Need a "Temporary" Motor Oil Recommendation

[grizzfan]

My search yielded nothing here.

I am deferring the engine-pull, maintenance & repair on my '75 911S engine until Spring and because my wife needs care during her radiation & chemo treatments this Winter. I have drained the engine oil, cleaned the screen on the bottom and replaced related gaskets and the oil filter. To drive the car to the storage unit I obviously need to put some oil in it! But I hate waste the Brad-Penn I bought and would like to opt for something much cheaper and acceptable from the ZDDP standpoint that will allow me to start it up every couple of weeks.

Thanks for your recommendations!

[Wil Ferch]

Typical "Straight 30 Weight" oils.....because of their singular weight....can often be found cheaply. They are all pre-SM and should have the appropriate ZDDP levels. Recall,....single weight was factory recommendation thru the late 70's...showing how long Porsche was a hold-out for these "new-fangled" multi-viscosity oils.

[daniel911T]

First, and most importantly: I, and I suspect all Pelicans, will be wishing your wife the best. I hope she can win that tough battle and come out the other side healthy and happy. You definitely have your priorities straight, take care of her, the car can wait.

This is my old school VW bias... for good cheap oil, I always go with HD30. It was recommended by John Muir, author of "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step by Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot" and I think his advice on old air cooled motors is pretty good.

Oh yeah... 30HD is about the cheapest stuff you can find too.

I'm waiting for the flamethrowers...

Dan

[daniel911T]

Wil,
You beat me to it again! You posted while I was typing up my reply.

I guess great minds still think alike!

-Dan

[Por_sha911]

In my non-expert opinion, you need a multi-weight oil. Any 15W40 or 20W50 will be fine for storage purposes only since you need the lower weight for cold startup flow. It probably won't get to temp between your home and the storage area.

On a totally separate note, starting your motor and only running it for a short while is not good for the motor. The greatest amount of wear is at startup and if you don't get it up to full operating temp you aren't really clearing the moisture out of the system. Better to just run it hard and then park it for the winter.

[Zeke]

And empty the gas tank AFTER running some StaBil thru the system.

+1 on the multi grade since you live in MT. Or 20 w for storage.

My best wishes for your wife.

[Canada Kev]

Originally Posted by daniel911T

Wil,
You beat me to it again! You posted while I was typing up my reply.

I guess great minds still think alike!

-Dan

Or fools seldom differ.

I second (or is it third?) the comment(s) on periodically starting the car. Park it and pull the battery to store someplace warm. Fire it up in the spring.

Milt: You say to run the tank empty after using Stabil. Can you elaborate, please? Are you suggesting to purge the Stabil from the system before changing oil?

[grizzfan]

Thanks for the recommendations. Louise is one tough girl with a great attitude and I think she'll do just fine through all of this.

Tom

[cashflyer]

Rotella 15-40
Regular, not synth.
Price is good and it has plenty of zddp

[GaryR]

Originally Posted by grizzfan

Thanks for the recommendations. Louise is one tough girl with a great attitude and I think she'll do just fine through all of this.

Tom

Tom -

PM me your address and i'll take this one minor worry off your head and ship you a case of whatever oil you want (on me) ASAP. My wife went through it too, our thoughts and prayers go out to you and Louise. Put the BP in, i'll replace it if you want.

Gary

[Zeke]

Not to purge. What gas is left in the lines won't gel. No sense in leaving gas in the tank as it will go bad in 2-3 months. You could actually leave the treated gs in the tank and drain it in the Spring.

[Jim Garfield]

Very nice Gary, and yes, best wishes to your wife Tom.

As far as draining the gas tank, I'm afraid I think that's the worst thing to do. No offense Milt, but I think that it invites condensation and rust inside the tank. I always do the opposite when putting the car up for the winter, fill the tank and add Stabil.

[AlfonsoR]

+911 on your wife getting better.

Why do you not want to put Brad Penn in it.? It seems you're implying that the oil will go bad from storing it? If this is what you're thinking, then my non-expert opinion is that oil shelf life is really long. The oil will not breakdown if you leave it in there for at least 2 years easy. I would be more concerned with the gasoline, I think you want to make sure the carbs/injectors and all fuel lines are empty, but I'm not sure what the best way to do that is.

Good luck to you and your wife!!
Alfonso

[Zeke]

Good point Alfonso. After all, an engine is a hell of a lot more expensive than a case of oil. As long as he doesn't leave water and nitric acid in the stored engine (from not getting the oil up to temp each time its started), the oil should last.

If you can get all the gas out, that's best, but he'd have to disconnect lines and blow them out. I think treated gasoline will be fine for one winter. Just throw out as much as possible from the tank in the Spring.

[wildcat077]

Milt,

I've always filled the gas to the top with premium while adding the recommended amount of Stabil before storing any of my toys.
Wether it be the boat and ATV's for the Winter or the snowmobiles for the Summer ...
Been doing this for more than 20 years without any adverse effects !
On top of that i always end up siphoning some of the gas out of the ATV's for the snowblower in the Winter and from the snowmobiles in the Summer for the lawn tractor ... lol

That is what is recommended for storage by most owner's manuals anyways !
Just my opinion

Cheers !
Phil

[billybek]

Originally Posted by AlfonsoR

+911 on your wife getting better.

Why do you not want to put Brad Penn in it.? It seems you're implying that the oil will go bad from storing it? If this is what you're thinking, then my non-expert opinion is that oil shelf life is really long. The oil will not breakdown if you leave it in there for at least 2 years easy.
Alfonso

I think he is planning an engine drop in the spring and doesn't want to waste an expensive fill of oil in that time.

Good timing on this thread as I was wondering the same thing.

[AlfonsoR]

If you're careful, you could re-use the oil that came out when he does the engine drop. I think that would be better than using some cheapo oil, I think??

[safe]

If the purpose is only to drive the car to storage and to drain the oil in the spring, buy the cheapest oil you can find.

[Wil Ferch]

cashflyer says.... "Rotella 15-40
Regular, not synth.
Price is good and it has plenty of zddp..."

On what basis do you think it has enough ZDDP?.....I see nothing published to indicate that,and talks with Shell weren't revealing.

[HarryD]

Tom:

My thougths and prayers are with you and your lady. Hopefully full recovery is in the cards.

For a short duration, you may want to consider Castrol GTX 20W-50. while not good long term (per Charles Navarro), it may be adequate for your need.