oil grade for a 1927 DB

[Guest mleaf72]

Recently purchased a 1927 dodge brothers 128. Previous owner dropped and cleaned oil pan and has been running retela 15-40.

Any suggestion. It runs good. just would like some input. Previously had a 27 pontiac and 29 reo i allways used 30 non detergent

Thanks......Happy motoring.

[nearchoclatetown]

I'm a 30 NON hd guy.

[RickBrinker]

Me too !

[Rusty_OToole]

I'd stick with the Rotella.

[platt-deutsch]

15-40 RotellaT

[Texacola]

Unless you are using a ZDDP additive... stick with the Rotella as it contains something like 1200ppm ZDDP.Other modern oils today do not contain sufficient ZDDP levels for our flat tappet engines.

[Joe Cozza]

OK, I give up. What is Rotella oil, and where do you buy it?

Thanks,Joe C.

[nearchoclatetown]

Unless you are using a ZDDP additive... stick with the Rotella as it contains something like 1200ppm ZDDP.Other modern oils today do not contain sufficient ZDDP levels for our flat tappet engines.

Not starting an argument, but I THINK I read non HD and racing oils still have zinc in them.

[fraso]

Unless the ambient temperatures were very high, 40-weight oils (like SAE 40, 15W-40) were never required in these older engines. Single grade oils from the 1920s also had a much lower viscosity index (less than 100) than modern modern multi-grade oils so a 10W-30 would easily be used where a SAE 40 would have been specified.

I would stick with Heavy Duty Engine Oils (like Rotella) but use the 10W-30 grade instead. The only reason that OEMs used non-detergent oil back then was because detergent oils hadn't been invented. Since anti-wear additives weren't in the oils available in the 1920s and 1930s, any modern engine oil (including Starburst oils) will have far more ZDDP than oils of that era (ie, non-detergent oil). The additives in modern HDEOs will keep older engine clean and minimize wear.

Chrysler Oil Recommendations

Edited January 23, 2017 by fraso
Link Update (see edit history)

[dwollam]

Joe, Rotella is a Shell diesel oil.

[fraso]

Although Rotella T (see above link) is used in diesel engines, being a HDEO, it has a dual API rating (CI-4 for diesels and SL for gasoline engines). You may safely use any currently available dual-rated HDEO in any flat tappet engine. Generally, a 15W-40 HDEO with an API CI-4/SL rating will provide additional anti-wear protection to engines with aggressive aftermarket valve trains.

[Joe Cozza]

Thanks Dave.

I use 40wt nd in both of my cars with a can of STP .

Been doing it for years.

Joe C.

[Phil 32DL6]

...with a can of STP.

Joe C.

Are you using their Oil Treatment or their Gas Treatment?

(Out of curiosity to see what they currently have, I visited STP's web site. Right there on their STP Products page, clear as day, was listed "Break Fluid." Unbelievable! )

[nearchoclatetown]

Hey Phil, I thought we got rid of the bad speelers?

[Joe Cozza]

Are you using their Oil Treatment or their Gas Treatment?

(Out of curiosity to see what they currently have, I visited STP's web site. Right there on their STP Products page, clear as day, was listed "Break Fluid." Unbelievable! )

Phil, The Oil Treatment

[RickBrinker]

You can find rotella at any Awful Zone (I know it miss spelled)

[Phil 32DL6]

Phil, The Oil Treatment

Whew!

[FMF]

I agree with Joe Cozza --- 40 wt. non-detergent in my '25 (never rebuilt) engine.

[Tim Wolfe]

The engine shop said to use 15W40 to start the engine up and after about a hundred miles to drain it and then run the 30 weight. The restoration shop said to use racing oil in it. As mentioned before, it is for the zinc and other additives that the new oils lack to protect the old engines. I'll use a detergent oil since the car has an oil filter. ( '30 L head Chrysler)

[nearchoclatetown]

Tim, with a fresh engine I agree with you 100%, but my old stuff I'll use non-hd.

[Guest DodgeKCL]

The heavy 15W40 Shell Rotella ,which I buy from my farm co-op as it's used in diesel tractors, 'closes' up some of the 'holes' in these old engines and they run higher blood pressure even in high Summer heat. I also use a slip additive but I use something called Prolong. When I used STP years ago I found because of it's thickness, it looks like honey pouring out of the can,it raised the oil pressure too much and gaskets and seals bled out.

In the 'for what it's worth department', I was at an automotive flea market last week and came across yet another oil slip co-efficient additive. It's made in the U.S. and is called 'PETRON PLUS'. This was the distributor's 1st show in Canada. They had a Chev 350 on a stand and it had the oil pan fixed on hydraulic rams. When I walked up the rams had pulled the pan away from the engine and the bottom end of the 350 was exposed and running nicely on no oil. It had an oil pressure guage on a panel and it of course read zero. The water temp. gauge was in the green and the rev counter said about 500 rpm. They readily admitted the engine could not be loaded or worked but would sit and idle with no oil for the rest of the day. This was about noon and the pan had been down all morning. If the rams were activated the pan went back up to the engine and the oil pressure returned.

Amazing. It came in a small plastic bottle of maybe 350 ml. and cost about $30. You pour it all in with an oil change but add no more for 3 oil changes after that. They have a local address. I finally got some one to talk to me as to how these additives work.(I"m told GM Canada uses Prolong by the train car load on the production line in Oshawa. And you Yanks drive many of these new cars made here in Canada because of free trade including Camaros and Firebirds.)

One of the guys told me he had been to the Petron Plus factory in the U.S. and the 'secret' is they refine ordinary oil until they have only the slippery part of the oil left. The 'body' is gone. He told me Prolong was considered their only competition and eluded any further conversation about Prolong. It looks the same as Prolong I suspect it is.

I know this sounds like a sales thingy on my part but it is not. I have nothing to do with Prolong or Petron Plus or any other company. I just think a lot of the life of these old engines could be lengthened by one using one of these additives. If you put a rev counter on an engine and do nothing else but change the oil and add Prolong along with it, after a few miles the idle revs will be higher and you will have to turn down the idle screw. (You can 'feel' it happening because the shifts are starting to crunch.)

I also see a lot of the oil products on the store shelves now say that an additive has been added to increase the slip co-efficient of their oils. There must be something to these new additives?

[platt-deutsch]

I have a 25 DB with 14,000 actual miles. It was a barn find.. Year ago I pulled the pan and pistons and added oil rings as it only had 4 compression rings and it used oil. Bores looked great but the pan had about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of hard crap almost like asphalt in the bottom of the pan. The car had been in that Barn undisturbed since 1929. I bought it in 1972. The straight grade oils of that era must have been crap..I use 15/40 Rotella T and when hot the oil pres. is about 2.5 PSI.. I would say non detergent oil may be ok for air compressors etc but probly not the best for internal combustion engines.

[gboy]

Well I can hear the screams now, but When I find a barn find or a fence row find that is not stuck, the first thing I do is drop the pan. From there I steam the crank case and oil pan with a steam cleaner. I make sure I do this on a hot day and get the block warm with the hot water. many times I have the engine out of the car hanging high from a loader. I let the engine dry for a day, from here I paint the engine and reinstall engine, add oil pan fill with cenex 15-40 oil. first oil change cleans out any remaining sludge, after that oil stays clean.

Edited June 14, 2010 by gboy (see edit history)

[dwollam]

Gboy, I have done that as well, even pull the valve cover. Works good, gets all the old crud out.

[Guest FOlsen]

You can get it on Amazon for $19.95 / gallon. Diesel oils are high detergent oils. They really keep the engine clean, but if you start using them on a sludged up engine there is a chance that detergent will break lose the sludge in large enough pieces that plugging oil lines can become a issue.