Potential Buy 1997 GSX

[niterydr]

Didn't realize you bought one, pm sent!

[SlowWhite]

Yeppers, drove it to work today where I had access to lots of long straights on the way in and it feels much faster then before.

[SlowWhite]

So after talking with two guys at work about my car and whats been going on with it.

One of them mentioned that I should probably change my oil with all the rich a/f its possible i was getting blow by and could have mixed some fuel with the oil which would lower the viscosity.

Any rate its a cheap precautionary measure. So my question is what oil and filter to use now a days?

Previous owner said he only ran valvoline vr1 20w 50w. Didn't mention a filter though.

Is this the correct oil to be using? I know ive read that is the correct oil for the hp we put out now adays, but just wanted to verify

[Halon]

That's a fairly heavy race inspired oil. If this thing is going to see the track a lot, run high engine oil temps with back to back runs or constant road course driving, then yeah I can see running an oil like that. On a car that you're going to start up regulary on a brisk morning, drive it to work in back, maybe do some spirited driving here and there, I personally wouldn't run that. I still run 5W-30 in my car. I'd stick with something in the 30-40 weight range. Filter, just get something like a Wix or Napa Gold.

[SlowWhite]

I am just wondering about the 95+ heat here everyday. And then my coolant temps being over 206 constantly. (Im working as much overtime as I can to speed up the process of fixing the coolant issue)

But for this next oil change would it make sense to stick with the 20-50? Or just switch now?

[Halon]

Like I said I would not run 20W-50 in a daily/street driven DSM personally. I run 5W-30 in mine, and mines a summer only driven street car here. If you're concerned about the higher temps, then like I said consider going up to say a 5W-40 or 10W-40. If you're really wanting to make a science experiment out of it, get an oil temp gauge as that will be the best tool to tell you what weight to get for your application.

Remember that your oil doesn't even get to operating temp until you've been driving say 20-30 minutes under normal conditions. So if you're just taking 20-30 minute trips, your oil is barely even making it to it's operating weight anyway.

[polishmafia]

95% of the cars on the road today - in the arctic to the burning heat of the equator - run either a 20 or 30 weight.

I think you need to figure out why your car runs at over 206 degrees constantly.

[SlowWhite]

Originally Posted by Halon

Like I said I would not run 20W-50 in a daily/street driven DSM personally. I run 5W-30 in mine, and mines a summer only driven street car here. If you're concerned about the higher temps, then like I said consider going up to say a 5W-40 or 10W-40. If you're really wanting to make a science experiment out of it, get an oil temp gauge as that will be the best tool to tell you what weight to get for your application.

Remember that your oil doesn't even get to operating temp until you've been driving say 20-30 minutes under normal conditions. So if you're just taking 20-30 minute trips, your oil is barely even making it to it's operating weight anyway.

Sounds good to me and not trying to make anything more difficult.

[SlowWhite]

Originally Posted by polishmafia

95% of the cars on the road today - in the arctic to the burning heat of the equator - run either a 20 or 30 weight.

I think you need to figure out why your car runs at over 206 degrees constantly.

Already have am idea on that, and its the fact that 1/2 of the coolant lines are gone. And the water pipe behind the turbo is just welded shut at the end so its not a flow through system there, instead it just hits a wall and then has to reverse course I guess causing extra time getting heated by the turbo.

[asshanson]

Oil can take a lot higher temps than that, and unless you're just racing, the 20w-50 would be useless. Get a good 5w-30 (or 5w-40 if you insist on the heavy weight). Redline motor oil is very good, but expensive ($10/qt).

Edit: there is no way the water pipe is just blocked off. Maybe the turbo water lines are blocked off, but not the end of the water pipe. I can't even see how that would work.

[Kracka]

Originally Posted by Halon

Like I said I would not run 20W-50 in a daily/street driven DSM personally. I run 5W-30 in mine, and mines a summer only driven street car here. If you're concerned about the higher temps, then like I said consider going up to say a 5W-40 or 10W-40. If you're really wanting to make a science experiment out of it, get an oil temp gauge as that will be the best tool to tell you what weight to get for your application.

Remember that your oil doesn't even get to operating temp until you've been driving say 20-30 minutes under normal conditions. So if you're just taking 20-30 minute trips, your oil is barely even making it to it's operating weight anyway.

I couldn't agree more. Your coolant gets up to temp about 10 miles before your oil will. My current commute is 7 miles one-way and the coolant is up to full temp after about 2 (210-220F), but the oil never gets there (full temp on my oil is 220-230F). The C7 Z51 holds 10 quarts, but it does have a heat exchanger that warms the oil with hot coolant.

[Goat Blower]

Originally Posted by SlowWhite

Already have am idea on that, and its the fact that 1/2 of the coolant lines are gone. And the water pipe behind the turbo is just welded shut at the end so its not a flow through system there, instead it just hits a wall and then has to reverse course I guess causing extra time getting heated by the turbo.

What? The end of your water pipe is the return to the radiator, if you don't have that, I'd drop your car off at the previous owner's house immediately, because he's a moron.

Getting rid of the heater core is no big deal, I didn't have one for years, never had a temp issue.

[goodhart]

I think he meant the portion that connects to hoses 36/37 in that pic is blocked off.

[SlowWhite]

Here are the picts of what im talking about. And I haven't asked Shane Phillips personally but previous owner said shane did this to the car.

[SlowWhite]

The end of the water pipe (red picture) is welded shut. The other picture is the weld of the thermostat housing that is actually on the car.

To be honest I havent even followed the coolant lines to see how its all done. Been so focused on tune issue. (I may talk like I multitask but reality is im pretty single minded till a task is done)

I have already inquired about replacing all the coolant system so its reverted back to stock and all the parts aren't even $120 from the guy in north carolina. this is on my to do list like stated several times.

[SlowWhite]

Here is the picture of the lower radiator hose... found a pict I took the day after I got it.

[SlowWhite]

I must have clearly missed something here the thermostat housing in the diagram doesnt look anything like the one in the picture of my car? Or am i just not seeing it?

Is the one on my car from a different year or something?

[typeRA]

I'm currently at USCA for another week. If you want another pair of eyes on it, hit me up. I've got everything with me for tuning besides a tactrix.

[TkrPerformance]

120 for what the water pipe and t.stat housing. If so that is a total rip off. I have them posted in my clean up sale for 30.00

[typeRA]

Originally Posted by SlowWhite

I must have clearly missed something here the thermostat housing in the diagram doesnt look anything like the one in the picture of my car? Or am i just not seeing it?

Is the one on my car from a different year or something?

what youve pictured is that the turbo water feed system is capped off. why? the holsets don't use water jackets.

this will have no bearing on the problems you're having whatsoever.