fawcett@uism.bu.edu wrote:
> <some stuff deleted>
> My apologies... A poor attempt at humor, no doubt, but no offense was intended.
>
Cool - glad you werent offended too much also. I didn't want this conversation to
degrade - I mean after all it is the entire list that stands to gain if we just dig
thru the tech stuff 8-)
> <more stuff deleted>
> What I had always been told started with the premise that the most significant
> engine wear and tear occurs during engine startup when most of the oil was in
> the pan. To minimize this wear you would want a motor oil that flowed the best
> (thinnest) at low temperature so it would get into the engine components the
> fastest. On the other end of things you would want an oil that didn't get too
> thin when the engine is up to temp. While most dino-juice today does a good job
> at this, synthetics can do it the best --or so I've been told/read.
>
Yes - I would have to agree with that. But to add another perspective - along the
same vein - if your oil had properties such that it would adhere (thick, sticky) to
metal parts longer, then at startup you would have more protection. In fact, this
is exactly what all the engine oil additives like Prolong and other PTFE-resin based
additives attempt to achieve. I guess the best would be to just buy an oil
accumulator which actually pressurizes the oil system during the entire startup
procedure until the regular oil pump comes up to adequate pressure.
I've got to come clean - I dont even follow the manuf. spec myself - I use 20w50 in
BOTH my Indys. And have since day one. They have over 150,000 miles on their
combined odometers. Add to that 75,000 miles for the 95 Ram that I traded in which
also got 20w50 - none have ever had an oil related problem. The main reason is
partly due to those properties I just discussed. For example, when I first got my
Indy - I had an ever so slight tapping noise for the first few seconds of startup.
It bugged the crap out of me. Worse, my oil pressure would fluctuate ever so
slightly like when hot coming to a stop light would cause it to drop slightly. It
stayed mostly just a tad to the right of straight up on the gauge. When hot coming
to a stop light, idling, it would drop to just slightly to the left of straight up
on the gauge. This bothered me so I tried the 20w50. The pressure then went a full
needle and a half to the right of straight up on the gauge. I never hear the
tapping noise again at startup either. It also became ROCK SOLID - never moved.
One day the dealership put that house oil in and sure enough I noticed the same old
lower pressure and fluctuating. Needless to say, they dont change my oil anymore
8-) And yes, I realize that pressure and volume are two different things - it was
the noise at startup and the fluctuating that irked me the most - havent had that
problem in over 3 years!
>
> In any event, this book sounds like an interesting read. The only book I found
> by Larry Shepard was published in 1991, titled, "How to Hot Rod Small-Block
> Mopar Engines". Is this the same book?
> Tom
The "Mopar Engines" book and "Mopar Chassis" book have long been referred to as the
"bibles" of any good mopar man. Just recently CC came out with a seperate Magnum
only book called "Mopar Magnum Engines". It is $25 and available at your local
dealership (or cheaper thru Mancini, Koller, etc.) A must-have for anyone doing
performance-related mods especially to internal engine parts.
Whew - did I write all that? 8-)
Latr,
Shane
p.s. My apologies also - I tend to knee-jerk from time to time (right Clay 8-)
-- '96 IndyRam w/lots of mods (mine) '96 IndyRam w/lots of options (wifes) - also a numbered (#142) "Track Truck" '74 Triple-Black Dodge Challenger Rallye 360 home-brew EFI R&D vehicle '68 Black Corvette Convertible 427 (For Sale)
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