Which Oil For 602 Crate?

[Team61]

I am a newbie to crate motors. I have a 602 crate. What weight and oil should I run in it? I'm thinking a 20W-50 synthetic, but I just want to make sure before I screw something up. Are there any brands to stay away from? Thanks!

[swaybar]

I use Royal Purple 15-40. Good oil and easy to get.

[brad hibbard]

we recommend a mix of Gibbs xp3 and xp6

Brad
www.race-1.com

[Team61]

Thanks for the replies! Would 20-50 be bad for it?

[Chris Steele]

20-50 won't be bad for the engine, but a thinner synthetic oil will produce less drag which = more HP and will provide longer life of your engine. We use and sell Joe Gibbs Racing oils.

[hsracer]

Dont waste your money on Joe Gibbs oil.There are oils out there that are close to Gibbs qaulity and have high levels of zinc. Brad Penn,Mobil 1 and Pennzoil Racing oil all have high zinc. Gibbs oil is way to expensive to buy at a $14.00 1quart.

[Team61]

I spoke to the previous owner as well as the engine builder and they both suggested Mobil 1 15-50 Synthetic, so I bought a few cases to try out and see what I think.

[cassellracing24]

Dont waste your money on Joe Gibbs oil.There are oils out there that are close to Gibbs qaulity and have high levels of zinc. Brad Penn,Mobil 1 and Pennzoil Racing oil all have high zinc. Gibbs oil is way to expensive to buy at a $15.00 1quart.

I second that !! Very good oil but way overpriced !!!!
Penn,Gibbs,Shaeffer's,Royal Purpal are all around the same in Performace & protection.
All these oil's can be run for 500 laps if you :
1 Keep air filter clean after each night
2 replace oil filter every other night or 100 laps
3 Run an oil cooler
4 Keep water temps below 210

[1cln_sdime]

We run mobil 1 5/30 its what the engine builder told us to use in our 602

[Chris Steele]

After seeing the inside of our 602 engine when it was torn apart at Hendren's Racing Engines after running it for 1927 green flag laps (we dont count caution laps or partial laps) it will be hard to convince us to ever change. The bearing looked like new (Craig was actually lining them up on the table because he thought I was going to re-use them), the nose of the cam showed NO wear and there was no sign of wear in the cylinder walls....still WAY within spec. Oh yeah, and my quick change rearend has 6 seasons on it and never even had a bearing replaced using the Gibbs Super Speedway Gear Oil.

Yes, there are other oils out there that are very good and have high zinc levels... but I wouldn't put my reputation on any except the Gibbs.

You get what you pay for and pay for what you get.

[Egoracing]

After seeing the inside of our 602 engine when it was torn apart at Hendren's Racing Engines after running it for 1927 green flag laps (we dont count caution laps or partial laps) it will be hard to convince us to ever change. The bearing looked like new (Craig was actually lining them up on the table because he thought I was going to re-use them), the nose of the cam showed NO wear and there was no sign of wear in the cylinder walls....still WAY within spec. Oh yeah, and my quick change rearend has 6 seasons on it and never even had a bearing replaced using the Gibbs Super Speedway Gear Oil.

Yes, there are other oils out there that are very good and have high zinc levels... but I wouldn't put my reputation on any except the Gibbs.

You get what you pay for and pay for what you get.

Chris, wasn't it you that new the guy that ran GIBBS all year in the car and never chainged the oil. Don;t think I would try that with very many oils either!

[brad hibbard]

My first year rebuilding crates we did about 10 engines most of which had run about 50 races on mobil 1 15/50 with regular oil changes (4 to 5 races) they all looked pretty good and had no major wear in any area. And then we had an engine come in that ran 76 races with only 1 oil change at mid season.
This engine was run on Joe Gibbs.---It was absolutely perfect inside as I recall I questioned him that he brought the right engine. It was the best I had seen, however I just figured it was a fluke and continued to recommend the Mobil.
a couple years later another customer of mine got hooked up with Chris Steele and began to run the Gibbs stuff. There wasn't much out of the ordinary for awhile until a race at Expo Speedway a big 5/8 mile track that runs in the daylight and is tuff on engines.
Anyway--- because of a hammerdown attitude by the driver on this huge track the oil temp was so high that the gauge didn't come off the peg till the next day.---He continued to run the same engine for another 30 some races winning many of them and when we disassembled the engine in the tech barn at Wythe Raceway at the Grand Nationals the only problem was the piston rings were worn out.

I am not saying that the Mobil is not a good oil but the results we have seen from the Gibbs is AMAZING

We now recommend Gibbs to everyone
Brad
www.race-1.com

[Team61]

Brad, thanks for the honest opinion. I'm going to have to consider Gibbs oil as my budget will allow.

[jbh25]

which gibbs oil xp3 or xp1

[Egoracing]

If you replace it about every 400 miles you will be good and should be Much cheaper than other oils. Think of it this way.
If you run on a 1/2 mile track:
10 laps practice
10 Lap heat
40 lap feature
= 30 miles a night.
You can run over 13 weeks before changing the oil.

[Graff Spee]

If you go online you can see the actual testing of the oils, Brad penn, Joe gibbs, Mobil 1 racing oil etc. It seems that the Amsoil beats all of them pretty good. Those crates are low on power so you can run the real lite oil and make more HP. I used the Mobil 1 for years with no problem. When they dropped the racing oil a few years back we went to Amsoil. Mobil 1 is back with a racing formula now and they should be fine. They are all good oils, take your pick.

[Egoracing]

I bet if you look hard enough, Amsoil footed the bill for the test. I am not saying it is not good but Magazines and most on line test are VERY biased.

[Chris Steele]

Yes Ego, that was one of my buds that ran his engine on the dyno, ran it until mid-season, changed the filter and added a fresh quart of oil. Then ran it the rest of the season and then back on the dyno and still had the original oil in it. That's a little more than I would recommend, but he wanted to put it to a real test!

XP3 is what I recommend for the 602 engines and I will save you some money on the Gibbs oil. Don't forget the price increase coming May 5th!!! (Currently out of stock of the XP6 at the Gibbs warehouse.)

[Graff Spee]

Some of the testimg was done by Amsoil as you said, but not all. The results were the same though. I read an article with Joe Gibbs as to his opinion on on Mobil 1. He stated that he rated them second best, next to him. He also said that the reason that Amsoil is so good is because they get thier base stock through Mobil 1. He gets his through Citgo. A friend of mine swears by Brad Penn, and he pretty much dominates the NMCA world of nostalgia pro street as of late. If you just use a top name I think you will be fine. When I freshen up our engines the anti scuff coating is always still on the bearings. Race on guys! ;-)

[Graff Spee]

OK I found a half case of Kendal 50 weight oil! Who wants it? Could be say 9 yrs old. You pay shipping!LOL

[Steve_Voisinet]

Are these engines you guys are talking about all wet sumps? What oil pans and pickups are you using? Do you have to use the factory supplied oil pan on a crate motor? Are you using accusumps?

[sikjeep]

I use Mobil 1, 5-20 or 5-30 whatever the local store's have stock of. Change every 3 races. Which is about 300-400 laps on a 1/4 mile track.

[5dirtracing]

Pennzoil GT1 25-50 no problems