[turbota]

My oil pressure is to high. I am using 15/40 Rotella.
At cold idle it is at 60 psi and cruising at 2800 NOT fully warmed up is 80psi
Once it warms up its at idle 50 psi and cruising at 2800 75 psi
This is a big block 468 if that matters.
Which of the following grades would be best to try and get the pressure down some.

1. 10/30 Dino
2. Straight 30 Dino
3. 10/30 full synthectic (royal purple)
4. straight 30 syntectic (Red line)

 

[Jason Snyder]

number 3 will be the lowest . i have the same problem ,so i ran some 10-30 syn. it lowered the pressure slightly when cold ,but the big difference was when hot .

 

[SWHEATON]

If your running a flat tappet cam and going to use a lighter conventional oil thats more reasonably priced vs full syn oil then try valvoline VR1 racing 10w-30 oil that has more zddp then std pass car 10-30 oil or single grade 30wt shell rotella that has a little more zddp then the VR1.

Scott

 

[redlineoil]

We have a lot of experience on that one and can help.

Many of our big-block customers think they need heavy oil for those engines and it simply isn't true--today's engines are typically built with tight enough clearances that you can run 30wt (remember, in a 5W30 or 10W30 multigrade application, it's the "30" that's your operating temperature, truly the weight you'll run at...).

Rotella is a great oil in gas engines for break-in, but not beyond that. It's filled with additives specific to diesel fuel dillution and operation. Regardless, a way to bring down that oil pressure is simply to move down one grade in viscosity, to a 5W30 or a 10W30.

Please remember that there is no such thing as Red Line "straight weight". We offer a 30WT Racing Oil with far less detergency (gives you more lubricity, but you have to change it far too often for a street application), but it is a 10W30 multi-grade and says so on the bottle. The 30WT name can lead guys to the wrong point, but that's the way racers judge the weight--at which they will race at.

One last thing about the ZDDP mention--both the Red Line racing oil (orange labels) and motor oil for the street (blue labels) have what the general public is calling ZDDP, but what is really a complex and expensive antiwear additive package. API rated oil (like Mobil 1, Royal Purple, and all the synthetics and conventional oils at your auto parts store) do not have the antiwear you guys are looking for. Red Line products exceed the API spec and include that antiwear you need.

We still have the Red Line Chevelle that you likely read about for years in PHR and appreciate you guys. Hope this helped....

Cameron Evans
Red Line Oil

 

[SWHEATON]

You stated "Rotella is a great oil in gas engines for break-in, but not beyond that. It's filled with additives specific to diesel fuel dillution and operation."

Thats funny because Shell recommends their rotella single grade 30wt oil for gasoline engine apps too and not just for breakin for gas engines so who do you believe ?

But i "respectfully disaggree" with the staement the 30wt shell has too much detergent,did you have it tested,i did and here is the data:

SHELL ROTEALLA 30WT SINGLE GRADE -1215-Zn/1050-P/Ca-2350 (CONVEN OIL)

Most over the counter std pass car oils i tested had approx 1800ppm-2200ppm Ca on avg so 2350ppm Ca (couple were 2500ppm Ca)is not out of line at all for a street application imho.

I am sure running the shell 30wt in most mild to fairly hot street perf apps sbc/bbc will not hurt anything and the oil is not being harmfully dilluted at all by the additional 150ppm Ca.

But on the other side your full syn redline oil that cost 3x-4x more then conventional or syn/conven blend is still a very a good product for the correct application thats for sure.

But its just a matter of who wants to run a fully syn oil in their 30-40 yr old motor that a little more leak prone then todays motors designed for full syn. That's not to mention breakin issues with full syn where cam mfgs rec not using full syn for flat tappet cam breakin ,ring seating issues on ocassion in rblt 30-40 yr old motors not designed for fully syn as stated by many engine builders/my machinest too. But full syn is fine with todays engines designed to be broken in on full syn and run thereafter with it and its ok for a 30-40 yr old motor thats been fully broken in 1st and doesnt have any oil leaks or seapage that could get worse if switching to a full syn oil. I have seen 1st hand when people went to full syn with 30-40 yr old rblt motors after breakin was complete and they started to leak noticeably more with the full syn then conventional oil.

just my 2 cents

Scott

 

[turbota]

Today I drained the 15/40 and put in Valvoline VR1 straight 30
Here are the changes
At operating temp of 175 degrees the readings are
With the 15/40 at operating temp idle was 50psi now 40 with the VR1 30
With the 15/40 at operating temp 2800 rpms was 75 psi now 68 with the VR1 30
Two questions
1. Can I live with those readings or will there be a problem ?
2. I was thinking of trying Royal Purple straight 30, will this bring it down any further ?

 

[SWHEATON]

THOSE HOT OIL PSI #'S OF 40LBS @ IDLE AND 68LBS AT CRUISE RPM ARE OK,LEAVE IT BE AND DONT TRY OTHER OILS TO LOWER OIL PSI EVEN MORE WHEN IT'S NOT A PROBLEM WITH 40LBS/68LBS OIL PSI HOT.

After you get some miles on the motor and beat on it a little the oil psi may come down another 3-5lbs as things settle in more especially if this is a new motor with tight clearances.

SCOTT

 

[turbota]

Thanks Scott.
At cold its still much higher till it gets to normal operating temp of 175. So I go real easy til its at full op temp and then it drops to the 40 at idle and 68 at 2800 cruising.

 

[JJ'65]

My oil pressure is to high. I am using 15/40 Rotella.
At cold idle it is at 60 psi and cruising at 2800 NOT fully warmed up is 80psi
Once it warms up its at idle 50 psi and cruising at 2800 75 psi
This is a big block 468 if that matters.
Which of the following grades would be best to try and get the pressure down some.

1. 10/30 Dino
2. Straight 30 Dino
3. 10/30 full synthectic (royal purple)
4. straight 30 syntectic (Red line)

As far as I know, oil pumps have a pressure relief mechanism like a spring-loaded ball type of check valve. Is yours working correctly? May just need to replace the spring.

 

[turbota]

Its a brand new pump. Moroso standard pressure but high volume.

 

[trmnatr]

We have a lot of experience on that one and can help.

Many of our big-block customers think they need heavy oil for those engines and it simply isn't true--today's engines are typically built with tight enough clearances that you can run 30wt (remember, in a 5W30 or 10W30 multigrade application, it's the "30" that's your operating temperature, truly the weight you'll run at...).

Rotella is a great oil in gas engines for break-in, but not beyond that. It's filled with additives specific to diesel fuel dillution and operation. Regardless, a way to bring down that oil pressure is simply to move down one grade in viscosity, to a 5W30 or a 10W30.

Please remember that there is no such thing as Red Line "straight weight". We offer a 30WT Racing Oil with far less detergency (gives you more lubricity, but you have to change it far too often for a street application), but it is a 10W30 multi-grade and says so on the bottle. The 30WT name can lead guys to the wrong point, but that's the way racers judge the weight--at which they will race at.

One last thing about the ZDDP mention--both the Red Line racing oil (orange labels) and motor oil for the street (blue labels) have what the general public is calling ZDDP, but what is really a complex and expensive antiwear additive package. API rated oil (like Mobil 1, Royal Purple, and all the synthetics and conventional oils at your auto parts store) do not have the antiwear you guys are looking for. Red Line products exceed the API spec and include that antiwear you need.

We still have the Red Line Chevelle that you likely read about for years in PHR and appreciate you guys. Hope this helped....

Cameron Evans
Red Line Oil

Dont you hate it when a company knocks down others products Cameron? Makes you want to never use their products because they have to make their products seem good by knocking others, thats whats wrong with this world today

If the above is infact true you wont have to mention it, people will buy your oil over Royal Purple or Mobil 1. That may be true about Royal Purple std oil, but not the Royal Purple XPR oil

Dont get me wrong, I have used Red Line and its great product but on the other hand its no better than Royal Purple and Royal Purple is no better than Red Line. They both are the best oils i have used in solid roller race engines

Another fact to be known, Its hard to beat Valvoline Race oil or Valvoline VR1 oil for street/strip cars, I currently use Valvoline race oil, Valvoline VR1 and Royal Purple XPR - I have also used Red Line in the past, no issues with any of them

Cameron Evans, Its kind of like this - just because everything has the Mobil, Royal Purple, Red Line etc name DOES NOT mean that all the products are good. Its like GM, they have 100 makes, not all 100 makes are good, samething with oil and everything.

 

[JJ'65]

Its a brand new pump. Moroso standard pressure but high volume.

Hmmm, well...what is standard pressure for your engine? Lots of experienced old timers figure 10 psi per 1,000 rpm is plenty. Maybe you don't even have a problem.

As many have noted here; just because its new right-out-of-the-box doesn't mean its not defective.

My $0.02

 

[SWHEATON]

I believe his motor and pump are fine,the hi psi or hi volume pumps usually have a little higher then normal operating pressure then stock not to mention if the motors bottom end/bearing clearances may also be on the tighter side of spec too which would keep the oil psi from dropping as much when oil/motor was hot .

But the pump seems to act normal when cold then going to hot loosing some pressure esp when he tried a lighter oil and it reacted according by dropping a few lbs oil pressure esp when hot.

I dont think there is anything wrong or to worry about with his motor running 40lbs hot idle and 68 lbs oil psi at like 2500rpms with hot motor/oil,it's not all that hi now to be worried about esp since the pump seems to react normally to temp and dif viscosity oils.

My bbc runs 40lbs at 900 rpms hot idle and approx 51-52 lbs hot @ 2500 rpms with 15w-40 delo oil with a std volume melling's M77 pump and stock spring. Unfortunately i didnt install the opt vette hi psi spring in the pump though i wish i had to inc the hot oil psi from 51-52 psi @ cruise to approx 60-62 psi hot @ 2500 rpm cruise ,but anyway no issues thus far with this setup after 7 yrs/4k miles .(PHEW!!!)

Just my what must be 30 cents by now (LOL!!!!)

Scott