Looking for opinions on oil

1927Tudor

1927Tudor

Senior Member
It's time to change oil in my 27 Tudor. I've been using 20W non detergent, and throw in about 1/2 to a full qt of transmission fluid for smoother shifting (advice of an 83 year old mechanic) and it's always ran well, but given all the talk about zinc being removed from the oil, wondering if I should add a zinc additive this change... any thoughts? what's everybody else using? less than 30 hours of operation on engine and transmission completely rebuilt and babbitted, new pistons, rings, valves, bands etc

Chris
 
By all means put oil in it. IMHO you should and probaBLY WOULD LIKE IT MUCH BETTER IF YOU WENT TO A MULTIGRADE DETERGENT OIL,LIKE 5W-30 OR SO.
 
I have always used Shell Rotella in all my T's. Had some great luck and run em hard !!!!!

I can also tell ya to NEVER use a additive ( like lucas) the kevlar bands hate that for sure. Beats me how i know that one :eek:
 
I usually ran the Quaker State straight 30 oil that we bought in a one gallon tin can. I had always heard that detergent oil would eventually eat the insulation in the magneto at the least, and at worst would dissolve the gunk buildup on the felt seals that are all over the T engine and cause them to leak. I never used detergent oil but am interested in what's happening in the world today because I now own my first T in years and need to change the oil at some future date. The thing about ATF has some merit. I knew a fellow years ago who delivered newspapers door to door and had done so forever. He always ran ATF at 3:1 ratio in his crankcase. He typically got over 250,000 plus miles from an engine that was subjected to constant stop and go demands. ATF is highly refined and highly detergent and very tolerant of heat and in his situation it greatly increased the longevity of his cars that were in very hard service.
 
1927Tudor said:
It's time to change oil in my 27 Tudor. I've been using 20W non detergent, and throw in about 1/2 to a full qt of transmission fluid for smoother shifting (advice of an 83 year old mechanic) and it's always ran well, but given all the talk about zinc being removed from the oil, wondering if I should add a zinc additive this change... any thoughts? what's everybody else using? less than 30 hours of operation on engine and transmission completely rebuilt and babbitted, new pistons, rings, valves, bands etc

Chris
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Whatever oil you put in there will be 3 times better than anything they had in the teens and twenties. Oil is cheap. I run detergent and change it often as all the dirt is in suspension. I buy the cheapest multi grade I can get at Wal-Mart in the five quart jugs and change it regularly. Why stretch an oil change to fivehundred miles when oil is so cheap and it is effortless to change it in a Model T? If you are worried, change it every one hundred, two hundred, three hundred miles or whatever puts your mind at ease. These motors were designed and built before there was lead in gas and I'll bet, before there was zinc in oil (I don't know that for a fact, but I'd bet a lot of money there was no zinc in oil way back then).
 
I run your typical 10W30 and have no problems, everythigns seems to be running good. As stated earlier oil today is far better then in the teens and 20's be careful with additives though as they can cause issues witht eh bands and the magneto (also noted above) ATF won't harm anything my only concern is it thinnning the oil too much where you will get additional leakage.
 
It seems a lot of people are running detergent oil with no major problems. Myself I usually use 30 weight non-detergent oil in anything that I cannot determine the oil history on.

The main problem in putting detergent oil in an engine that has been used a lot with non-detergent oil is that the gunk deposited on the inside of the engine will be all loosened at once by the detergent & can find its way into the bearings & anything that can be clogged up. This is even worse with a car with an oil pump.

Detergent oil is designed to keep the dirt in suspension & take it to the oil filter to be removed. Regular oil is designed to let the dirt settle to the bottom to be removed eventually when it is time to take up the bearings. I removed an inch of hard crud & sand from the bottom of the pan on a 27 Star that was running fine at the time. (Luckily always on non-detergent oil.)

I would question ATF as it is not intended to mix with motor oil. I also am leary of additives.

Keep it full, change it often & change it hot -- you can't go wrong.
 
I either use Rotella for break ins on flat taps cams the AMS Oil for regular use that has high Zinc in it . You can use any oil you want to but I really think 20w is too thin and with the trans fluid well that just thins the oil more . I would use at least a 10-30w and ad zinc or any Diesel oil will work good too ! They have zinc because they are flat tap engines too . They have either straight weight or multi grade in all levels . You can buy these oils at walmart-rotella or and parts store for the diesel oils .

Jim
 
Kevin, If the testing is correct this oil would certainly give better lubrication to steel surfaces. It would be interesting to see some information on its action in a splash oiling system.

If it alters the friction coefficient as much as they say I would be afraid that your clutch & bands in a T would no longer work.

As a point of interest, the Ford in the picture under my name has been testing plain old motor oil, a lot of it of questionable quality, for 106 years. It has the original bearings & pistons & runs well with no unusual noises.
 
John, you have "heard" some very silly information at best. Detergent oil does not "eat into" anything. It does make your engine last longer by reducing the amount of sludge that builds up inside the engine.

If you want your T to be able to crank start on the coldest mornings you want to use a 5W-30. If you live in a place like Tucson where the summer temps are 115 this works very well.

If you live in a place like Los Angeles where the temperature year round is between 50 degrees and 90 degrees then 5W-30 also works perfectly year round.

I wrote letters to several oil companies a few years ago asking about the "merits" of adding ATF to the crankcase. All of the companies responded in similar fashion, that there were no products in ATF that would be beneficial to a Model T, despite old wives tales and misguided trailer park engineering.

John Otis said:
I usually ran the Quaker State straight 30 oil that we bought in a one gallon tin can. I had always heard that detergent oil would eventually eat the insulation in the magneto at the least, and at worst would dissolve the gunk buildup on the felt seals that are all over the T engine and cause them to leak. I never used detergent oil but am interested in what's happening in the world today because I now own my first T in years and need to change the oil at some future date. The thing about ATF has some merit. I knew a fellow years ago who delivered newspapers door to door and had done so forever. He always ran ATF at 3:1 ratio in his crankcase. He typically got over 250,000 plus miles from an engine that was subjected to constant stop and go demands. ATF is highly refined and highly detergent and very tolerant of heat and in his situation it greatly increased the longevity of his cars that were in very hard service.
Click to expand...
 
I have done quite a bit of reading, and had extensive conversations with the sales lead for a major oil analysis machine manufacturer. I am a bit worried about the modern oils, and in recent years the removal of additives deemed to be environmentally unfriendly. These additives were responsible for the lubrication of the lifter flat surfaces not present in modern engines. The oils manufactured today are not the same as the ones manufactured 3 or 4 years ago. I have good friends in the business of rebuilding antique engines. They have seen failures recently in antique engines run with modern oils. The information is out there for those who want to learn more about it. I am not pitching any product, I'm looking for advice and experience from those who have taken the time to look into the lubrication alternatives required for antique engines.
 
i use valvoline 20-50 racing oil in all my old cars it still has zink,that said i must say i don't have t's any more but have used same in them.
 
I have used Advancd auto parts 10w30 in my wives 68 289 Mustang for fifteen years at no extra charge but its coming.
 
I appreciate everyone's comments and advice... I ended up sticking with my existing formula, straight 20W with a 1/2 quart of transmission fluid... she's running fine..
 
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