My '85 MGM, "Maisa"

[sly]

10W-30 or 10W-40 for whatever climate you're in. Not sure about the additives though. I don't think they're needed though. I'd only use other oils if the bearings are shot and you're trying to bring the oil pressures back up. Even then, 20W-50 while saving for a rebuild/crate. Just changing the oil regularly should be enough. If the timing gears have already been replaced (stock came with a nylon toothed cam gear) and the EGR stupidity sorted, then you should be fine to just keep running down the road for many thousands of miles with no issues for the most part. At least nothing major.

[Tiggie]

I use Valvoline Motorcycle oil in my flat tappet stuff. It has some zinc in it last I heard. It's comes in 10w40 and 20w50. I use the 10w40. It's about $5 a quart here which is reasonable IMO.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

The diesel stuff should have enough ZDDP to keep a flat tappet happy. The SBC guy I knows runs nothing but Chevron Delo SynBlend 10W-30 in his stuff. I've used Shell Rotella 15W-40 in a '56 Chevy 283 and a '95 Chevy 350, and both seemed pleased with it. The '95 was pretty worn out though and had a knock on startup, but the 15W-40 held oil pressure better when hot.

[gadget73]

more modern diesel oils have cut back on that to some degree too. I actually have specific concerns since my diesel is also my only flat tappet engine. Been running Chevron Delo 400 in it.

and machining brake rotors seems to have gone the way of the dodo. Last time I tried to get a set done, they told me it would be 2 weeks. Who the hell has 2 weeks to have a car sitting apart with no wheels to machine some rotors? My lathe isn't large enough to swing them or I'd do it myself.

[Arquemann]

Yeah, I'll most likely pick up some "high-mileage" / diesel 10W-40 or 15W-40. The fancier heavy duty diesel oils don't come in bottles smaller than 4 liters, which is kinda inconvenient. The oil capacity on a lopo 302 was around 5 quarts right?

And yeah nobody does brake rotor machining locally, I might be able to find a machine shop in the Helsinki area, but the cost is gonna be getting closer to just getting new rotors. The brakes aren't an immediate issue, but the pulsing is just annoying and not exactly confidence-inspiring.

[DerekTheGreat]

I've switched to Shell Rotella T6 in all my stuff, 5w-40. It's got more vitamins and minerals in it and outperforms Delo according to Project Farm. Our engine seem happy with it, doesn't hit the wallet hard either.

[Arquemann]

I've switched to Shell Rotella T6 in all my stuff, 5w-40. It's got more vitamins and minerals in it and outperforms Delo according to Project Farm. Our engine seem happy with it, doesn't hit the wallet hard either.

I've seen and heard many folks use Rotella, mostly on youtube. Too bad it's not available in Finland. Haven't even heard of Delo or Chevron. Only Shell stuff available here is Helix & Helix Ultra. We got Teboil, Mobil, Motox, Comma, Castrol and so on.

Motox fully synthetic RVS 5W-40 caught my eye. A bit pricy at 7€/liter, but it says the RVS technology functions like ZDDP. RVS is triboceramic nanotechnology -thing if you haven't heard of it. The oil is just supposed to just upkeep it after the actual RVS treatment.

Then there's Teboil Silver 10W-40, semi-synthetic, supposedly good for classics and actually old engines. Cheap at 4€/liter

On the diesel oil category there's Mobil Delvac MX 15W-40, like a serious heavy duty diesel oil. 6€/liter. Only available in 4l or 20l containers, which is a bummer.

Eh... Might just go with the Teboil stuff, inexpensive but not the worst crap on the shelves.

[gadget73]

with a lot of this stuff I suspect that if you change it on some sort of reasonable interval, exactly what you change it with gets far less critical. These aren't high performance engines either so that also makes it less particular. 10w30 or 10w40 of any sort of reasonable quality with a good filter will do you fine.

[Arquemann]

Yup, the oil currently in it has less than 2k miles on it, it's just getting old. This car is my baby and I want to keep her good. I've got a Motorcraft OEM filter coming, I'll probably drive the car a bit with old oil, get it all circulating good after sitting for the winter. Depending on my employment status and possible commute this summer the car should get atleast 2000 miles this season. Hopefully.

[gadget73]

my stuff tends to get changed by age more than mileage too. I think the oil in the Towncar is like 3 years old at this point but if its got a thousand miles on it I'd be surprised. It will get done as soon as I manage to get the damn thing legal again. Mark VII is similar age and mileage. The Continental is the only thing that actually has gotten its mileage between changes the last 2 years, mostly because its been legal. At 4k on a 5k interval. That thing sucks to change though, 2 gallons of not-cheap diesel oil and a not-cheap filter.

[Arquemann]

The MGM fired like from under a palm tree! (finnish saying for starting good)

Aftermath was much worse than last spring:

The engine oil was about half a quart low, most of that was probably on the floor there...
Power steering didn't leak as much as I expected it to. Not sure about what was on that cardboard, most likely engine oil dripping down the bellhousing and not trans fluid.
Only thing is, the amount of oil that leaked out during sitting would indicate that something else leaks in addition to the valve covers. Nothing else than the drain plug would have oil against a seal when the car sits for a long time?

With the oil topped off with some 5W-40 I had left, onto the number one priority:

Now I have a hood ornament, looks kinda small... Interestingly, the base on the complete ornament I bought is noticeably bigger than what I took off the car.

This summer's agenda will be some general maintenance, oil leaks, ball joints, tie rods and maybe some visuals later on.
I drove straight home from storage, other than to stop for a tank of fresh gas and check tire pressures, which had held pretty well.

Crooked steering wheel will get attention soon, fuel gauge optimistic as ever, car coasting down city roads silently... Perfect. Started the season with 4555 miles on the odo.
Yes I have very feminine hands, and I hate it because they get fucked up really easily wrenching on cars.

[gadget73]

red looks like trans fluid. Could be power steering since that also uses ATF.

if it has a low oil level sensor on the side of the pan, that is also sitting in engine oil when not running.

as someone with big hands, I can tell you its not an advantage. The number of times I've cut the hell out of myself trying to fit my sausage paws into some spot that wasn't meant for such things is beyond count. You can wear gloves, I can't shrink my hands.

[Arquemann]

The red on the drip pan is from the power steering, the cardboard was under the trans.
Only "problem" with that drip pan is I can't really locate the engine oil leaks since it had run to the lowest spots on the pan.
I had the car out on the driveway now for one night, and it has left a dark spot very much in the front of the engine, can quite make out if its atf or oil.

[Arquemann]

How is the spare tire supposed to be mounted? It has always bugged me with the car. It came just loosely tossed on to the trunk "shelf".
I have a jack, threaded rod with a bend and a a weird chunk of metal. I suppose the tire iron would function as the jack handle too.


The tire itself is a donut on an original looking skinny steelie, dated '91, so it isn't original atleast.

There's the two sheetmetal thingyflappers in the middle of the shelf and a couple to the left.
Is the threaded rod supposed to stick up into the carpet cover for the wheel?
Any images of a correct setup would be greatly appreciated.

[bnw]

I believe that there is a photo in the owner's manual. If you want, I can grab the book today and post some photos.