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Re: Oils and LBC's

To: William Eastman <william.eastman@medtronic.com>
Subject: Re: Oils and LBC's
From: "Christopher M. Delling" <cdelling@ic.net>
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 1996 12:20:54 -0500
William Eastman wrote:
> 
> I read the Consumer reports article and agree that, for steady state
> driving, there is no real difference between any of the modern oils.
> However, as others have stated, our LBC's are not driven like taxi's
> although I am not sure about Barney's A.
> 
> Because my car spends six months a year sitting still, I am most concerned
> about the long term stability of the oil.  Here is one area where synthetic
> oils have a real advantage.  If, upon resurrection next year, I find that
> my car has an acceptable appetite for oil, I will probably change to Mobil
> 1 15 W 50 next fall.  Synthetics also keep the inside of the engine very
> clean and I like that.  This is especially important if a car gets a lot of
> short mileage usage since this is a main cause for sludge build up.
> 
> It is interesting that other areas of the country seem to have a prejudice
> against Pennzoil because I grew up with that too.  The common wisdom was
> that if you used Pennzoil all the time you were OK but if you changed back
> and forth your car would start to burn oil.  I don't know if it was true
> but I have never used Pennzoil.
> 
> In the last 25 years I have only had one bottom end failure and that was
> from street racing a very tired 440 Dodge 2 1/2 quarts low.  I have had a
> couple Chevies wipe a cam lobe too but I think that is a common problem.
> Both of my MG's have had low oil pressure when I bought them but neither
> broke.  I blame the B's pressure on the upside down oil filter.  The car
> rattled like crazy for a couple of seconds every time it started (I was
> sixteen, what did I know about check valves in filters?)  The A is just old
> and, with its three bearing crank, over stressed.
> 
> For the Record, I now use Mobil 1 in my other two cars for a variety of
> reasons.  I like clean engines.  I change oil every 5k miles and I feel
> more comfortable with the stability of the synthetics.  I live in Minnesota
> and the pour point is much lower on synthetics so cold weather starting is
> improved and the car gets oil faster. ( I remember pouring oil into my Jeep
> truck at 30 below and the oil had actually changed color because some of
> the waxes had solidified.  The truck was running and it started blowing big
> oil bubbles out of the filler tube because of the blowby.)  Also, changing
> oil less often means less oil is used and that is a good thing.
> 
> I presently use Castrol 20 W 50 in the A.  Why?  Because it seemed like the
> right thing to do.
> 
> Regards
> Bill Eastman

Bill-

5,000 mile oil changes seem excessive on a newer engine using Mobil 1.  
Given the expense of the stuff, seems like you would want to get a 
little more out of it.  What's your reasoning on the short duration?

Regards,

Chris Delling

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