Ew...no pennzoil. Pennzoil has a super high paraffin (wax) content, which leaves a nice coating of crap over the entire inside of your motor. It also flows horrible when it's cold, and is prone to foaming, which is why everybody I know that races won't touch it.

Valvoline's VR-1 has a high zinc content for flat-tappet motors. It's also a racing oil, so it's designed to take high tempuratures without breaking down. This is what I run in my 331.

Napa's 15W-40 (which is the same as Valvoline's All-Fleet 15W-40) is still running on the high-zinc CI-4 rating, but all other diesel oils I'm aware of have converted to the low-zinc CJ-4 standard. Other high-zinc oils include Mobil 1 15W50, Redline, and Royal Purple synthetics.

 

First off - ZDDP or a bottle of Engine Break-In Additive will suffice (I use the Lucas because it is easy for me to get) to any oil with API SM or CJ-4 ratings (Royal Purple and Redline have recently adhered to these standards). Keep in mind that I am talking about "break-in additive" and not the "oil stabilizer."

With the additive any oil that you use will be sufficient, so you can use whatever you want. Racing oils lack the detergent packages of street oil so frequent changes are a must especially with carbureted engines (2500-3000 miles, keep in mind that this oil is made to go a few hundred miles and then drained out), and the high temperature protection element of the oil doesn't matter in a street motor unless it overheats (race engines will build up way more heat than street engine ever will). Pennzoil, Quaker State, and Shell are all the same company...I've heard horror stories about every major motor oil out there, my suggestion is to pick the one you like and go with it. The key is to change the oil when you're supposed to.

All mineral-based motor oil will meet problems at very low temperatures (emphasis on very low), but synthetics lack this weakness. At 15 degrees or 32 degrees, 15W-40 is 15W-40 regardless of brands. Mineral oils work well within reasonable conditions (cool weather, warm weather, and highway driving) and synthetics true advantage comes in with the extremes (long periods of stop-and-go traffic, sub-freezing and very hot temperatures).

 

Keep this in mind...ALL of the oils with an API approval have to meet the same standards so the best oil isn't much better than the worst.

For mineral oils, prolonged exposure to sub-zero temperatures causes the paraffin wax to start forming in the oil while the car is setting (or while the bottle is sitting on the shelf).

 

Just because an oil meets API standards doesn't mean it's as good as the next oil. High paraffin content is bad, period. Paraffin is not something that should be floating around in an engine. I don't know if that's actually why Pennzoil is so prone to foaming, it could be a really poor anti-foaming additive in the oil. But it does foam up.

 

I didn't say it was as good as the next oil, but it's not that far off from the best oil. Strangely enough, Wal-Mart's synthetic oil is actually one of the better oils. Wal-Mart and Castrol are like most of the oil brands...they don't actually own a refinery, they buy their base-stock from someone else, add an additive package, and bottle them.

Quaker State, Pennzoil, and Shell are all products of the SOPUS company...Pennzoil and Quaker State are actually marketed together with small variations between the brands.

 

Hey guys i need some help i am thinking about getting a 1988 ford ranger with a 302 4bbl/ c/4 auto but i want to know what my city and highway would be.... dose anyone have a guess?

any information will help!

thanks

 

hey u seem to know what your talking about can i ask u a few questions and MPG on a 1988 ranger with a 302 in it?