Best NON-synthetic

I'm getting ready to change the oil in my 308gts for the first time. I know the book calls for 20-50 but I think that is a little thick. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with 10-40 but don't know which brand I want to use. I like the valvoline racing formula but can only find it in a 20-50. I've always used Mobile 1 synthetic on my newer vehicles, but I think a non-sythetic is the way to go on the older cars. I live in Florida so it is always pretty warm down here. Any recommendations on brand/weight? Should I just go ahead with the 20-50?

 

I think my 308 calls for 10W50.

For street use I usually go with Valvoline High Milage 10w40 (I have 97,000 miles on her). Non-syn, of course.

 

I use 20W-50 Castrol. I have for years and it works great. I have many high mileage Fcars too.

 

Castrol 20W50 gets my vote.

 

how many quarts, and who stocks filters???

what else should I change at the same time?
brake fluid, trans oil, antifreeze, overkill?

Doug Crall

 

9qts of Kendall 20W-50 oil in my '79... Castrol would be fine as well. In fact, I may try it next time. For filter, I use an UFI, but I will probably go with a less-expensive Baldwin next time. When I bought the car, it had a K&N filter on it. Although the K&N is an excellent filter, I don't believe it has the ever important standpipe that the UFIs and Baldwins have (remember, our oil filters are inverted when compared to most "normal" cars' oil filters).

As for tranny fluid, I believe the consensus on the 308s is Redline 75W-90 Non-Synthetic.

Anti-freeze, I use a 50/50 mix of Prestone coolant (yellow jug) and distilled water.

 

Castrol GTX 20W-50, Valvoline Racing 20W-50 or Kendall GT-1 20W-50 are fine.

 

I have used Synthetic for 30 years in all kinds of cars including 2 308s worked fine and no more leaks in those cars than normal. It's much better oil, better protection for those expensive to rebuild Ferrari motors. You have to move out of the stoneage and use the better oil. LOL Regards, Vern

 

I love Valvoline MaxLife, especially made for older engines. You can get Baldwins at truck supply stores.

 

I use Agip SINT2000 which is a synthetic blend 10W-40. This is in my 78K mile GTSi and there are no major leaks or signs of consumption. As for filters, I use German-made Mann Filters (OE for Mercedes, Porsche, BMW, Audi, etc..) good quality and can be had for $12/each. These filters do have the anti-drainback valve as well and I see oil pressure register on my car almost instantly after a cold start.

Cheers,
Aaron
'82 GTSi

 

Castrol 20w50.

 

Hey, folks, check this out for a filter. I was gonna make a post about it but haven't yet.
1) The 308 oil filter is interchangeable with the good old Ford 5.8 V8 filter. Ford FL-1A, Fram PH8A.
2) There's a "long" version of the above filter, known as FL299. And nearly infinite room to go with a longer filter in the 308 !
3) In a comparison on Bob Is The Oil Guy, the Donaldson P554407 was measured as having a LOT of filter element surface area and a (very long!) standpipe. http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=003066#000000

I picked one up from the Detroit Diesel Allison distributor close to work. Very quality oriented, a plastic seal on the open end of the filter and the boxes are even "inside out"--the nicely finished white surface is on the inside and the coarser brown surface is on the outside! $8.99 out the door. Long element and lots of surface area for filtration and dirt capture with reduced pressure drop.

Oh, by the way, the oil geeks over at BITOG often cite Havoline as the best value in conventional oil as it has good chemistry and a reasonable price.

 

Good info to know about those other filters! You couldn't pay me to put a Fram on my car, though...

 

Isn't the recommendation for UFI/Baldwin based on higher than average oil pressure?

Based on previous posts and previous owner I also use Castrol 20W-50.

But, it has bothered me to some degree. The manufacturer specified 10W-50, an oil with the viscosity of a 10 weight and the load bearing capacity of a 50 weight.

So, it doesn't matter that we use 20 weight oil?

Seamus

 

I use 20W-50W Castrol GTX or Valvoline. Also us Baldwin B253 filter that you can get at a truck parts shop for $9-11 each. And it takes 9 LITERS and not 9 quarts.

 

You should *never* use the ford type filters on Ferraris for 2 reasons 1)They are not built to stand up to the oil presure 308s produce. 2) they do not the have anti drain back tube in them to hold the oil in the filter after shut down. The ford filters are not ment to be inverted as the Ferrari filter is. The ferrrai specific filters hold the oil in the filter, ever notice how heavy the filter is when you remove it? The ford filter is light when you remove it because all the oil has drained back to the sump. Regards, Vern

 

Shell Rotella T 15w40

 

Or 2.11 gallons

 

Does anyone make 10W50 anyway? Where can you get it if they do?

 

Perhaps you missed the part in my description of the filter in which I described the presence of the standpipe. As for the high pressure of Ferraris, I do know that the Motorcraft filters are 100% tested to 120PSI. No idea what the rated burst pressure is, but I know the 308 isn't supposed to exceed 92 PSI.

I recall that the manual calls for 2.3_ GALLONS of oil, or 9 quarts.

And the 10W-50 refers to the cold viscosity and the hot viscosity respectively. Lower is always good on the first number. There's a "novel" approach to selecting a big number here on Fchat. I'm not a devotee, so I run a 10W-40. Using a 20W-50 will take a little bit longer to get lubrication to the engine on a cold start than a 10W50. Using a 10W40 will allow the oil to thin a little more when hot, but (I almost sound like AEHass!) I never get the oil that warm, nor do I run my car that hard, so it's fine.

 

When I did my first oil change after purchasing my 308GT4 (I don't know what it had in it), I thoroughly drained everything and went with Mobil-1 0W-40 Synthetic. The car really seemed to like the "0W" part at startup, but the oil also liked to find the floor when cold. Since it didn't leak a drop before the change, and did after, the oil was too thin...(for me, at least) Sure, AEHaas would say, "The oil is not the problem! Fix your engine!" Fine - I concur with that mentality, but for most of us guys on 308-budgets, complete engine teardowns because of an oil drip caused *exclusively* by a fresh synthetic change just isn't realistic.

What REALLY got me to change (about a week later), though, was the fact that my oil pressure was just TOO low with the 0W-40 when fully warm. I had no problems with pressure when I was driving, but anytime I was stopped or just getting started from a light, the pressure was too low for my comfort (i.e., the light was on).

So....out it went, and in went the Kendall 20W-50. The leaks stopped, the car still starts fine when cold, and it's MUCH happier when fully warm. If there were a 10W-50 dino oil, I'd try it, as my car clearly needs the "50" and could probably go lower than the "20" on the cold end, but not as low as "0".

Just for the sake of giving every brand it's fair shake, I may go with the Castrol 20W-50 next time around, but we'll see. I suppose it all depends on when my next change is. At any rate, that's my 2 cents for now...

Aaron

 

I don't know about the Donaldson filter but my piont was directed at using Fram and other filters made for ford cars there is no anti drain back pipe in those, unless they changed that recently. I can't imagine they did because ford doesn't use an inverted filter application. On cold oil in a Ferrari the oil presure can exceed Ferraris 90 lb. safety valve, especially with 20-50w oil and someone not keeping the RPMs down until the oil is fully warmed. I would not trust a 120 lb. burst limit. Regards, Vern

 

Perfusion,

Regarding your oil pressure being too low at idle with Mobil 1 0W-40: this oil is known to shear (lose viscosity) in Ferrari engines such that yours may have fallen into the 30-weight bracket. For example, in my 328 this oil sheared from its specified 14.3 cSt at 100 deg C to 11.3 cSt with only 1250 miles of usage. 11.3 cSt happens to be the specification for Mobil 1 5W-30 at 100 deg C, by the way. Not a real problem since my engine is apparently still tight enough so that low oil pressure is not a problem with 0W-40/5W-30.

You might try a more robust 40 weight (5W-40 or 10W-40 synthetic or even a 15W-40 dino oil) next time to see if that does the job. I'd bet there'd be much less shearing. Or if you want to go to a 50 weight, try Castrol Syntec 5W-50.

Cheers, Mark

 

Thanks for the info, Mark. All very helpful. I'll definitely keep those weights in mind when I go to change this fall.

Aaron

 

grrrr!
That's part of why I specifically mentioned that the Donaldson filter I was bringing to the attention of the community has a standpipe. I know how popular they are. Without one, using FL-1A and replacement, I, subjectively, didn't find the 0 pressure time notably longer than on anything else. Still, I agree that it's a good thing to have.

And as for a "120 lb. burst limit" PLEASE take note of my words; the FL-1A Motorcraft blueprint I saw indicated that 100% of production is tested to this; I specifically noted that I do not know what the burst spec is. You can rest assured that it is higher than the test point. Other types of parts I'm familiar with factory floor testing of are tested to something on the order of 70% of rated value, but to extend that to a particular oil filter is too much of an extrapolation.