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Oil Weight

Charger21

Charger21

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Any suggestions on oil weight for an original 440 six pack 1969 Bee with 50k miles? I live in Iowa but the car never gets started when the weather is below 32 degrees F.

The attached picture from the service manual suggests a 10w40 or 20w40 if it doesn't get started much under 32 degrees F.

I was leaning towards a heavier weight, but I can't really find a 20w40 as it appears everything has went to 20w50.

Interestingly enough, 20w50 is listed as an optional oil for my 1973 400 Charger. Maybe 20w50 wasn't really marketed until between 1969 and 1973?

Any thoughts?

20190324_173933.jpg
 
What the heck, 15w40 Rotella T. Had a Shell station eons ago and love their oil. I know, the “crap” will start again on oils, I’ve read them all and wobbled back and forth; done with all that. Change religiously and don’t worry.
 
One thing to keep in mind is that those manuals where written 50 years ago when oils where not what they are today.

Rotella T5 10W30 works for me.
 
Please don't use an oil formulated for a diesel engine in your gas engine. With the availability of "High Zinc" oils today, there is NO reason to contaminate your engine with the incorrect oil. Say what you want to, but the diesel oil of today is NOT like the diesel oil of yesteryear. The zinc content has been reduced by 50% or more, and the amount of detergents go way above the levels required for a gas motor. Do yourself a favor, choose a high zinc oil of your liking, and use a viscosity of 10W40 or 20W50, and you will be fine.
 
I'm using Valvoline 20W-50 VR 1 Racing Oil in all my old Mopars.
 
Thought street oil was needed for additive package and detergents.
 
Depends on climate. If the average driving pressure is acceptable with 5w30 you're good. If pressure is low when the oil gets hot, then go thicker. You can't go to low with the first number. 0w30. 5w40 etc. Oil needs to be as thin as possible on start up to promote flow. The 2nd number is the hot flow designation. My 7000 rpm, 15-1, 572 runs 5w25 synthetic with excellent results.
Doug
 
dvw said:
Depends on climate. If the average driving pressure is acceptable with 5w30 you're good. If pressure is low when the oil gets hot, then go thicker. You can't go to low with the first number. 0w30. 5w40 etc. Oil needs to be as thin as possible on start up to promote flow. The 2nd number is the hot flow designation. My 7000 rpm, 15-1, 572 runs 5w25 synthetic with excellent results.
Doug
Click to expand...
Agree, I run 0w-30 in my 440
 
I need to call my friend that's a powertrain engineer for Ford. He claims 10w30 is the best one size fits all oil. He runs 10w30 in everything including his 302 street rods and mustang.
My dad was a machinist and for whatever reason he was a 10w30 man in every car.
 
The engine is designed to run oil of a certain
viscosity because of clearances.
As long as you run oil designed for gas engines
as close as it was called for( with a high zinc#)
you will be fine.
10w40,15w40 or even 20w50 if high milage
 
Oil should be matched to the clearances in the engine. If you don't know the clearances then experiment with oil weight until you find one that gives you a good hot oil pressure. It really isn't much more complicated than that for a street car. For a race car you would want to put some more thought into it but a street car doesn't beat the oil too much, especially if you change it every few thousand miles.
 
0 goes in mine due to critical wear at the very initial start. 0 will pump quicker than any other weight.
 
I use the 20/50 my self in my 440
HPIM4496.JPG
 
My experience in my 360 with a hydraulic flat tappet cam is this; I was using Valvoline 20w50 high zinc oil becuase it was easily obtained on the shelf at Oreillys. I am in Phoenix which does not have winter, so I thought the 20w50 being a "summer" higher temp grade would be fine. Problem I had with it was very noisy lifters. Talking with a few engine builders I was told to switch to a 10w30 high zinc oil. I first tried used standard grade 10w30 off the shelf oils with a zinc additive. Noisy lifter problem is gone. Now I use this which I order from Summit Racing.
luc-10679.jpg
 
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