Rotella 15W-40

 

x2 :thumbsup:

 

Good afternoon to all.

I was thinking about changing my oil in my CJ5. What would be the best recomended weight oil to run. Thanks for your time and help.

Big Jon
1977 CJ5

You will get a plethora of opinions on this.

Mine is if this is your first oil change after the Jeep has been sitting for a while put in old stand by of 10w-30. Then go from there. I think my book (for an '83) specs 10w-30 for all weather conditions down to like -20F.

I went from 10w-30 to 15w-40 rotella and finally settled on some 10w-40 (valvoline high millage). I get uneasy with 15w-40 when its cold out. Most engine wear occurs during and just after start up when oil has drained down and is its most viscus.

Again just MY opinion, everyone will have their own. Run a quality oil and keep an eye on oil pressure.

 

I was just wondering about adding Zinc to the oil for older engines such as 70's AMC 360's. How about it?
Got a chewed up cam and distr. gear (new built motor with 7,000 miles), and the machine shop said it was due to lack of zinc and wrong oil type. I did hear rotella 15-40 from him as well.

 

I was wondering the same thing if one should add Zinc to the Rotella. Im no expert but from what I have read on here your problem with the cam and dist gear sounds like another problem. I have read alot about people on here who ordered off brand HEI distributors that had a gear made of hardened steel. The gear would chew up the cam. Again im no expert

 

Right, read the whole speal between one of us and the owner of an aftermarket company......

I ran new gears bought from 4wd, and machine shop looked at them today and said they are both hardned, and that is why they wore out. I just don't know....

 

Please forgive me for being a newbie,

I have never heard of that oil. I checked the oil and it is very thick and black. When you first fire it up the jeep has a very loud tapping noise it usually gets quieter after it has been running for a few minutes. so i figured that I would start with changing the oil. I also ordered the brake line stuff yesterday so that I can redo the entire brake system. Thanks for all the info.

 

I use Valvoline VR1 10W-30 Racing Oil in my re-built 304. $4.79 per quart from NAPA.

http://www.valvoline.com/products/consumer-products/motor-oil/racing-motor-oil/6

The #1 selling racing motor oil. High zinc provides race-level protection for any vehicle.

•High zinc/phosphorus provides extreme wear protection, including flat tappet applications
•Additional friction modifiers to help deliver maximum horsepower
•Enhanced anti-foam system protects engine during extreme stress
•Compatible with gasoline or alcohol fuels
•Available through leading auto parts retailers

 

I'm with OrangeCJ7 on the racing oil. Gotta have zinc or you will have problems. The reason most people use diesel oil in a gas motor is because it was the last oil avail. with zinc additive which has been removed. That's why It's now branded as LE (low emmision) but still very high detergent levels. I use that oil in my Kenworth and Dodge cummins and add zinc to both. Anything with flat tappet cams and lifters need zinc IMO. If you use diesel oil in a high milage engine I'd change the filter and oil every 1000 miles for the first 2 applications cause anything like gunk and varnish thats built up inside is going to break loose and come out.
The only oils you can buy that still have zinc are going to be branded race or break in oil. They also say that zinc will plug Catalitic convertors over time but I'm calling B.S. on that and I don't have a Cat. anyways

 

i have heard the same about the cat getting plugged up. Anyone know of a cat converter safe additive? being that my jeep is an 80' i have a cat

 

Does this Rotella 15x40 have the zinc you are talking about?

 

Yes, though less then it used to have. A couple years ago, the major diesel oils (Rotella, Delo, Delvac) used to have 1300-1500ppm, but new emissions standards have pushed that down to 800-900ppm.

Plenty for a flat-tappet engine, but not enough to use as a breakin oil.

Note: oil companies are saying they are replacing the zinc with moly-based additives that give all the benefits of zinc, without cloggin the cat.... but reading all the horror stories makes me wonder.

 

i called valvoline tech support and they confirmed that in tests the VR1 racing engine oil will damage the cat. he said the product has 1400 PPM or something and conventional 10-30 valvoline has 800. he said that for a flat tappet cam (non break in) 800 would be just fine.

 

I was getting ready to do the same thing using Rotella,it seems to be very popular on here. How much oil does a 80 cj7 6cyl need?

 

You'll need between 5-6 qts. The Rotella comes by the gallon, not the 5qt, so you'll need a gallon +1-2.

 

Had an old timer tell me he only used John Deere 15W in his F250 Van. Was an interesting guy and if he spoke truth he had 350K miles on that motor with no problems/oil consumption.

I just use GTX 10W30 in my Jeeps, but am interested in the benefits of using something different. I ran my old '93 Accord exclusively on GXT 5W30 for 340K miles and sold it in Jan 2009 (it's still going strong). No oil use there either, and still got 30MPG on the highway.

 

I have always been a ford guy, but I have just always used a good quality 10w30 or 10w40......whats different about the AMC?

 

I run rotella 15-40 and add lucas oil stabilizer in the summer and winter I go to a 10w30. I have a 304 though, but seems like alot of the guys with 6cyl go with rotella also.

 

I bought lucas but the directions were not that clear on how much to use. I have a 6cyl what is the ratio I use. I bought the 32oz bottle. Do i use the entire bottle?

 

.

Here is a thread that discusses Rotella:

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f8/shell-rotella-186-000-miles-engine-1046797/

.

 

Here's where I'm going on the next engine build. Racers and cam companies seem to love it.

http://www.bradpennracing.com/

Shawn

 

be carefull with that racing oil!! make sure it is ok to run long term. we used to get joe gibbs race oil at work for free but that stuff is made to make horse power but only last 500 miles then it breaks down fast. couple guys at work learned the hard way. oh and i work on a NASCAR team. our motor builders only use mobile 1 we race at 9200 rpm for 500 miles if that doesnt say somthing about it what does. our tuners tell me that if your not running synthetic to run Valvoline. they go to all these fancy oil tests and crap so they have seen it all. that doesnt mean rottela is not good cuz im sure that wasnt one of the oils they were testing for our race car.

 

I have a question on oil weights. I see a lot of people using heavier weight oils, is there a reason for this. I have always used mobil1 extended performance 5w-30 in all of my vehicles but I am new to this older vehicle game. Is there a reason the older vehicle needs the heavier oil. Thanks

 

Subjectively - heavy weight oils don't leak as much. We are talking jeeps here.

 

and raise your oil pressure....
I ended up running the 15w-40 all winter, and never had any problems starting.

 

The factory recommended weight for CJ's was 10W-30.

You're seeing 15W-40 in this thread in relation to Rotella because that's what is commonly available in Rotella and the other oils intended for diesel engines. They sell a 10W-30, but I've found it's not easy to find.

 

I run Mobile 1 10w-30 synthetic in my -8.

She dont leak a drop

 

I'm using the 15w40 AMC-HD oil sold by Bulltear in my rebuilt 360.