Best over the counter oil for 1994 stock 350 tbi flat tappet

[man-a-fre]

What brand and weight are you guys using for oil in your flat tappet motors?. I just finished breaking in my new mexico GM 350 and am now looking for easy to get oil that will work and keep the cam alive and is carried at the usual chain stores.

 

[Erik the Awful]

I've always been a fan of Valvoline, Royal Purple, and to a lesser extent, Castrol. I stay away from Pennzoil and Quaker State. The most important factor is how often you change the oil. The cheapest crap available is fine if you change it every 3000 miles. I tend to go about 5000 between changes. I also stick with Wix filters. Fram filters are crap unless you buy their highest-end stuff, and then you're paying twice as much as a Wix for something that's barely the same quality.

For my flat-tappet big-block Cadillac I run 10w30, but in my 350 roller motors I run 5w30. My 4.6 S197 Mustang gets 5w20.

 

[98chevy2500SS]

For oil, our family uses Valvoline in our engines. We specifically use the High Mileage synthetic blend since we all have higher mileage engines. We always get our oil at Walmart since it’s the cheapest. Auto parts stores charge a ridiculous amount for oil. In our GM vehicles we use ACDelco oil filters. I agree with @Erik the Awful on Fram filters, try not to get them lol.

I did try out Mobil 1’s Full Synthetic High Mileage 5W-30 in my 98 today and it seems to be working good as I just went from using synthetic blend to full synthetic. Though, since your engine is brand new, you can get away with using the regular stuff.

Mobil 1 and Valvoline seem to be close in quality, haven’t tried other brands, though, I probably wouldn’t trust oil from SuperTech or anything generic, seems to not be as good as the name brand stuff.

 

[Schurkey]

What brand and weight are you guys using for oil in your flat tappet motors?

Any API-rated oil, synthetic preferred. Use whatever viscosity GM calls for--probably 5W-30.

I tend to use Amsoil XL; but I also buy cases of NAPA synthetic when it's on sale (NAPA oil is packaged by Valvoline.)

I just finished breaking in my new mexico GM 350 and am now looking for easy to get oil that will work and keep the cam alive and is carried at the usual chain stores.

When I stuffed a fresh engine in my '88 K1500, I also installed an aftermarket "bypass" oil filter. These filters will keep oil amazingly clean. The brand I buy--Frantz--uses a roll of old-fashioned ******* as the filter media. I have several, one permanently mounted on the 454 in my boat, one permanently mounted on this K1500, one on my solvent tank, and one I use as a "temporary" on each engine I build, to remove any break-in wear particles.

You can get 'em on eBay used for about $85; or brand-new for about $250.

Amsoil also sells a bypass filter.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

Any API-rated oil, synthetic preferred. Use whatever viscosity GM calls for--probably 5W-30.

I tend to use Amsoil XL; but I also buy cases of NAPA synthetic when it's on sale (NAPA oil is packaged by Valvoline.)


When I stuffed a fresh engine in my '88 K1500, I also installed an aftermarket "bypass" oil filter. These filters will keep oil amazingly clean. The brand I buy--Frantz--uses a roll of old-fashioned ******* as the filter media. I have several, one permanently mounted on the 454 in my boat, one permanently mounted on this K1500, one on my solvent tank, and one I use as a "temporary" on each engine I build, to remove any break-in wear particles.

You can get 'em on eBay used for about $85; or brand-new for about $250.

Amsoil also sells a bypass filter.

I have had a $20 junkyard Amsoil setup on the Express van for 4 years. I plumbed it with AN lines but the filter base is just a cheap used part.

 

[98 Nitro]

Valvoline 5w30 synthetic blend and Wix filters in both my 94 and 98 350s.

 

[454cid]

I think most of you guys are missing the important part here.... Flat tappet cam. I've read over and over, that modern oils are tailored for roller cams.

I would probably run Rotella T4, as I believe it's got the higher zinc levels needed. Technically it's not gas engine rated any more. When the new ratings came out Shell didn't certify it for gas engines... not sure why, the other HD oils from other companies got dual rated.

The T4 is available in 10w30, so you can run the HD oil without going to a viscosity that's too heavy.

You could check over at BITOG, all they do is argue about oil. Someone's probably already asked the question.

 

[Schurkey]

I think most of you guys are missing the important part here.... Flat tappet cam. I've read over and over, that modern oils are tailored for roller cams...

...You could check over at BITOG, all they do is argue about oil. Someone's probably already asked the question.

my new mexico GM 350

A Mexican crate engine won't have enough valve spring to really need special high-performance flat-tapptet oil.

Half the problem with flat-tappet cam and lifter failures had to do with crappy Communist Chinese lifters and soft cam cores. The oil got blamed so that the sellers of the sh!tty lifters and cams didn't have to warranty the faulty parts. It's easy to blame the EPA; they're a believable target most of the time.

 

[man-a-fre]

Thinking of using Mobil 1 5w40 turbo diesal truck oil according to Mobil 1 web site it has 1000 phosphorus and 1100 zinc.Mobil 1 formula m has the same in 5w40.Mobil 1 full synthetic 0w40 has the same phos and zinc also but i think 5 w 40 May be better oil.

 

[Schurkey]

What does GM recommend? You screw with their recommendations, maybe you void the warranty,

Knowing GM, they're probably requiring Dexos certification.