nOOb here, bought a 91' Panther

[andymac0035]

Hello all,

Been surfing through and checking things out. looks like a nice site!

I recently bought a 91' CV LX. (used to have an 81' years ago). Really enjoying this car.

[andymac0035]

And of course my first question:
I'm torn between whether to use synthetic oil or dino oil.
car has a lil' under 80k on it. No idea what oil has been used in it.
Rear main seal area is damp, but not wet or dripping....and I'd like to keep it that way!

Thanks in advance.
-Andy

[87gtVIC]

Your car looks almost identical to another members here.

[1987cp]

What on earth did you buy one of those for?



j/k - that looks like one seriously nice car, assuming the pictures are any indication.

I've been running Mobil 1 in my stuff lately, and it's been doing well ... though, my engines are recently rebuilt with very low miles on them (not more than 10k miles on anything I'm currently using). Mobil-1 does have a "High Mileage" version of their oil that has a slighly higher zinc/phosphorus content, so possibly you'd want to see what you can learn about that ...

We've got a thread or two about oil languishing somewhere ... among other things, it contained a few claims that some rather popular brands of oil put suff like parrafin in their additive package, which I find just plain weird. I switched to Mobil-1 not that long after hearing that!

[89merk]

nice car, WELCOME. I personally stick to pennzoil, 10w30 or 10w40. I tried that high mileage stuff and it gave me an annoying engine knock.

[P72Ford]

Greetings,

If you know the maintenance history of the car, and the oil was regularly changed, a synthetic won't hurt. However, if it was neglected, it will have carbon buildup, and a synthetic may loosen the deposits, and cause issues. Synthetics are generally more detergent than conventional oils.

[andymac0035]

Thank you all for the warm welcome.

Oh yes, the car is in as good of shape as it looks. No rust on the body at all. Just some typical undercarriage surface rust, that's it.

I'm just slowly going through the car to try and get all the maintence up to speed.
The car was owned by an older fella' who bought it used in 1991 (demonstrator?). The original bill of sale was in the glove box. He passed away in 2007 (you get a death certificate when you buy an estate car). The family donated it to charity......which auctioned it off to the place I bought it from (junkyard LOL).

I believe the car has been off the road since 2007 as the inspection sticker in the window was a 2007 sticker. It looks like the grease-oil-filter side of things was kept after. The grease fittings looked "greased" and everything was tight. Car passed inspection no-problem.

Car has a mobil oil filter and the oil actually looks fine, but I'm betting it's 2 years old so I want to change it. Also, according to the dipstick it's overfilled by maybe half a quart.

Other areas have been neglected though, but I'm going to assume out of ignorance, rather than lack of wanting to take care of the car.

The radiator had never been flushed. It took 2 flushes (a few days apart) to get all the crud out (pulled the t-stat to better get the block flushed too).

PCV/grommet/filter looked original. (replaced all)

Did a full tune-up. Plugwires where dated 1990....so original....still looked good though.
plugs and distibuter cap where motorcraft. There were worn but hanging in there. Rotor was toasted a bit though.

Tranny is shifting fine (knocks on wood) and the fluid is red but not bright red. Although it has improved from "dark" to medium since I started driving the car regularly. I tried to change the fluid but half of the pan bolts are stuck real good and no amount of penatrating oil has got them loose thus far. Probably best to leave that alone for now.

PS pump started leaking, replaced that last weekend.

Starter needs replacing as I found out the hard way I have a "dead" spot on my comutator winding....but at least I know how to deal with that till I get it done.

Anyways, I think the old fella' did keep up with the oil changes.
But no idea what went in the crankcase.....

For synthetic oil I like regular Mobil-1
For dino-oil I like Valvoline.
And for blends I like the Valvoline dura-blend

I use WIX filters, but been thinking of going back to motorcraft as they are easier to get.

[85crownHPP]

Nice - red/red... sounds like you got a cherry (no pun intended) and are well on your way to keeping it that way.

[chitownvic]

Nice car mang, keep it up, as oil goes I recomend Valvoline synthetic 10W30,

[1987cp]

I use WIX filters, but been thinking of going back to motorcraft as they are easier to get.

That they sure are. Only place I know to get a Wix filter locally is NAPA, and theirs are over 6 bucks each. Was thinking of ordering a case of Wix-labeled filters from RockAuto for about $4/each when I get the new shocks for my wife's car. Lincolnmania said he just gets their cheaper ProTec brand, but I haven't yet managed to find any info on who actually makes that filter (from what I've read, I'm hoping Purolator).

[85MercPark]

Also, according to the dipstick it's overfilled by maybe half a quart.

Don't let that fool you, some of the dipsticks are off... Just put in the full 5 qts and mark that on the stick...

[andymac0035]

85 MercPark- yup, that's my plan.

1987cp- yeah, I have to go to bonds to get mine. How does the motorcraft compare to the WIX anyways?

chitownvic- wow you car makes mine look a bit dull. What do you use on it? (the back roof too BTW)
Like the wheels too!

85crownHPP- Thanks, I'm tryin'!

Definitly feeling very welcome here!

[GM_Guy]

We can change that if you don't like it. =-)

Alex.

[andymac0035]

We can change that if you don't like it. =-)

Alex.

Wondered if I'd see you over here.

[tim marks]

great looking car!! i just started using amsoil in my car. we will see how it does, ive heard good things. up to this point i have always been a texaco havoline user with motorcraft filters.