Raylar

I would say here that your water temp and oil temps are in a problem range.
1. You should get oil temps up near 220 degrees to get the water and condensation out of the oil. Oil temps at 170-180 degrees will not do the job and condensation in the motor can be a problem.
2. In normally asspirated motors with iron heads the best combustion burn on todays pump gas fuel occurs around 160 degrees. To much colder than that and the most efficient burn and standard marine engine clearances will suffer.
3. Get 140-160 degree stat in that motor. Keep your oil temps on moderate to heavy running at 210-230 degrees and use a good 20-50w or 25-40w synthetic or conventional quality oil and you should be fine.
Keep an eye on the oil , Keep the water and dirt out of it and change it regularly, Oil is Cheap compared to engine work!
To many high performance boaters get hung up on the oil
debate and don't spend enough time learning the important things about why good motors run well and last!
Tyler builds great motors and he knows how to set them up with the proper clearances, machining, parts and assembly. His oil reccomendations should be followed for his motor.
Most problems that show up in marine high performance engines arise because the motor was not done right to begin with, inferior or incorect parts or clearances and poor assembly techniques! Very rarely does the oil enter into the severe wear or damage issues unless its not serviced properly, overheated or underheated, grossly wrong viscosities used and low oil levels or oil control issues arise.

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

Griff

I agree the oil temps only getting to 170-180 could lead to problems. The biggest question is where is the temp sender????
If you are not getting any cloudy oil, my bet is that the sender is located after the oil has been cooled.
Best way to find out actual max oil temp is a sender in the pan. If thats not possible, shoot an Infrared thermometer at the oil pan after a good run and compare the temp to your gauge.

JBoat

Tyler built the Motor with the 130 t-stat. It is not some thing I added after the fact. I did call him and he say Kendal 20/40 is what he would use.

I check the oil almost everyweekend when I go out, its never been cloudy.

Back4More

I know they use Mobil 1, I've owned a Vette and Cadi but they do not use 15w-50.

GO4BROKE

iTrader: (1)

Never heard of 0w30. Gm recommends 5w30 for the cars that use mobil 1. I use it in my z06 and dually. 15w50 for the boat, been fine with roller lifters since 1997 on my 31ss and currently in my 386 with 496's.
I have heard the roller lifter sliding and wearing thing. I don't buy it. If there is not enough friction to turn a roller, it most certianly won't wear a flat spot.

Back4More

Use what you like...I have seen the results.

mr_velocity

Toyota recommends 0w-20 in their 5.7L truck engines.

As for oil in the boat, I run cold water temps and a huge 2 pass oil filter. I measure my oil temp coming out of the pump before the filter. With Mobil 1 temps are 240 after long wot runs (more than 15 minutes). With Redline temps are down 15 - 20 degrees.

berco

I have a 96 sonic 31ss with slightly modified 454 mag carb motor with cross overs and run no thermos. My engine temps never get above 130-140 but my oil temps get 220-230 on average and running hard 260 and always run mobil 1 15-50,last season i ran 20-50 and had same results with a little more oil presure. what i like best about mobil 1 is a more constant oil presure all the time

GO4BROKE

iTrader: (1)

Mobil 1 does seem to keep a consistant pressure vs conventional.

Mr Velocity- 15-20 degree drop is impressive. Were both the same viscosity? Did the oil pressure change?