RalliartJP

I have a oil change coming up. And I think im gonna do it myself. Has anyone had any experience with the Valvoline VR1 Racing SAE 50 Motor Oil. I usually use Mobile 1 Synthetic, but I saw these and wasnt sure how these compair? Any comments welcome..

turbonutter

Living in Philly as you do, and with winter coming into full swing, I would NOT recommend using this oil. 50wt is quite heavy, and would take quite a while to get completly flowing through the engine off of a cold start. It's not worth all the extra wear when the engine is cold.

RalliartJP

So I did my oil change with the VR1 50, before I got to read turbonutter's advice. So this is what happened...(haha never thought id be hearing myself say this) But anyway, I did my oil change using the Valvoline VR1 Racing SAE 50 Oil. My friend, whom seems to know alot about cars, says to try using this brand. I normally use Mobile 1 Synthetic, but I didnt have the cash on me to get it. Big Mistake. So I do the oil change, no doubt about it did everything right. Put the filter in correctly, lubed up the washer with oil and the whole 9... So that day I didnt drive it much. The car sat from 11ish that night till 9:30 the next NIGHT. Its really cold outside, so that oil has been sitting for awhile. Without being ran much on a new change..So I start the car up and it doesnt start, it sounds like it's just not sparkin or whatnot. So I do it again, the third time I do it it starts up and I give it alittle gas. Then its fine..Mind you when I started it, I wasnt holding it for awhile, if it didnt start I just stopped..So third time it goes..Then its fine..What would you recommend I do? 99% Chance tomorrow Im just gonna get it changed right back to Mobil and not mess with that anymore. But do you think I have caused any damage? Or is this even a problem. Just a cold startup since its been sitting for about 12 hours?

MitsuRalliArt

I tell everyone this, if you live in cold climate, use synthetic. That's not a recommendation, just do it. 5w-30 will work well all across the Continental US. 0w30 for Alaska. The South can use 10w30 year round. 50 weight oil takes on the consistance of axel grease at near freezing. I won't call you stupid, but that wasn't all that bright of a decision. 10w30 synthetic will protect a car better than 50 weight dinosaur crap any day. I'm an engineer, so are some other guys on this board. If you have questions just ask us and we'll be glad to help. That's what the community is all about. I hope you didn't hurt anything.

turbonutter

^^essentially, yeah, what he said. 50wt is just way too thick for cold weather and really should be used in high-perf/racing engines on a hot track day.

RalliartJP

Well this is snythetic. Question tho. I changed my oil, didnt run my car much, it sat for awhile before I drove it again, and on top of the weather it had trouble starting up. Is this normal in cold weather for a hesitation, or is it the oil's thickness that is causing this? Not to mention it was brand new oil, hasnt really been run through much. I talked to a friend of mine and he said that just cause the oil is 50, the engine shouldnt have trouble. So what im trying to figure out is, am I safe with this oil for now. Just have trouble during cold start up's. Or should I def swap it out for Mobile 1? I didnt realize what the 50 meant when I bought it, as I dont normally do my oil changes, I usually have a friend at a shop do it. I guess I learned my lesson the hard way.

MitsuRalliArt

Drive the car arround to warm things up and then have you oil changed. This will loosen up your axel greese, err.... oil. This will let you get most of everything out.

RalliartJP

Went to get my oil changed back to Mobile 1 Synthetic today..Everything is fine..Didnt have trouble starting up. I will let my car sit for awhile and see if I had the same problem before with a cold start up.