So after seeing a recent bout of oil pumps, turbo bearing issues, rod bearings, main bearings, and oil temp variations I decided to sit down and call some experts. Normally I think all oil is the same. I do not agree with oil manufacturers claims, I have never seen power on a dyno from oil. I had been running valvoline 20-50 non synthetic in my car during all my dyno testing.

The main change in oil recently is the additive packages. There is far less (or no) Zinc and phosphorous because this can destroy cats in cars that are so equipped. The problem is these are the additives that we need for turbochargers to maintain good film strength and protect your investment.

In our recent examination of of what was causing the problems we were seeing and others (shop names purposely not mentioned) the same root cause was there. Thin oil. Mobil 5-30 and 10-30 because that was what on the oil cap.

THIS IS WRONG. 4G63s need one grade for best life, 20-50. If you arent running a factory cat, oil like Brad Penn 20-50 semi-synth is a good way to go. It has a very good additive package, it doesnt break down at temp (maintains viscosity), and because of the thickness it doesnt cause high oil pressure at high rpm.

10-30 can lead to oil pressure as high as 115psi at 8500 in a 4G63. A simple switch to thicker oil will drop this back down to normal levels (85-90). When the White Evo was still a pup this was something that we ran into. Thicker oil caused bearing problems, thinner oil caused bearing problems. Running a deeper sump and a half quart extra cured the oil starvation on launching for us. Drag racing, road racing, or fast street cars run a 1/2 quart high.

Mobil One really seems to the main cause and its mostly recently. I would assume there has been some composition change or something that is not jiving with our oil systems and oiling needs.

We havent had any issues with rod bearings or main bearings since the switch to 20-50. This is what we use in our customer cars, our cars, our racecars, and what we have had recommended to us and recommend to others. Not sure why I decided to talk about oil today since its totally not my deal, but I wanted to share what we have found to be a cause of problems.

I think we can have a really good discussion about this, but if you couldnt tell I am opinionated on this subject.

Aaron

 

what about mobil 1 15w50? its supposed to have a good amount of zinc.

 

Lubro-Moly Synthoil Race Tech GT1 10W-60 since day one 28k on e85 43k on car FTW

 

Good thread here, do you recommend 20-50 for evos with just basic bolt-ons (exhaust/intake) or for racecarz that are revved to 9k on e85/racegas (basicially racecar status) ? I personally have a basic bolt-on evo and hardly push the car and when I do I only take it to 7k stock redline and would like to know if the switch would be beneficial.

 

I was thinking of running some amsoil race oil in the 5w40 variety. I wish they made a 10w50 or 10w60. I have heard amsoil rates their viscosities on the conservative side and the race oils have lots of zinc and phosphorus. I feel the 20w50 is a little too thick cold and causes lifter tick on my car. I last installed Mobil1 15w50 and it still ticks loudly. I have run it for a long time and at 97K miles my car runs like a champ.

 

I have a box full of BP 20w50, so this makes me happy.

 

I recently started running the Brad Penn 10W-30 should I switch to the thicker oil. Would running the 20W-50 be beneficial on a 75000 mile motor?

 

Thank you for sharing this information! Something I had definitely been wondering about since hatching a plan for a new longblock.

 

Where the ams oil dude?? They should make this a sticky!

 

When my motor gets built I'll follow the builders recommendation on oil. Until the I'm sticking with the M1 10-30 EP I've been running for over 120k

 

+1

Is it recommended for Evos in all horsepower ranges or would you only recommend it for higher horsepower Evos?

 

This year I've run Mobil 1 15w-50 in my Evo. Street, track, autox, whatever.

I just installed a set of gauges, so I'm going to watch them carefully over the next week or so, especially on the track next Friday

Mobil 1 5w/10w-30 is very thin oil. I personally avoid it on my Evo, though I'm sure for most regularly driven street Evos its fine.

 

what about the unnecessary rise in engine temp because of the tight stock tolerances when using thicker oil?

 

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Amsoil rep and a few others in this thread.

There was a long thread around here somewhere a while ago with a guy pushing extremely thin oil. It's interesting to here another take.

I think one of the arguments against a thick oil was it tends to starve the turbo. Lower pressure/thicker oil would mean less flow. I'm not even sure why the pressure would go down? A thicker oil is harder to push through a passage. You'd think it would result in higher pressures. I would expect a thinner oil to run lower pressure being that it is easier to push around the system. I guess if you're pumping less oil then the pressure might go down but is that necessarily a good thing?

I always thought the good thing about a thick oil was it allowed better suspension of bearing surfaces. That all depends on the bearing design though.

 

What I've been told was to run 10W-40 for our cars with light mods. It seems to hold up fine and no complaints. I did notice that when I was running 10W-30 even trying 0W-30(I thought it was suppose to be friendlier on the gas mileage but not so), the oil would thin out and you could barely feel in-between your fingers after engine warmup.

Nice find tho.