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Type of Oil for LS1


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I bought a RLX last summer and I am doing the spring de-winterize right now. Biggrin.gif I have heard mixed reviews on what oil to run in the LS1. My dealer says 15W-40, a mechanic says 20w-50. I did research online and I really couldn't find much. It seems the hardcore Corvette guys run Mobil 1 synthethic. The oil cap says 15w-40, I want other opinions on this.

Does anybody have a LS1 in there Bu?

Your comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Tobi

Edited by ResponseLX375
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I assume the boat has over 100 hours, therefore you are welcome to use Mobil 1 Synthetic if you like. 15w-40 is the standard baseline, and we run it here, but 20w-50 is a good alternative if you don't have 15w-40 or you have a liking to 20w-50.

It's been beat to death around here, and everyone will reccomend to make sure you use the same grade as reccomended, but I'm not sure you can buy a sub-grade oil at your parts store. (There's a can of worms I just opened, eh?)

Peter.

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I assume the boat has over 100 hours, therefore you are welcome to use Mobil 1 Synthetic if you like. 15w-40 is the standard baseline, and we run it here, but 20w-50 is a good alternative if you don't have 15w-40 or you have a liking to 20w-50.

It's been beat to death around here, and everyone will reccomend to make sure you use the same grade as reccomended, but I'm not sure you can buy a sub-grade oil at your parts store. (There's a can of worms I just opened, eh?)

Peter.

My boat has around 360 hours on it. My father-in-law has a 06 VLX with the monsoon and he uses 20w-50 because 15w-40 is hard to find without the diesel additives unless your at your dealer or somewhere like Westmarine. I would imagine that 20w-50 would be a little cheaper because you wouldnt have to get it at your dealer. Dontknow.gif

Today I am taking my boat out for her Shakedown cruise, its finally warm enough here in MI. Yahoo.gif

Thanks for the Info!.

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Most major oil companies don't make a 15w-40 syn, including Mobil. Shell is the only one I've noticed that has that grade. 20w-50 is more common in syn.

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Most major oil companies don't make a 15w-40 syn, including Mobil. Shell is the only one I've noticed that has that grade. 20w-50 is more common in syn.

Thanks for the info.

I guess I should have said 10w-30 Mobil 1. Altough I think that atleast at a min. you should be running 15w-40.

I think I am going to go with 20w-50 syn., it seems to me the best way to go. This is a big change for me since I went from my 88 Centurion with a 351 to a 00 RLX with a LS1. Malibu Rocks!! Rockon.gif

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There is no reason you can't run 15-40 diesel oil in this engine, diesel oil is very similar to non syn racing oil. Personally I use John Deere 15-40wt same as marine grade and its inexpensive. If you are changing your oil at every 100hrs then there is no issues anyway, and actually I like to change the oil around 75hrs.

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MalibuNation
I bought a RLX last summer and I am doing the spring de-winterize right now. Biggrin.gif I have heard mixed reviews on what oil to run in the LS1. My dealer says 15W-40, a mechanic says 20w-50. I did research online and I really couldn't find much. It seems the hardcore Corvette guys run Mobil 1 synthethic. The oil cap says 15w-40, I want other opinions on this.

Does anybody have a LS1 in there Bu?

Your comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Tobi

Below is the answer I got from Indmar ... I have a LS1 also:

The owners manual indicates that you need to wait till the engine has 100 hours before using synthetic oil. Mobil 1 does not make a 15W40 oil but does have a 15W50 which is what I would recommend.

Larry Engelbert

Indmar Service

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Any 15w-40 diesel oil with a CH-4 or CH-4+ rating is a listed oil to use in our engines. These oils will also (should) have the API SL or (even better) SM rating.

Edited by electricjohn
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  • 4 weeks later...

Uh Oh, I have an LS1 engine in my bu' and I just put Mobil 1 10w-30 in it. The engine has 30 hours on it, should I change to something else until I hit 100 hours? I've only run it about 2 hours with the new oil in it.

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Yea, I would, especially if your engine calls for a 40 wieght oil. Check your oil caps on the valve covers to see what grade to use. Mobil 1 is one of the thinnest syn oils made. Their 10w-30 is more like a 10w-25 right out of the bottle. Not sure if you have to wait 100 hrs before going to syn with the LS-1 engine, check on that too. For the last few years Vettes' come out of the factory with M-1 in the engine. Put the 30 wieght oil in your car instead of dumping it and $40.00 down the drain if you decide to change it out. 30 hrs on the motor? That's 7 hrs a year????

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Yeah I just bought the boat and the previous owner never used it. I got pretty lucky with my purchase! So, how bad is it to leave my 30 hour engine with syn in it? I want to change it to the 15w-50, but it's a synthetic. Thanks for all your replies!

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I would listen to the 100 hr. recommendation. There is no need to use syn in our engines anyway. The main advantage of syn. oil today is the extended oil change intervals. If you plan on using your boat 300 hrs this year without an oil change, then syn would be a good choice. Otherwise there is no real advantage to it, being the gap between syn and conventional oil's lubricating abilities have closed considerably in the last few years.

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