Anyone use Redline motor oil in their 2.7?

Oil analysis usually will show increase metals which would indicate wear. But in theory atleast, the oil is simply cleaning off the metal particles that have bonded to the engine components.

 

Whew! I read what you are saying is that Red Line is cleaning away the crap that other oils left behind. This is, in part, why I change my oil filter half way through to an oil change (and that I ditched the factory oil filter for one with known beta ratios.). Thanks!

 

Agreed. I use Amsoil and they, as well as Red Line are about the best "Boutique" oils on the market.

 

You're right and that is why I run Amsoil Signature 10-30. I hate crawlng around under there every 5000 miles. That's the same reason I put Iridium plugs in. Less maintenance. I went 9500 miles on my last change. Sent the sample to Blackstone. Came back with more TBN left but higher iron and aluminum numbers. Iron and aluminum have been perfect for the past 10 oil changes. What was the cause? Not the 9500 miles on the oil and Mobil 1 filter. The cause was my air filter was flithy.

Ever since I got this truck I've checked the air filter every 6 months and even more often than that. It was clean as a whistle every time so I went a year without looking at it. We had a very mild winter last year which meant far more dust and that is where I screwed up. Dirty air filters injest silicon into the engine for more wear. I was worried at the time but with the 2.7 I doubt it will cause a problem since I have fixed it.

Getting ready to change the oil at just under 5000 miles this time and send in a sample to see if everything is cleaned up. I have magnetic drain plugs and magnets for the new Amsoil oil filter this time around. I'll see what the Blackstone Lab says this time and then, hopefully, I can get to my dream of 10,000 mile oil and filter changes.

 

Other than the plug (which I think is worthless), what magnets do you have/use?

 

I also ordered magnets for the oil filter from "Dimple Products".. They come in a set of four. You may want to re-think your opinion on magnetized drain plugs. They use them on jet engines for a reason. Not saying they are the "end-all-be-all-got to have- must have" but they do help if you're one of those people that wants to keep your vehicle "forever".

I haven't put any of them in yet. That will happen tomorrow.

 

I use Magnafine magnets, two Filtermags that clamp on the sides of the filter and a Magnafilter that goes between the engine and the filter. Yes, three magnets, one large one on top and two on the sides. I might agree this is overkill, but so what? I try to use the best oil (Red Line) and the best oil filter (PureOne) that I can see/read their beta ratios that unlike others who rely on heavy advertising without giving their beta ratios. I am going to look up Dimple Products to see if they might be better than what I got. As for the drain plug, I agree it is better than nothing, but seriously doubt that the 4 - 6 quarts of oil are ever going to get close enough so that they can pull out any metalic (sic) particles. Thanks for your informative post!

http://magnafilter.com.au/magna-filter.html

http://www.filtermag.com/

 

I changed all my fluids from front to rear last weekend. Coolant, front diff, rear diff, transmission and transfer case. I installed the Dimple drain plugs and put the 4 Dimple magnets on the new oil filter. The magnets for the filter are pretty neat. They are designed to fit perfectly in the "grooves" that are on the bottom of every oil filter. I will say this. There is another company that makes magnetic drain plugs for under $20 while the Dimple's are $35. Obviously, I can't compare the two but the Dimple magnets are very strong. I mean really strong. So strong that trying to get a drain plug lined up into the hole is a pain because the magnet immediately latched onto any metal nearby.

My Taco had magnetic drain plugs in the diffs but the strength of the magnets was a joke compared to the Dimples. I think magnets loose their strength over time. If I remember right, Dimple says their "black hole" magnets will last 100 years. I'll see what they pick up in another 60,000 miles when I drain the gear boxes again. As weak as the stock magnets are, they still were covered with "iron".

Considering how strong these magnets are I'd bet they will pull quite a bit out of the oil. My guess is anything metallic within 1 or 2 inches of these magnets will get grabbed. For the "shavings" inside of the average gear box probably even farther away than that. Even in the plastic cylindrical containers they come in they will easily stick to metal while in the container.

While being very pricey I will say that the Dimple magnetic drain plugs are of extremely high quality. I think they are worth the price.

 

I just read you're post again and was thinking. The magnets should be at the bottom of the filter. Not anywhere near the top. I was screwing around with the Dimple's on my oil filter and finally realized they are designed to attach into those " u-shaped grooves" that are on the bottom of every oil filter for a reason. You don't want metallic particles circulating around in the pathways where the oil flows. You want the magnets to grab the metallic shavings and hold them down on the bottom where they can't circulate. The same for gear boxes or anything else with a sump.

I may order some more of their oil filter magnets and stick them all over the bottom of my oil pan. Since I have a Fumoto drain valve I can't install a Dimple drain plug on my oil pan and I'm not taking the Fumoto off because it works so damn good. Fumoto's make changing oil far easier and you never have to worry about wearing the threads out on your oil pan after hundreds of changes over the life of the vehicle.

With a Fumoto all you do is install it and then smile every time you change your oil.

 

It's an old iron block truck motor people, just put the right fuckin weight in it for where you live and go find something more productive to argue over. I dunno if redline still doesn't meet API standard, but they didn't use to, again old iron block slow turning truck motor so it doesn't really matter. I've got 265k supercharged miles on my pile and it got whatever was cheap and the right weight. It like 10W-40, doesn't seem to shear it down cause again, low tolerance slow turning iron block truck motor. I might put fancier stuff in my 300zx but the truck doesn't care and it isn't going to reward you for the thought you put into deciding between one expensive boutique brand and another well known and moderately priced brand.

 

Well, bad language and grammar aside, good for you and well wishes. But for the rest of us who enjoy careful thought and apply the "best" we can find/use is comforting. I rely on my truck, and hope to do so for a long time. My truck will never see the mileage of yours (still under 1300 at 9 months) but I consider things like startups on cold mornings, heavy stop and go traffic, and a 4 cylinder pulling a medium sized truck. So yes, Red Line is my choice, $50-gal and all.

 

I would argue a different view. The filter's element is intaking oil, under pump pressure top, middle, and bottom. The oil at the top of the filter is just as contaminated as that at the bottom. So having a magnet covering the greatest amount of the filter would draw out and hold the greatest amount of metallic particles. Having magnets only at the bottom only allows that oil at the bottom of the filter to be subjected to its draw before entering the filter material but allows oil at the top/middle with microscopic metallic particles to pass through. The FilterMag magnets (2 of them) I use are extremely strong, having once gotten my thumb caught under one as it got close to the metal can. Not as bad as hitting it with a hammer, but it smarted. And with two of them, they cover over 90% of the can, top to bottom.
http://www.filtermag.com/

 

Nice to know. Good information. The Dimples are pretty strong too but not that strong and according to what you say they are much smaller than the filtermags. I do oil sample analysis after every change. I'll see if my iron levels go down.

Just went to Filtermags website. Those things are huge.

 

I don't get the impression that anyone is really arguing just discussing. I can assure you that Redline has always met the API standard. The reason it may not say so on the bottle is the same reason Amsoil doesn't say it passes some standards when it does. Money. Small companies like Amsoil and Redline don't want to pay the big fees to pass some standards but they do pass pretty much every standard a motor oil needs to pass and in many cases surpass them. Expensive synthetics are for longer change intervals and extreme temps. They are worth the money in the right application.

 

I don't use amsoil or redline but I do use Pennzoil platinum. I can see why you would use the very expensive oil if you only want to change your oil every 10k miles or so. If it cost $70 for the high priced oil change or about $20-35 For the cheapest or mid grade stuff but you change it every 5000 miles it's not really that much more expensive and less work. Might even save some wear on the engine. But these trucks especially the engines hold up really well so oil isn't something to get to worked up about. I'd imagine most of them with regular oil changes of cheap stuff would rust out long before the engine let's go

 

Redline really shines in competitive race engines that are pushed to their limits in a short amount of time. I imagine Redline oil would also be a good choice for trucks that see frequent towing and hauling of heavy payloads, pulling hills frequently, stop and go driving.

 

Pennzoil Platinum is prob ably the best off the shelf synthetic. At least it's tied for first place with a few others. It's also the only 100% real synthetic I know of you can buy right off the shelf. As of a couple of years ago that is. The rest, including Mobil 1 which I used for 15 years, are blends.