jackwashere Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 (edited) Hey guys I have a 1972 Datsun 240z. Now i know i know, i said 280z in the title. That is because the car got an engine swap with a 280z from the previous owner. The chassis has a little over 60,000 miles on it, and the engine has roughly 100,000. I was wondering what brand, oil weight, oil type (synthetic/conventional/semi-synthetic) that you guys would prefer for this mid to high mileage engine. Im sure a lot of people would benefit form this thread. Any sort of input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!! -Jack Edited August 11, 2012 by jackwashere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffusj Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 Hey guys I have a 1972 Datsun 240z. Now i know i know, i said 280z in the title. That is because the car got an engine swap with a 280z from the previous owner. The chassis has a little over 60,000 miles on it, and the engine has roughly 100,000. I was wondering what brand, oil weight, oil type (synthetic/conventional/semi-synthetic) that you guys would prefer for this mid to high mileage engine. Im sure a lot of people would benefit form this thread. Any sort of input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!! -Jack this topic i am sure has been covered you can search around but you will find that it comes down to personal opinion. In my 76 280z i only run Mobil 1 10w30. but you will find 50 others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 I use straight 30W oil out here in California. Good from 30F - 90F... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackwashere Posted August 12, 2012 Author Share Posted August 12, 2012 this topic i am sure has been covered you can search around but you will find that it comes down to personal opinion. In my 76 280z i only run Mobil 1 10w30. but you will find 50 others. Thanks for the info. I searched for a while and couldnt find anything specific to oil types. Do you use synthetic or conventional? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchetypeDatsun Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 this topic i am sure has been covered you can search around but you will find that it comes down to personal opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 It really doesn't matter much on a street driven car. Today's oils are so much better then what was available in 1970 that anything you put it will be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowCarbZ Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 I run Royal Purple 10W40, it has a reasonably high Zinc content (ZDDP). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtmny1999 Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 I run diesel Shell Rotella T 15w40 on my KA and 5w40 syn on my RB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger1316 Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 I plan on running Valvoline High Mileage conventional 10W-40 in my 113K L28E. The consensus seems to be between 10W-30 and 10W-40. My dad switched to 10W-40 at 100k with our '98 Chevy truck and it's still running perfectly at 250K *knock on wood* lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger280zx Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 +1 for Rotella T. I got a look inside my friends stock 350 in his 3500 4x4 Suburban, the trucks 345K miles had all been on Rotella T. This guys a Diesel tech and had used the Rotella since the truck was new, he swears by it. Hands down the cleanest interior of any high mileage truck engine I've ever seen. He inspected everything and put it back together. The next week he packed his family and drove from Atlanta to California all on NO rebuild. I figure if it does that AND keeps a lot of high performance high boost high mile diesels together its good enough for my punny L28et. Not the most scientific of reasons and I don't even have a picture of it but it is why I run it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluDestiny Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 In my 280zx I run Valvoline VR1 20w-50, the conventional kind. That engine was rebuilt with forged pistons, but I'm using stock ECU and such. In my old 260z with webers I used to run Royal Purple 10w-40 on a fresh rebuild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aarang Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 +2 for diesel oil. I have been running Chevron DELO 15w40 for over five years now in my L28et. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kash Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 While any oil today is better than anything yesterday, you could be loosing up to 5% hp with anything higher than 10/40 and gunking up the engine if you are running conventional oil...I use 10/30 Mobil 1 syn on my stroker turbo and just got done pulling it apart after 30K miles (busted block) and the internals are cleanier that what they were when I assembled it a few years ago; all look like new parts...rods, pistons, crank, head, timing chain assembly, you name it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 While any oil today is better than anything yesterday, you could be loosing up to 5% hp with anything higher than 10/40 and gunking up the engine if you are running conventional oil The detergent package in the oil and how frequently the oil is changed determines how clean the engine internals are, not the base oil stock. You can develop just as much "gunk" in your engine by not changing your synthetic oil as not changing your dino oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollum Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 I use conventional oil in my NA Z cars, but that's simply because I'm cheap. If I paid over 3k for one or rebuilt an engine myself I'd consider running synthetic. For a completely stock L motor I just don't see the point. Now, my current DD is a 280zx that I got with 200k on it and BAD oil burning on engine braking and even keeping it in neutral while braking I'd still go through almost a quart every 500mi. So my cheap ass started putting in 20-50w. I've received flack for that here but guess what? The engine now has 245k, runs as good if not better than when I got it, and has no indication of getting worse. Is this from my oil choice? No, but I'm pointing out that oil weight is only a small aspect of engine health. In a perfect world I'd figure out if its a leak in the head or rings, and just fix it. But why would I do all that on a car that's been fine for over 40k that I got for FREE??? Now, my turbo motor always gets synthetic and I run 10-30w. But I'm a firm believer in synthetic for turbo motors and choose weight base more off of what temps are where I live than anything else. Also, I add a zinc additive in most cases because most oils are low on zinc since it's no longer as needed in modern engines. But I'll be the first to admit that's more of a "well it can't be bad so why not?" kind of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayaapp2 Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 And some of us wonder why the OP couldnt find an answer using the search. diesel, 30W, 20w50, 10w30, syn, ect... ROFL! I only use good oil in my more built engines/modern engines. I could see using some of the diesel oils in the older stockish L series. Why not. I have to agree with John about syn oils and gunk. Ive worked on enough BMW's with synthetic oils. Driving styles and intervals kill those engines. My RB25 is picky about its oils. It tends to burn some synthetics like royal purple 5w30 but not redline 5w30 or Mobile 1. My L series will take about any oil I stick in there. Even the Turbo engines. If the engine is high mileage I add Lucas stabilizer. In my 2L roadster I run Kendal GT1 synthetic as it has the additives needed for older valve guides and such. I really like Kendal GT1 for my older cars, but its slightly more spendy than conventional oils and is harder to get my hands on locally or Id run it in my nicer L series as well, but it doesnt seem to make much of a difference as some of these L series havent seen the additives in hundreds of thousands of miles at this point and havent killed the valve guides or valve-train. This seems to be a testament to Nissans manufacturing and choice of materials way back when they made the good stuff though. BB chevy heads would have sucked a valve long ago. I dont know what your going to pull from this thread other than the Lseries is pretty stout no matter what oil you dump into it. If you find something that works well like the diesel stuff mentioned post back. Im not sure your gonna find some short term benefit from one vs the other though on a stock 100K mile L28. 100K miles on an original L28 is not much. Id bet your gonna find perfect cross hatch marks on the cylinder walls still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwayman Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 tl;dr +3 for Delo 400. I run 15-40 in my rebuilt l28et. The guy who rebuilt my engine said I shouldn't use any synthetic for the first 10k so I thought I'd run diesel oil instead because it still has zddp in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra_Tim Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 We run Brad Penn in the IT car. http://www.penngrade1.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S30Turbo Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 I'm running Amsoil dominator oil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowlerMonkey Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 But it's like 10 bucks a quart. I ran castrol 20w-50 for 20 years but now run the above mentioned rotella T 15w-40 because I see it on sale for less than most any other oil. It comes in 4 quart jugs and I still find it at 12.99 sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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