Daytona oil | FerrariChat

Daytona oil

Discussion in 'Vintage (thru 365 GTC4)' started by bighitter2, Oct 17, 2021.

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  1. bighitter2

    bighitter2 Formula Junior

    May 7, 2005
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    virginia usa
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    chuck coli
    I’m going to change the oil and filters in the Daytona soon and find i cannot purchase the Penn Brad 15-40 i used to use as the ‘new oil’ from them is now partial synthetic…anyone have any recommendations? I need to order oil soon thanks, Chuck
     
  2. Edward 96GTS

    Edward 96GTS F1 Veteran
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    Nov 1, 2003
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    checkout Swepco or Joe Gibbs Driven oil.
     
  3. jnk

    jnk Formula Junior

    Nov 12, 2010
    341
    Chuck,
    I would recommend the Original Green Oil from Brad Penn. You can have a look at their webpage that describes the product. My Daytona has been using that oil for 20 years. Patrick Otis recommended it to me and he uses it when he does my service. It is the high zinc oil 20-50.
     
  4. Edward 96GTS

    Edward 96GTS F1 Veteran
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    brad penn is good. not easy to get. i think its now called penngrade.
     
  5. TTR

    TTR F1 Veteran
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    Mar 29, 2007
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    Timo
    For what it’s worth, for past 40 or so years (and hundreds of thousands of miles) I’ve been using conventional 20W-50 (of various, readily available brands) in all types of vintage cars engines, including Ferraris and so far haven’t experienced a reason to change my habits.
    Most seem to have adequate zinc levels for “normal” (i.e. road) use and I probably drive more & a bit harder than average “vintage” car enthusiast/owner and usually change oil & filter(s) every +/-2500 miles or once a year, whichever comes first.
     
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  6. JimEakin

    JimEakin Formula Junior

    Jun 13, 2015
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    Mountain Living
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    Jim
    Timo recommended that I change from 5W40 synthetic to 20W50 conventional oil, which I did. I noticed that the slight oil leak I had eventually went away. And I now get a little better oil pressure at idle. This is on my 330 GTC.

    I bought Kendall GT-1 Competition on ebay. But at my next oil change I was a couple of qts short of Kendall, so I bought Carquest brand. Since I was pouring it in right after the Kendall, I noticed that the CQ oil was thinner!

    The first time I put in the 20W50, I let the engine run only at idle or slightly above for about 20 min. I noticed that the oil pressure gauge actually seemed to show the oil pressure control valve adjusting to the higher viscosity.
     
  7. colombo2cam

    colombo2cam Formula Junior

    Jan 31, 2019
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    Ted
    Valvoline 20w/50 VR1 is a good oil - I have been very happy with it.
     
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  8. bighitter2

    bighitter2 Formula Junior

    May 7, 2005
    486
    virginia usa
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    chuck coli
    Brad Penn now Penngrade is now partial synthetic, i was using 15-40 in my Daytona for about 10 years now , did not really want to go synthetic
     
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  9. TTR

    TTR F1 Veteran
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    Also worth keeping in mind that not all lubricants/oils are actually refined/manufactured by the name on the container label.
    Many "house" or small brand oils are refined by major producers and just bottled in to containers with different labels, kind of like countless auto parts or household appliances/items, etc.
     
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  10. DWR46

    DWR46 Formula 3
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    Jun 19, 2012
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    Another vote for Valvoline 20W-50 VR1. However, be careful, it is available in BOTH a conventional and a synthetic. We always stay with CONVENTIONAL oil for the engines in the older cars.
     
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  11. TTR

    TTR F1 Veteran
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    Has been my choice in recent years too.
     
  12. turbo-joe

    turbo-joe F1 Veteran

    Apr 6, 2008
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    100 % agree
     
  13. V12addict

    V12addict Formula Junior

    Jan 2, 2004
    293
    Thank you, whats the advantage of the " high zinc " formula in VR1 Valvoline if i may ask ?
     
  14. DWR46

    DWR46 Formula 3
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    V12: Up until the wide spread usage of catalytic converters, motor oil always contained ZDDP (Zinc) as a anti-wear additive to protect parts in the valve train. Flat tappet camshafts, as found for years in many engines, create lubrication problems between the cam lobe and the lifter and ZDDP provides the necessary protection for these parts. Ferrari SOHC engines have, since almost the beginning, used a roller cam follower so this is not as critical. DOHC engines also place less strain on this area and they are also not as critical. However, the presence of ZDDP is a "plus" in oil for all high performance engines. Catalytic converters do not like ZDDP, so our governments have, over the years, forced the oil companies to lower the levels of this in the oils. Since most cars are overhead cam engines today, this has not YET become a reliability issue, but you want safe levels of ZDDP in your Ferrari. Remember these engines were designed to use the types of oils available at the time they were built. Sometimes "newer" is not "better".
     
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  15. Edward 96GTS

    Edward 96GTS F1 Veteran
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    ^ and just to add, buy oil with high zinc already in it and avoid adding zinc additives to non high zinc oils.
     
  16. V12addict

    V12addict Formula Junior

    Jan 2, 2004
    293
    Thank you for a very informative and detailed explanation. I will stick with Valvoline VR1 conventional oil for now. Seems like the best choice at this time for our Italian cars.
     
  17. bighitter2

    bighitter2 Formula Junior

    May 7, 2005
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    chuck coli
    20-50 valvoline vr1 it is…just bought a case of 12 on amazon will have in 2 days…looks like i’ll be changing Daytona oil this weekend…thanks for all the insights…Chuck
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  18. TTR

    TTR F1 Veteran
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    Chuck, you might want to check fluid capacities section in your owners manual and order few more quarts.
    If I’m not mistaken, a full engine oil change in a Daytona requires about 16-17 quarts* or at least has on ones I’ve done over the years, including two within last few weeks.

    *IIRC, +/-12 qts in the tank + 4-5 qts in the engine sump, filters & hoses/lines.
     
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  19. DWR46

    DWR46 Formula 3
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    Timo has a lot of Daytona experience, so I am happy to defer to him. However, we use 13-14 quarts for an oil change in a Daytona. With so much oil capacity, there is no reason run the engines to the "full" mark on the dipstick, as getting adequate oil temp is a problem anyway. As long as the oil level is at least half way between the marks, when checked hot, just after a run, you have plenty of oil.
     
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  20. TTR

    TTR F1 Veteran
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    Thanks Dyke, that’s certainly one aspect I hadn’t considered to alleviate the low oil temp, but it makes sense.
    I’ve just always been erring on the side of caution and keeping oil levels topped on all engines/vehicles.
     
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  21. DWR46

    DWR46 Formula 3
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    Timo: I used to do the same thing, but finally got "smart", as with the large oil capacities, it is overkill. A dry sump system will work fine as long as the oil level in the tank is at or above the upper screen with the engine running at idle. That is the way we judge the levels in the Birdcages, GTO's, etc. For instance, a GTO will hold 20 quarts, but we race today with about 14-15 quarts, as the races are short and we have no worries about running low on oil after a number of hours of racing.
     
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  22. DWR46

    DWR46 Formula 3
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    While we are on the subject of oil levels. Here is another piece of trivia. In the day, the factory raced the TdF's TR's, and SWB's by putting 14 quarts in them (standard "full" is about 10 quarts) and just letting the excess oil blow out the breathers until the engine found its "happy place". Back then, no worries about oil on the race track!
     
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  23. TTR

    TTR F1 Veteran
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    I’m in midst of an “urgent” top end rebuild of my Roadster engine (‘53 DeSoto Hemi) and a friend who volunteered to help was initially being overly cautious during disassembly and cleaning, so as not to excessively remove heavy coatings of engine oil that has built up outside the components (& entire engine) due to leaky seals & gaskets in past 30+ years.

    He was worried the freshened up engine without it would look out of place among all other grime, patina & wear accumulated during past 3 decades. :)
     
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  24. TTR

    TTR F1 Veteran
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    In last few days I've been doing some (additional) development testing on my "improved/upgraded" (i.e. better ?) A/C system design features for Daytonas and prior to road testing couple of the cars, lowered their engine oil tank levels to about half way between low/full mark ("after a run") by draining +/- 3 qts AND OIL TEMPS IMPROVED NOTICEABLY (+/-20 degrees F, little more with A/C running), yet the coolant temps didn't change that much.

    Thank you very much for that tip Dyke !
     
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