What kind of oil should I use / what is the "best" oil?

356 Porsche-related discussions and questions.
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David Jones
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Re: What kind of oil should I use / what is the "best" oil?

#256 Post by David Jones »

I 100% agree Martin
If I had known I would live this long I would have pushed the envelope a little harder.
Cymru am byth
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David Jones
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Re: What kind of oil should I use / what is the "best" oil?

#257 Post by David Jones »

This is a supposedly reputable oil company with a dedicated following, Just one of many custom oil manufacturing companies.
Interesting article though.
https://aaoil.co.uk/123579-2/
If I had known I would live this long I would have pushed the envelope a little harder.
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David Jones
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Re: What kind of oil should I use / what is the "best" oil?

#258 Post by David Jones »

And I thought I was doing the right thing and now it seems I made the wrong choice. Probably not completely wrong but something to think about, Mobil and Shell don't share his findings from what I read they say it is OK in gas engines.
https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/diese ... ne-engine/
If I had known I would live this long I would have pushed the envelope a little harder.
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John Clarke
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Re: What kind of oil should I use / what is the "best" oil?

#259 Post by John Clarke »

Hi David. What an article!
If I thought I was confused before on Choice of Oil ☹️
Cheers Jay
 

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Harlan Halsey
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Re: What kind of oil should I use / what is the "best" oil?

#260 Post by Harlan Halsey »

For a street Porsche there is no "best" oil. :D 356s were built in the 1950s and 60s when oils were not as good as they are today. They were designed to run on single weight detergent oil. Any 15W 50 or 20W 50 oil with at least 1000 ppm ZDDP from a reputable refiner will be superior, and none is any "better" in any sense than any other. So, take your pick and spend your IQ cycles where they might actually do some good.

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Re: What kind of oil should I use / what is the "best" oil?

#261 Post by Brian R Adams »

I wondered if an oil touted recently which boasted (as I recall) 1400 ppm zinc might have been a bit too much. Some time ago there seemed to be a consensus that ~1200 was the sweet spot. Reading about acidity I would lean towards a bit lower than higher. Still it seems our frequent oil change schedule again works in our favor, as corrosive acidity likely needs time to build up. Changing oil every 2000-3000 miles is a prophylactic.
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Re: What kind of oil should I use / what is the "best" oil?

#262 Post by Larry Cloetta »

I did read through this entire thread this morning, and had a question related to a couple of posts I saw earlier, regarding the Porsche Classic 20W-50 oil and ZDDP levels, who makes it for Porsche, etc. There are not published specs for the Porsche Classic 20W-50 oil, relating to e.g. ZDDP levels, as far as I can find. As far as who makes it for Porsche, a look at the Motul Classic line of oils, seems to be so close as to make it almost a certainty that the Porsche oils are just rebranded Motul oils, even down to the unusual cans. The lineup and recommended applications for the Motul oils seem to track close to identically with the Porsche oils, especially the 20W-50 which is being recommended for 1950s cars.

The Motul 20W-50 is shown as carrying 1800 ppm of ZDDP. It has been stated in the thread here numerous times that the ideal for the 356 would be about 1200 ppm.
I am taking a leap of faith in guessing, with what seems to me like some certainty, that the Porsche oil is identical with the Motul oil. If that was the case, maybe Porsche thinks 1800 ppm ZDDP is better than 1200 ppm ZDDP for these cars (?)
Just throwing this out there for discussion as I think it was postulated earlier than the 1800 ppm ZDDP in the Motul oil was too high. Yet maybe Porsche doesn’t think so? The ad copy, and the unusual packaging, and the use cases for the various viscosities of those two brands just seems to be too close to identical for believing that they are different oils. To me.YMMV.

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Re: What kind of oil should I use / what is the "best" oil?

#263 Post by John Clarke »

Hi Larry.
Good intensive research in what is a really complicated subject. Over here in the UK. I could never find out the ZDDP level of Halfords ( A Large Motoring Store) 20/50 'Classic' mineral Oil.
It is Green in Color, like the old Duckhams 20/50 (another very popular brand from the past) You just can't seem to get to find out what it actually contains !
I gave up trying and have gone with the Valvoline VR1 20/50 Mineral Oil.

For many years when we ran many different Air Cooled VWs and we always used Morris Monograde 30 Oil and continued with this brand when we graduated to 356 ownership. It was only at a meeting that someone saw the can under the hood and was horrified I was using 30 Monograde ! That I changed to 20/50. But which one?
Good question ! And on it rolls.
Kind regards Jay.
 

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Re: What kind of oil should I use / what is the "best" oil?

#264 Post by Bill Romano »

I was just watching a Jay Leno video that focused on a John Wilhoit engine in a 64C. While my stockish 64C isn't directly comparable to John's latest 2.4 liter 145 hp $35k engine, both Jay and John waxed favorably on zinc content and both recommended Swepco 306 for our old engines. They mentioned new cars with catalytic exhaust systems can't handle zinc and Swepco indicates their 306 is universally useful so does it actually have zinc in it? I'm guessing that the oft mentioned ZDDP additive is zinc based. John and Jay have a bit of credibility associated with their work so what' the consensus of y'all?
Bill Romano

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Re: What kind of oil should I use / what is the "best" oil?

#265 Post by Brian R Adams »

Bill Romano wrote: Mon Oct 31, 2022 10:39 pm I was just watching a Jay Leno video that focused on a John Wilhoit engine in a 64C. While my stockish 64C isn't directly comparable to John's latest 2.4 liter 145 hp $35k engine, both Jay and John waxed favorably on zinc content and both recommended Swepco 306 for our old engines. They mentioned new cars with catalytic exhaust systems can't handle zinc and Swepco indicates their 306 is universally useful so does it actually have zinc in it? I'm guessing that the oft mentioned ZDDP additive is zinc based. John and Jay have a bit of credibility associated with their work so what' the consensus of y'all?
I'm fairly certain Swepco 306 has zinc in it, but Swepco is responsible for publishing such details. Keep in mind it's not just "zinc". "ZDDP" refers to various compounds comprised of "zinc bound to the anion of a dialkyldithiophosphoric salt (e.g., ammonium diethyl dithiophosphate)" [from Wikipedia]. The "DP" in the term refers to dithiophosphate. Motor oil vendors have settled on describing the ZDDP levels as both "zinc" and "phosphorous" in parts per million (PPM). Many vendors today see fit to publicize the ZDDP levels, e.g. "zinc 1200 ppm, phosphorus 1300 ppm". I would find it odd if Swepco touted their oil for older flat-tappet engines but declined to publicize the ZDDP levels.
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Tom Wavrin
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What kind of oil should I use / what is the "best" oil?

#266 Post by Tom Wavrin »

My mentor, who's been involved with 356's for almost 55 years, suggested Valvoline VR1 20W/50 to me 30 yrs ago. The following link supports the high quality of the VR1 conventional Dino oil in the testing of 10W/30. Both have 1400 ppm Zn, 1300 ppm PO4 and 3 ppm Mb.
https://540ratblog.wordpress.com/2013/0 ... t-ranking/
There is a discussion in this blog about diesel engine oil in gasoline engines and the mediocre test results of both conventional and synthetic types.
I am contemplating a 50:50 mixture of Valvoline VR1 10W30 and 20W50 to approximate the 15W/40 weight of the synthetic diesel oil I've been using that has kept running temps mostly in the middle range all year long here in the NW.
Comments?
Tom, Reg # 10576, Oregon
'62 1600S Karmann HT

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Brian R Adams
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Re: What kind of oil should I use / what is the "best" oil?

#267 Post by Brian R Adams »

Tom Wavrin wrote: Thu Nov 03, 2022 11:49 pm I am contemplating a 50:50 mixture of Valvoline VR1 10W30 and 20W50 to approximate the 15W/40 weight of the synthetic diesel oil I've been using that has kept running temps mostly in the middle range all year long here in the NW.
Comments?
I've sure never observed (or heard of) any correlation between modern multi-vis oil viscosity rating and running temps. If switching between 10W30 and 20W50 moved the temp gauge needle noticeably I'd be alarmed.
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Re: What kind of oil should I use / what is the "best" oil?

#268 Post by Tom Wavrin »

I went to my FLAPS and found they no longer carry multi-viscosity Valvoline VR1, only the straight weights. Though I try to avoid shopping at Walmart I found that I could order either conventional or synthetic VR1 oil online at a competitive price with free & quick shipping included. The synthetic version isn't much more in price than the conventional.
Tom, Reg # 10576, Oregon
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Brian R Adams
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Re: What kind of oil should I use / what is the "best" oil?

#269 Post by Brian R Adams »

Tom Wavrin wrote: Sun Nov 20, 2022 4:36 pm Though I try to avoid shopping at Walmart I found that I could order either conventional or synthetic VR1 oil online at a competitive price with free & quick shipping included. The synthetic version isn't much more in price than the conventional.
I've been buying motor oil (and many other products) at Walmart for many years. Good selection, prices, and service. Just curious, why do you try to avoid Walmart?
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Re: What kind of oil should I use / what is the "best" oil?

#270 Post by Alan Klingen 2 »

A good high zinc 20/40 is a good bet most oils to day are good but stay away from cheap oil that is most likely filtered used oil. Alan The Stable.

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