolute fact is, my oil testing performs worst case torture testing on motor oil. So, an oil HAS TO BE GOOD to produce good results. And we saw many high zinc oils with excellent results here. So, when the naysayers slam the value of my testing, they’re also saying at the same time, that high zinc oils are no good, since my testing shows excellent high zinc oils to provide excellent protection. They can’t have it both ways.
2. This is ABSOLUTE PROOF that not all high zinc oils have equal wear protection capabilities, which is the whole point I’ve been making for well over a year now. And why would anyone think that all high zinc oils are good? Not all tires are good. Not all cylinder heads are good. Not all camshafts are good. The world just doesn’t work that way. Some high zinc oils are quite good and provide excellent wear protection, while other high zinc oils are not good at all, and provide rather poor wear protection. It just depends on the particular oil in question. And that makes it totally clear here, that you simply CANNOT predict an oil’s wear protection capability by looking only at its zinc level. Life is just NOT that simple. If you only look at zinc levels, that is no better than guessing. So, if anyone tells you that you need high levels of zinc for more wear protection, even if it comes from a Cam Company, don’t believe a word of it. Because as you can see above, they have no idea what they are talking about. Would you really want to use the 40th ranked last place oil simply because it has more zinc than the number one ranked oil here? That is just what you’d be doing if you believed the incorrect advice about only looking at zinc levels. The ONLY way to know for sure how much wear protection any given oil can provide, is to look at “dynamic wear testing under load” results, such as I have provided above.
My oil testing data is very similar in concept to dyno testing an engine. An engine dyno test is also dynamic testing under load. For the guys who just want to look at a motor oil zinc level reference chart, that is like looking at an engine’s build sheet instead of its dyno print out. You can decide for yourself which provides more meaningful information.
540 RAT
What is ZDDP in oil?
Zinc dialkyldithiophosphate (ZDDP) is the most commonly used anti-wear additive in motor oils. It contains both zinc and phosphorus components that work together to provide anti-wear protection and minimize lubricant breakdown.
I don't know why, but for some reason Canadians in particular seem to fall for that gibbs ****(poo).
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