Engine Oil, Additives and Filters

I have been reading through the posts here and I'm seeing that some people are putting oil addtives in their engines. Not a good idea.

I work in an industrial enviroment and deal with lubricant engineers very regularly, also I bvelieve that I am qualified to comment on lubricant issues.

From all of my research, as I have questioned professionals on lubrication for my GP, I have developed a better than OEM lubrication strategy for my car.

No additives!, if your car needed it then it would have been in the manual. These additional additive packages can actually harm the engine in the long run, such as lucas oil, prolong, etc. They typically contain one or two types of compounds, depending on what type of additive it is. Dispersants or EP (Extra Pressure) packages.

Dispersants are used to allow oils to hold more sludge and dirt in suspension so that they are not deposited onto engine surfaces. However all engine oils of any quality at all already contain the optimum level of dispersant as per the lubricant engineering. Adding more will actually cause the balance of the oil to go out of wack and cause the oil to break down more quickly. Best bet here is to change your oil regularly to remove the suspended sludge. Think about it, if you were an oil and had to carry around much more dirt than normal wouldn't that cause you to break down more quickly.

EP additives are heavy metals that get in between moving surfaces and coat them to give them extra boundary protection. This is typically desirable in slow moving applications, ie: a rear end. However in an engine where there are high speed movements where tolerences in between are extremly small, ~1micron as in crank bearings, you don't not want extra coatings of heavy metals. Can you imagine trying to run fast with a ski doo suit on. Once again an oil off the shelf already has suffient EP addtivies to protect your engine without gumming it up.

Also, oils off the shelf are pH balanced from the refinery so they will not corrode engine componets. Adding things to it can offset this balance and actually make your oil acidic or basic. I don't know about you but I don't want acid in my engine.

My maintenance program consists of the following:
-Change oil regularly as specified by the OEM manual, 5000 kms if alot of stop and go or heavy hauling. 10000 if mostly highway.
-Use synthetic blends for oil, use a straight synthetic if your OEM calls for it. If the manual doesn't call for straight synthetic then using one is of no benifit unless you live in the Sahara or Antartica.
-Filtration, Filtration, Filtration! The oil filter is the most important part of the system. Buy only the best filters, personally I like the K&N or AMSOil. They filter the finest particles which actually do damage engines. If you could find a filter manufacturer with a 1 micron absolute filter and kept using those filters for the life of the car I bet that the engine would last forever. Good luck actually finding a manufacturer who publishes their specs. AMSoil is the only one I could find. Most retail filters filter between 30 - 15 micron. Don't cheap on the filter, oh yea stay away from the fram junk.

So I hope that this clears up alot of the mysteries of oil, additives and filters. Don't believe the propaganda surrounding the above mentioned subjects, when it comes down to grass roots grandeous claims don't hold a candle to numbers and hard facts.

Good Day

GT3800 Guy

wow, what an awesome write up. i have only ever used valvoline oil and an ac delco filter in my vehicles. Is there anything you can tell me about this combination? I was considering on switching to valvoline synthetic blend in my new gtp.

Also I think this would be a great spot to post this website. Although quite a lot of reading it is a great writeup on oil filters.

http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilterstudy.html

I think that the valvoline oil and delco filters are pretty reputible and of good quality. However I don't think that the delco filter is going to give you the best in class filtration but it is still a good quality brand.

I'm not sure if I am correct as i drive a GT but I think the GTP's require a straight synthetic oil, consult your manual before proceeding.

GT3800 Guy

man, i didnt even know that. I havn't changed oil in it yet, so i better look before i do. On the filler cap, it says 10w30, so i just assumed that any 10w30 wold be good. thanks for the great info thus far.

What brand oil and type you use is a matter of personal preference. There is no requirement to run synthetic oil on a L67 SII 3800 engine. Both L36 and L67 SII 3800 engines have the same oil requirements established by GM, typically a 10W-30 certified by the API. You can use dino, synthetic blend or full synthetic. Many of us with GTPs run regular Mobil 1 synthetic or the extended life. Reason being is the supercharger and a few of us race our GTPs. The SC will generate alot of heat so synthetic is a good choice just to be safe. Other good synthetic oil choices are Amsoil, Royal Purple, and Castrol. For oil filters I use either the Mobil 1 or K&N brands on my GTP. The AC Delco brand on my daily driver '01 Regal GS (L67). Other popular brands of oil filters are Wix and Purolator.

thanks bnaylor!!!! I dont drag my gtp other than the stupid ricers that pull up next to me and revv their motor. I usually let them have the front for a second, then click on performance shift, and goodbye. But yeah, I think i am going to use valvoline maybe max life 10w30 and stick with the ac delco filter unless you guys can tell me where i can purchase a k&n oil filter other than the net.

i must respond to the beginning thread. a micron is 39 millionth of an inch the size of bacteria and cannot been seen with unaided human eye. i far as i am aware there are no bearing tolerances in the gasoline engine of this size.

before you are able to do any filter comparasions you must have the following data, the efficiency of particle removal of a given size, is the particle removal a nominal or absolute rating, the capacity of the filter before reaching a plug condition.

there are some diesel fuel filters that are required to remove 2u(micron) particles at the absolute level. these are for powerplants that use a high pressure injector pump. these pumps attain 20,000 psi for injector operation.

i know of no oil filters that remove this size particle at that rating.

there are other things in this thread that are in question. i will leave those to others more knowledgeable than me to address.

all hvae a very nice fathers day.
regards, fish96