Synthetic vs traditional motor oil

JohnV2000 · Mar 3, 2019

I bought some Castrol GTX 10-30W motor oil for my Super C. I have not put the new oil in yet, and before I do that, I want to make sure this oil will be good for my tractor.[/quote]

Janicholson · Mar 3, 2019

Perfect. Jim

David G · Mar 3, 2019

It will be fine, keeping it clean is much more important than a special oil.

JohnV2000 · Mar 3, 2019

Thanks guys! So many kinds of oil out there, I was a little confused.

caterpillar guy · Mar 3, 2019

Changing the oil and filter each time is worth more than just changing the oil.

David G · Mar 3, 2019

Those are a partial flow filter, it does help some, but clean oil is a must.

And warm it up good when you use it.

buickanddeere · Mar 3, 2019

Any oil on the shelf today is better than anything oil on the shelf when the tractor was new .
Unless the tractor will be used in extreme heat, extreme cold or turning 7000rpm with a supercharger added to it . Use ordinary oil . A straight weight 30 or 40 would hold better oil pressure and reduce oil consumption.

ditchwitch · Mar 3, 2019

I am old school and didnt bite on the Synthetic Oil for a long time till i got schooled on it a bit to where it made sense. Ill give you what
i know and found out. Traditional motor oil is made from crud from the earth (God Made) and the molecules in crude oil will break down with
excessive heat which makes sense. Synthetic Oil is man made oil the molecules want break down as quick in the excessive heat there for the
Synthetic Oil will last longer. Some folks were saying you cant run Traditional oil in a vehicle that was running synthetic which all that
is BS. You can swap back and forth every oil change if you want. So in saying that yes synthetic is good oil but I still prefer tradditional
motor oil. Main thing is change it

grizz02 · Mar 3, 2019

are you saying people only change oil and not the filter?

Stephen Newell · Mar 3, 2019

Is the tractor gas or diesel? There is different oil for each.

As far as oil synthetic oil just lasts longer. If you change the oil when you are suppose to conventional oil is fine.

whereswaldo · Mar 3, 2019

When that tractor was new, the oil had 'zinc' in it. Camshaft needed it to keep from wearing out from the flat tappets. The zinc went away when it was discovered it clogged up catalytic converters. Now your tractor 'probably' doesn't have enough spring pressure to need it but until auto and truck engines got roller cams they sure do. Maybe someone with more info on valve spring pressure can chime in???

rustred · Mar 3, 2019

you better get that oil in that tractor quick! castrol is one of the top of the line oils. i been using it for over forty years actually close to fifty years cause I used 20-50 in my honda 90 bike. that's all my Duramax has had in it. plus all my other vehicles.

Ray IN · Mar 3, 2019

years ago the standard instructions in many manuals said change the filter every other oil change.

David G · Mar 3, 2019

John,

I would recommend you pull the rocker arm cover and see how much sludge is in there. A good high detergent oil will clean it out over time, if you warm it up good, and keep oil changed regularly. My dad's H was a mess when I got it, and it had not been that long since it was apart. He just did not keep on the oil changes and used straight non detergent oil

Leroy · Mar 3, 2019

That was the norm for years. Did not compute for me.

Russ from MN · Mar 3, 2019

I use 15-40 Delvac in our C, it has some zinc in it and is a lot cheaper. I use 10-40 Castrol synthetic MC oil in my
motorcycle, it does wind up 7,000 rpm. It doesn't have a roller cam, the cam runs right against the valves, with a shim in
between.

Ellis Kinney · Mar 4, 2019

I would pull the valve cover and the oil pan, both real easy to do and clean stuff with paint thinner or kerosene to keep crud out of the new oil. My guess is
that you won't be working the tractor enough to get it hot. I would first use cheap oil for a few hours and then switch to the good stuff. Ellis

Mutt and Jeff · Mar 4, 2019

It doesn't matter!

JohnV2000 · Mar 4, 2019

Thank you for all the information! This is why I like Yesterday Tractors, there are so many helpful people!

blue_tractor_man · Mar 4, 2019

Hi JohnV. Welcome to tractor world. You
remind me of myself 46 years ago. Good to
have you on board.

rustyfarmall · Mar 4, 2019

(quoted from post at 20:05:38 03/03/19) When that tractor was new, the oil had 'zinc' in it. Camshaft needed it to keep from wearing out from the flat tappets. The zinc went away when it was discovered it clogged up catalytic converters. Now your tractor 'probably' doesn't have enough spring pressure to need it but until auto and truck engines got roller cams they sure do. Maybe someone with more info on valve spring pressure can chime in???

I agree 100%. These old Farmalls still need the zinc in the oil. Modern automotive engine oils do not have the zinc. You need engine oil that is rated for diesel service.

INCase · Mar 4, 2019

I run straight 30W castrol in my Case 800 but it is the heavy duty stuff for that type of engine.

I wouldn't use regular "automotive" oil ONLY for the reason of being lower zinc levels. 1 change probably won't hurt anything but the next change i would do some research and find some "normal" or high zinc content oils. AMSOIL makes a high zinc (Z-rod) oil mostly for the antique car crowd but would certainly work on our old tractors too.

remember not all oils (synthetic or conventional) are created equal. even from the same company. if they are API certified they meat a MINIMUM spec and that's all. if you want a better oil you need to look at the TBN value. the higher the number the better the oil.

RBnWA · Mar 4, 2019

INCase TBN is something you never hear about. You are right the higher the # the better the oil is.

TomA in CA · Mar 4, 2019

Multi grade oil is a thin oil with polymers added to thicken it.
I want to lube my engines with oil not polymers. I run a heavy
duty 30 w in all my engines but that is just me.

dhermesc · Mar 4, 2019

A super C has no need for zinc. When that engine came out it was running nondetergent oil much less running with oil with a full additive package - much less zinc. Biggest issue is keeping the oil somewhat clean by changing it regularly and checking the level to make sure you don't run it dry.

SVcummins · Mar 5, 2019

I wouldn?t use a cheap automotive oil in tractor .

SVcummins · Mar 5, 2019

Synthetic vs traditional motor oil

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