My car has a 502 BBC with an estimated 2500 miles under her belt. Some of those are hard driven miles. :D The previous owner used 5w50 Castrol synthetic oil. I was just going to continue using that oil but wanted to ask if there are any reasons that I might want or need to change oil types? I've always ran conventional oil like 10w40 in the past, so I have no knowledge about 5w50 Syntec. I've had no problems thus far. My oil pressure is 30psi at warm idle and it increases at least 10psi per 1000rpm, and I think that's being conservative. So, what's your opinion?


One more ignorant question. Does a 502 use the same oil filter that a 454 would use?

Nothing wrong with that particular oil, however the 502's were known for oil consumption problems due to the ring package Gm installed. GM later changed it to solve the oil consumption issues.

Some of the 502's although they ran fine used ALOT of oil, not the 1 qt per 1000 miles but 1 qt in a hundred miles...

I used to build motors for a boat repair place near Seattle and at that time I was installing an updated ring set from Sealed Power IIRC.

I would watch the oil consumption very carefully for a bit with that oil, and if all is well, use the same oil or whatever you prefer. It will not hurt to switch brands, weights, types, etc but if it works....

My 454HO came w/a fill cap labled 5w-30. A reputable chevy dealer said that this was a generic cap that chevy inadvertanly put on these crate motors. Once they notified GM about it, they stopped putting on that particular cap. But 5w-30 made sense to me b/c I figured they were running tighter, more modern clearances along with the hydro roller.

My motor did use a qt. of oil every couple od hundred miles. I attributed this to the valves seals (or lack of actually). Had to pull the heads and have 'em machined for PC seals.

Oil filter is the same BTW.

Nothing wrong with that particular oil, however the 502's were known for oil consumption problems due to the ring package Gm installed. GM later changed it to solve the oil consumption issues.

Some of the 502's although they ran fine used ALOT of oil, not the 1 qt per 1000 miles but 1 qt in a hundred miles...

I used to build motors for a boat repair place near Seattle and at that time I was installing an updated ring set from Sealed Power IIRC.

I would watch the oil consumption very carefully for a bit with that oil, and if all is well, use the same oil or whatever you prefer. It will not hurt to switch brands, weights, types, etc but if it works....


Great, something else to worry about. This 502 was purchased back in 2000 as the deluxe kit option, so it isn't new by any means. I've driven it less than 100 miles since I owned it, so I haven't noticed any oil consumption yet. If it does consume a good amount of oil, are you saying I should use a different type of oil, or just letting me know that I'll have to change the rings? Wouldn't an engine that uses that much oil have a noticeable amount of smoke from the exhaust?

You can use a thicker oil to help with consumption but the real fix it replacing the rings. Usually no smoke...
Not sure when they made the change to the better ring package but a 2000 model MAY have the newer design.