Thread: Best Oil grade for my P38?

10-40W or 20-50W are fine. Stabilisers not necessary. Full synthetics waste of money for 40+ yr old flat tappet designs. Valvoline 20W-50W or Magnatec 10w-40w or Magnatec 15W-40W (diesel) come to mind as quite adequate for the task. Cheers

Originally Posted by gt0336

My apologies if this has been asked many times over. But searching didn't give me a decisive answer. I am taking my P38 (1995 HSE 4.6) on a trip from Newcastle to Melbourne in a couple of weeks and will be giving her a service before I leave. What grade oil would you recommend and should I be adding any additives to the engine oil? (ie. Lucas oil stabiliser) A little background on the car, she is about to clock 300,000 klm's but had the engine overhauled in 07 due to a slipped liner. Cheers in advance.

I had 10W40 in the engine for a long time and was never fully satisfied with the performance of the oil on start-up. I now have 20W50 and the engine is much quieter on start-up. The 10W40 will give marginally better fuel mileage than the 20W50.

Dad and I have always run 10W40 and been happy with it. I did run 20w50 once a few years ago but it seemed to run better in the Vic winter.

20/50 every time, whatever is on special. Change every 3 to 4 months max. Use a generic Z9 oil filter which cost around $5.
See..............
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/p38a-range...ml#post1670015

I use full synthetic 5w40, have for years. Zero tappet noise even after sitting for weeks at a time (I work away from home). I will continue to use the same Valvoline Syn Power oil every time.

You know what I mean...