dreaded oil thread

hi,

this is what i am planning to do for initial engine startup.

HD30W - initial startup until hot.
drain and re-torque head

5/10w30 - up to 100 miles to work out any bugs

5/10w30 on going

thoughts/constructive comments?

peter

peter > wrote:

> hi,
>
> this is what i am planning to do for initial engine startup.
>
> HD30W - initial startup until hot.
> drain and re-torque head
>
> 5/10w30 - up to 100 miles to work out any bugs
>
> 5/10w30 on going
>
> thoughts/constructive comments?

Only a question, why?

You can use 5/10w30 from the beginning and there should be no need to
drain before 500 miles.


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In article >,
XS11E > wrote:

> You can use 5/10w30 from the beginning and there should be no need to
> drain before 500 miles.

That would be my advice as well, and many would call even that
obsessive. Assuming we're talking about a rebuild here, and it was
reassembled using appropriate lubricants, there's no reason to be overly
concerned. The factory recommendation is for 10W30, BTW, and it's worked
well for me from -10?F to 110?F.

--
Lanny Chambers
St. Louis, MO
'94C

The ostensible reason for HD 30 is to allow the rings to seat properly.
Is it necessary? Don't know, as it depends on the various alloys (Rings,
Pistons, Block)

I'm a bit doubtful about using 5w anything for initial break in.

"Lanny Chambers" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> XS11E > wrote:
>
>> You can use 5/10w30 from the beginning and there should be no need to
>> drain before 500 miles.
>
> That would be my advice as well, and many would call even that
> obsessive. Assuming we're talking about a rebuild here, and it was
> reassembled using appropriate lubricants, there's no reason to be overly
> concerned. The factory recommendation is for 10W30, BTW, and it's worked
> well for me from -10?F to 110?F.
>
> --
> Lanny Chambers
> St. Louis, MO
> '94C

"Chuck" > wrote:

> The ostensible reason for HD 30 is to allow the rings to seat
> properly. Is it necessary?

No.

> I'm a bit doubtful about using 5w anything for initial break in.

There's a bunch of theories going around about break-in, just remember
almost every manufacturer uses synthetic 5w-30 for break-in, the exact
same oil they recommend for continued use. That's gotta tell you
something, they have to warranty the engine so they're not going to do
anything to hurt it.


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In article >,
XS11E > wrote:

> There's a bunch of theories going around about break-in, just remember
> almost every manufacturer uses synthetic 5w-30 for break-in, the exact
> same oil they recommend for continued use.

But not for a Miata. My manual says 10W-30.

--
Lanny Chambers
St. Louis, MO
'94C

Lanny Chambers > wrote:

> In article >,
> XS11E > wrote:
>
>> There's a bunch of theories going around about break-in, just
>> remember almost every manufacturer uses synthetic 5w-30 for
>> break-in, the exact same oil they recommend for continued use.
>
> But not for a Miata. My manual says 10W-30.

and 5W-30 in winter, right?



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The "warranty" has limits. It's not in the mfrs interest to have the engine
last forever. Further, as I found out, using a high quality 10w-30 for
break-in can extend break-in and result in some oil usage for longer than
you might like on some engines.

As I said, there are too many unknowns to really say yea or nay. Metals,
tolerances, depth of the cross hatch, etc. all come into play.
The last Mazda engine (2.6l) (MPV) before the Miata went over 200 thousand.
At 200k, it was using some oil, not excessive for that mileage, and emitted
a bit of smoke until it warmed up. The American car engines I've had all
lasted over 100k, and were doing well when I sold or traded the cars.
The major secret it to simply change the oil and filter. Depending on use,
this may be as few as 3,000 or as many as ~7,500.
It's possible to go beyond that if the oil is synthetic, and you change the
filter, and replace the oil lost in the filter change.

Forty or so years ago, I worked summers for a small town repair shop. We
repaired and rebuilt everything from farm equipment to light single engine
aircraft. (FAA inspectors and all that) One of the shop's side lines was
very high quality welding. A product we were involved with was an oil filter
system for trucks that was water cooled/heated. The filter element was
nothing more than a roll of toilet paper, or layers of cotton cloth. The
housing was made from cast aluminum, and had to be welded.
An old german immigrant had a patent on the system. Seems that it was
developed for use during WWII, as a means of reducing the need for oil
replacement, and the need for a manufactured oil filter. The claim to fame
was that you never "changed" the oil, just the filter media, and added
makeup oil. The system worked quite well with the non detergent oils (SAE
20 & 30) and engines available in the 50's and 60's.

"XS11E" > wrote in message
.. .
> "Chuck" > wrote:
>
>> The ostensible reason for HD 30 is to allow the rings to seat
>> properly. Is it necessary?
>
> No.
>
>> I'm a bit doubtful about using 5w anything for initial break in.
>
> There's a bunch of theories going around about break-in, just remember
> almost every manufacturer uses synthetic 5w-30 for break-in, the exact
> same oil they recommend for continued use. That's gotta tell you
> something, they have to warranty the engine so they're not going to do
> anything to hurt it.
>
>
> --
> XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
> The Usenet Improvement Project:
> http://improve-usenet.org

In article >,
XS11E > wrote:

> My manual says 10W-30.
>
> and 5W-30 in winter, right?

According to the owner's manual, 10W-30 is recommended down to -20?F.
5W-30 is only recommended (presumably to ease the cold-starting load) if
the temperature won't exceed 32?F before the next oil change. I wonder
how many Miatas are driven in weather colder than -20??

--
Lanny Chambers
St. Louis, MO
'94C

"Chuck" > wrote:

> The "warranty" has limits. It's not in the mfrs interest to have
> the engine last forever.

Yes, it actually is. Think about it....

> Further, as I found out, using a high quality 10w-30 for break-in
> can extend break-in and result in some oil usage for longer than
> you might like on some engines.

Not if broken in properly.



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