Motor Oil Weight

[farmerdick]

What would be a good motor oil weight to run in the engine?

[ct1932ford]

What engine and condition, time of year , location?

[Patrick L.]

Here we go.

[Mitch//pa]

It depends on your size,

[Purdy Swoft]

I use Walmart brand 20W50 in my model A's. Mobil makes it and I feel that I save. Some have different ideas. Its your choice!!!

[Joe K]

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I used SAE30 (The lawnmower oil) both in non-detergent (pre-rebuild) and in detergent version (more common and after the rebuild.)

Still doing 500 mile oil changes with either since I don't have an oil filter/pressure system.

I like the idea of going with a fully synthetic oil though. I just haven't done the exploration as to what or how on this.

Full synthetic oil is AMAZING in the modern cars. What a difference in oil condition is seen comparing my daughter's 1998 Honda Accord - non synthetic to my wife's 2005 Prius - full synthetic. The full synthetic comes out nearly the color it went in!

I feel like I want to recycle the waste Prius oil into the Accord - just to get my money's worth?

Well, I am sort of frugal...

Joe K

[Allanw]

Many people (possibly most?) don't understand the oil viscosity ratings:

Read here: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/ and the following pages. It explains the viscosity ratings amongst other things. You can then make an educated choice.

I also run a coolant thermostat, so my engine runs at better temperatures - the oil will eventually get to "operating temperature" too.

Whatever grade you run will work, but some choices will sacrifice cold start protection and will have wild swings of oil pressure and viscosity depending on oil temperature.

[Ted Duke]

Originally Posted by ct1932ford

What engine and condition, time of year , location?

Thanks for quoting me. LOL

Oh, it was John Wayne you were quoting, but I agree.

Ted Duke

[Terry,NJ]

You will note there's a wide range of oils used. As one poster said" Here we go!" AGAIN! This subject comes up about once a month and many seem to tire of it. I'd rather help the person with the best answer I can give. It seems Mod.A are very forgiving. You can use just about anything you want, from $9.99 a shot glass full to the cheapest stuff on Walmart's shelf and it will be fine. My self, I use a 10W30 High Detergent with a change at roughly at 1000 miles. I was thinking of using a non detergent until I took a screen off an oil pump that was clogged with sludge to about 20% of the openings. It was a miracle the engine got enough oil to run, That convinced me, HD from here on out. Originally, Ford speced a 500 mile interval, but that was with the oils of the 1929-30 era. Words to remember, The best oil of 1930 is not as good as the worst oil of today.
Terry

[jmeckel]

Do a search on this site.... This has been debated more than a few times, in the past. Basically use whatever oil you think is best, there is no magic or special oil. As long as you change it when it is dirty some time around 500 miles if you do not have a filter you will be good to go. One other point, if you do not know what was used in the past in your engine (assuming it is not a new rebuild) drop the oil pan and the side valve cover and clean out any grud you find.

[MikeK]

With a filter change I use 8.9 lbs of detergent oil. This assumes the engine has not been tilted to drain the dipper tray. I can't see how knowing the weight would make very much difference, unless you were doing weight/balance calcs for a Pietenpol.

[BarracudaBoy]

Sticky: Posts that turn to Motoroil use. lol

[William Kelchner]

I use 30wt Non-detergent - I do not change it very often, mainly because my A never makes it very far before leaving me sit. Therefore my mileage between oil changes does not really accumulate..

[Joe K]

The 30wt mentioned above by William may be the SAE30 I mentioned.

Required reading should include http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_oil which includes a description of single grade oil (like the SAE30 or 30W) and the multi-grade more modern oils. (Like 5W-30)

I might expect the synthetic oils would probably be classified under multi-grade.

Joe K

[40 Deluxe]

All oil weighs pretty much the same so it makes no difference what "weight" oil you use. The engine can't tell the difference! Now, if it's viscosity you're asking about, this does make a difference! Either use a multi-viscosity oil like 10w-30, or use low viscosity (like 10W) in the winter and higher viscosity in the summer (like 30 or 30W).
By the way, the "W" you see on oil labels stands for "WINTER" NOT "weight"!!! Don't know why people keep saying 'weight' when all oil weighs the same. Does anybody know where this misuse of the word "weight" comes from?

[big job]

I'll take a stab at the weight thing. As I grew up in the "filling station glass globe"
inviroment, that term more like 'slang' meant cold oil looked like it weighed more;
more like a brick or 140 gear oil. So # 30w on a 90 degree day looked light and the
same oil on a 10* below day looked heavy. This is the way it was looked at back
in the day. So its not a scientific term, more a mind over matter what the eyeballs
see. Like the eye sees a block of Ice and a block of cinder block and the eye sees
the ice is lighter (which is heavier the the cinder block) old wifes tale I guess.

[Greg Jones]

Well it's probably a natural thing to think of oil in terms of "weight" although I know the W=Winter. You know someone looks at a thick syrupy oil and remarks how "heavy" that oil is while a real thin oil is described as "light" oil such as for use in a sewing machine. Not too far a leap to mutate the W into "weight".....even if it's not correct.

[Tom Wesenberg]

It's people related.

Thin oil, like thin people, weigh less.
Thick oil, like thick people, weigh more.

[klawockvet]

I found this article quite informative:
http://ferrarichat.com/forum/faq.php?faq=haas_articles
It was originally posted By Brother Hesekiel on a thread started by Mr Wzrd

[nhusa]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

It's people related.

Thin oil, like thin people, weigh less.
Thick oil, like thick people, weigh more.

I never looked at it that weigh - I mean that way