We have never used synthetic in anything. Our fleet of vehicals run on quakerstate. The boat motors run valoline VR1. I like good old thick oil.

A interesting fact I read. Last few motors I have run GM camshafts, in which are crane cams. In the instructions they have a huge warning telling the installer not to run synthetic with the roller cams They say if there is not enough spring pressure the roller could actually slip on the cam lobe and create a flat spot, all because the synthetic is so slippery. It sorta baffled my mind.

I think a lot of lubrication problems in boat motors is because of two things.... oil viscosity.. and oil temperature.... too thick.. and too cold... oil lubricates best when it is 200 degrees .. How many of you guy get your oil up to 200 degrees? I know some blown engines have oil coolers so large the oil never gets above 70 degrees... and Crane technologies that makes the hydraulic roller lifters recommends no thicker than 10-40 oil or the lifter won't pump enough oil up the push rod to lubricate the valve rockers and cool the valve springs. Another problem is all the plumbing that gets added.. Original equipment oil pumps driven off the distributor drive weren't engineered to push oil down 25 feet of hose and coolers and remote filters.All that extra distance makes for great back pressure.. but less flow. I've noticed that all aftermarket engine builders love to measure the oil pressure as close to the pump as possible. The difference in pressure from start side to the finish side on all the oiling equipment is astounding. 80 lbs at the start.. 40 lbs at the finish... and then some people wonder why their bearings and engines fail prematurely. The other thing I've seen is measuring the oil temperature AFTER it has passed through the cooler.. I suggest measuring the temperature in the pan. I'd rather know what the oil is doing AFTER it has come off the engine parts.... if you see a temperature "spike" .. then you know your engine is having a problem... what is the point of measuring the temperature after the fact? I want to know what the engine is doing... if there is a failure starting.. you will see it with the higher oil temperature. How can you tell if you look at the oil temperature after it has been cooled?

1 year old thread

Yes, that can happen. But that means the friction between the cam lobe and the lifter is less than the friction in the lifter bearings.

Bottom line, that is EXTREMELY low friction, which means that it will take a really long time for any flat spots to form. With conventional oil, your lifters (and other parts) would have worn out before then anyway.

moble 1 every 10 hours changed!my Z06 vette is factory filled with moble 1!

Curious what Sterling recomends?

I was a huge fan of mobil1......ran it in almost everything except the bike.
I put a little simple theory into it and figured that MY boat doesn't get much use and sits for extended periods..No good. who cares right?

Well what I came up with is Rotella or Delvac.

I run the Delvac in my Blazer and the Merc.The Blazer loves it...no real consumption.
The boat thinks the same.....It's all still there and oddly clean.
To me that says alot about it's soot and moisture control.
Remember Diesel's get worked and forgot about.terrible soot and moisture in them........kinda like a marine engines life.....food for thought!

redline in merc 575s innercooled blower motors and amsoil in drives lets see how it lasts...

Mobil 1

mobil 1, change every 25 hours