Posted by oscar on Thursday, January 03, 2002 at 0:01AM :
In Reply to: What motor oil should I use... posted by J-Gilly on Wednesday, January 02, 2002 at 9:46PM :
Whoa - slow down. The truck has an engine that does not half the same type of oil filter as todays trucks. Before you change everything you need to find out if there is sludge buildup throughout the engine.
I like the synthetics. I plan to change all my vehicle over to synthetics. It's just time and money. Synthetics have more detergents than other oils so deposits are removed more quickly.
If the truck was run on non-detergent oil putting any detergent oil into the flathead may break up the sludge and move it back into the oil stream. Before you do a lot, it would be a good idea to drop the oil pan and valve covers and check for sludge. Dropping the pan is fairly easy and would give you a chance to check the bearing clearances.
If you are not ready to drop the pan try changing to a good 10-40 oil and monitoring the oil for a few hundred miles. Check the oil everytime you start the truck. If the oil colors quickly then there may be sludge in the engine that needs to be cleaned out before using the truck as a daily driver.
good luck with the new truck
oscar