Tim:
Based on my experience, most LBC's will see the temp guage go over the
halfway mark when subjected to heavy idling, esp. in hot weather when
most of us drive these cars anyway. It is my opinion that they weren't
designed with heavy traffic in mind, they are the type of car that is
meant to be driven straight away on spirited drives down country roads,
not crosstown commutes.
Even when my Tr6 was brand new, when it was forced to idle in heavy
traffic in summertime, it tended to overheat. I don't know if a 5w30
would slow down that tendency, but I doubt it, it has more to do with
the flow characterics of the entire cooling system. My engine is
currently in the shop being rebuilt as I had a couple of lobes wear off
on the cam. It turns out that the bores and crank are fine, so I must
suspect that the metalurgy of the cam was bad. When I get the engine
back in the car however, ya, you betcha, I'm gonna put 5w50 Synthetic in
it, because I feel it's the right oil for the way I drive. BTW, I used
nothing but Castrol 20w50 in my car for 24 years and was impressed by
the lack of wear upon tear-down. Most everything was still within
factory spec. But I'll do my best to see that the car is driven hard as
it should be, and not subjected to a lot of hot weather idling (very
bad!).
To answer your question more directly, I don't think that a 5w30 weight
oil is stout enough for the tolerances of a TR engine. A new Honda or
Ford, maybe.
JMHO,
Jeff Johnson
Subject: Re: Mobil 1 and oil pressure
Jeff,
If these lighter oils are better at dissipating heat, then wouldn't
they be useful to many of us who have trouble keeping the temperature
gauge out of the red on hot days sitting in traffic? Like I said, I'm
running 5w50 synthetic, and I now see (along with using my auxiliary
electric cooling fan mounted on the front of the rad) that my temp
gauge never gets about 5/8 or so even when idling in traffic for long
periods of time in 95+ degrees (very hot and humid here in the Philly
area). If I'm cruising, I can go at 85+ mph all day long in any kind
of heat and never see the temp gauge over 3/8. Maybe the synthetic has
something to do with this? I don't run an oil cooler, by the way.
Tim Holbro
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