Competition Any reasons not to step up to 20w50 for Competition?

[jwilliams3]

Well with my small range of thought I think stepping up to 20w50 engine oil for competitive purposes should be a good thing.

I know that there is no soot control or additive package but I change the oil about every 1500-2000 miles in sledpulling season.



I also think this will help the turbo live longer and keep the pistons from scuffing as easily from heat.



What do you guys think?

 

[COMP461]

5 -15 Royal Purple , the thinner oil will help cool the bearings and rings , run the engine temp cooler . I run a 0 - 5 Royal Purple in my old ride , and it works really good

 

[jwilliams3]

Greg,

If running lighter oil is better why dont semi trucks run 10w30 in their rear ends?



Not trying to argue here (really) since I have a friend who dragraces and he runs light oil also but there is also no sled hooked to his drag car.



I also think increasing the hydraulic barrier between turbo shaft and thrust bearing can do nothing but good. I know many of the modified pullers run heavier oils. Many do not have coolant in the engine and use the heavier oil for increased protection for that hot 20 seconds.

 

[PSU-CE]

I run CenPeCo Super 40 Racing Oil, it's a straight 40 weight. Does well in the summer temps. They also have 20w-50 and straight 50 weight but then you get into needing oil warmers and other things. You can also cut the weights together to get to where you want (6qt 10-40 with 6qt 40, etc. ) You need to watch what happens to your oil pressure with the heavier weights and how it affects your internals based on tolerances for 15-40. A small consideration is the heavier oil robs a little power versus lighter oil. I'm not sure what benefits the cooling of a lighter oil would give on a pulling motor that wouldn't be making multiple passes.





CenPeCo

 

[COMP461]

You get an effective hydrodynamic bearing, from a combination of two things oil film, and the oil flowing across and cooling the bearing surface.



The premise of lighter oil is to not have to heat the oil before a run. These are race engines treat them as such , you only run it for a few seconds on a pull, so use the lighter more efficient oil at removing heat , but start with a cooler engine , tune to the cooler engine and the resultant power increase will be worth it .



I would not recommend this on a street engine.



On my old Cummins engine I ran as light a synthetic oil as I could get with a extreme pressure additives package . Red Line, Royal Purple , Amsoil I think has some .



Forget the word diesel and look for good oil. Now run the engine dead cold , this allows more aggressiveness’ on the tune , remember any engine diesel or Gas operates on differential in heat . the cooler it starts the more power can be had before your two hot .

 

[zstroken]

I agree with the cooler engines making more power, heck drag cars used to stack their carbs in ICE. The pullers I know that bring their engines up to temp do it to help keep freeze plugs in place, and headgaskets. I know of a 24V guy that said everytime he went to the line with a cold engine, out owuld pop a freeze plug as soon as he started to spool it up.

 

[Bobcat698]

I plan on running this 20w50 in my pulling truck.

 

[BigBadDodge]

I use this:



https://www.amsoil.com/storefront/aro. aspx



BBD

 

[jwilliams3]

Thanks for the link.

 

[BigBadDodge]

No problem, tell them you will put a big Amsoil sticker on your truck (like somebody else we know) and maybe you can get a discount :-laf



BBD

 

[bgilbert]

I don't thinks much of a difference between 15-40 and 20-50. I think you should look into a straight weight oil, like 40 weight. Schaeffer Oil 40w: http://www.schaefferoil.com/supreme_7000.html

 

[jwilliams3]

I don't thinks much of a difference between 15-40 and 20-50. I think you should look into a straight weight oil, like 40 weight. Schaeffer Oil 40w: http://www.schaefferoil.com/supreme_7000.html

Bill,

I know this sounds totally non scientific but I shook a gallon jug of 15w40 and also shook a bottle of 20w50 and there was a noticeable difference in sound. The 20w50 sounded alot more like syrup than oil.

 

[COMP461]

You should shake a bottle of Royal Purple lite 11 , its 000 oil , looks like a Dr Pepper. but its worth 25 hp on a little motor for 3 passes before the goodies wear out of it

 

[NoSeeUm]

Comp is right, it is not the oil thickness that matters as much as the hydro dynamic wedge.



A thinner oil also generally removes heat faster.



Jim

 

[NoSeeUm]

You should shake a bottle of Royal Purple lite 11 , its 000 oil , looks like a Dr Pepper. but its worth 25 hp on a little motor for 3 passes before the goodies wear out of it

Dry sump?



Jim

 

[COMP461]

No we use a wet sump on a econ dragster, with 18 inches of vacuum it only had 15 to 20 psi of oil pressure in the traps. This is another reason for the important of coating rod and main bearings in a Cummins or any other racing engine. There is between 40 and 70 hp in the bottom end of these Cummins and this is power you are already paying for on top of the piston. . I pushed Ray to do some of the tricky stuff to my Cummins and now he is doing it on all of the Cummins he builds, including the new motor that Brady at Industrial Injection just took delivery on. . These fundamentals of engine development, that the diesel world has up until now not been exposed to were once part of the closely guarded secrets of the stratospheric that is know as NHRA Pro Stock and NASCAR engine development . Example both my old motor and Brady’s new bullet can be turned over with a wrench and not a brake over bar. This is clearances and ring package development. This means you have power that before was used to overcome friction now going to the tire.



I don’t mean to belittle anyone that in the past builds or is building engines by my examples. I have been told we should keep this quite and hush hush , but I don’t work that way , I answer questions with the truth and the reality that with the knowledge base of people like Ray and a few others the diesel world is going to see a meteoric rise in technology such as the gas world has done over the last 30 years . I believe the Diesel performance industry is when the Gas world was 30 years ago, will go thru the same evolutions as the gas world. This is why some of us seemly have a road map to the future. its nothing more the n the history of another form of motor sports

 

[Sled Puller]

Justin, Amsoil 15-40 since 02, and you know what I put that engine through.



Still running fine, and still hooking!!

 

[Timebomb]

Justin, Amsoil 15-40 since 02, and you know what I put that engine through.



Still running fine, and still hooking!!

Yeah and Winning !!!! ... . Saw it for myself