The reason Les is indicating it's a no-no is because there was a recent posting about Penzoil using Parafin based aditives which gum up the inside of your engine over time.

Castrol is one oil that doesn't.

heh, mine started ticking after i put a fram filter on, remind me never to use those again.

I always used castrol 10w30 and OEM filters on my SWB. Perhaps that's why I never got a tick. (motor was clean as whisle inside besides the part where I blew a head gasket) <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

On my V6, I run Mobile 1 5w30 and Mobile filters; Ticks like a bastard. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

So why do you guys run 20w50 on those engines anyway? Isn't it good to stick to factory recommendations? I always thought the thicker oils would make the engine do more work and get less power+fuel economy. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Sorry, I have never heard of the paraffin in the Pennzoil. I bought my S-10 in April, 1996 with 4 miles on it. I only change the oil every 5k miles and have treated the little 2.2 like crap. I have pulled boats, 4-wheelers, and I loaded the bed down so much one day that I hit a bump and blew both rear OEM shocks (canÆt do that nowàtoo many hills). The only thing that I have ever used in it was Pennzoil 5W-30 and a Fram filter. That was until it hit 100K. I have never had a problem, except for the slave cylinder. I have no idea what my 2.2 looks like on the inside, but it has never ticked and the oil always looks good when I change it. That is why I went the same route with the new 2.6 for my Raider, except I went to 10W-40. What is so different about these two engines?

Different?

I don't know.
But the 2.6 was originally designed as a farm equipment deisel, and modified through many iterations to even become the turbo in the Starion.
I bought mine new in `87, and used many 10w-40 oils (whatever was cheap!), until it began chattering on the top end. The more I learned about the engine as it aged, the more I looked at the higher weight oils. The Castrol 20w-50 helped the chatter a lot, but the 15W-40 was better. If you check the running oil pressure you'll notice it runs ~80 PSI, and for most engines, that's petty high. Watch that pressure on a freeway run, or any extended drive, and you'll see it drop as the oil heats up (= viscosity breakdown). This is where the Castrol 15W-40 diesel rated is superb, as it maintains pressure best, with very little viscosity breakdown between oil changes.

The parrafin based business will not be related to the chatter, but it's a concern IF the oil is not changed regularly.

At the very least, try the advice of some of us long-time 2.6 owner and use a good filter and the Castrol.

I have had 3 generation 1 Monteros, two 3.0s and one 2.6, still have 2 of them, and they all ticked, more or less. Have a 92 Ford Explorer 4.0 with an engine so quiet you could sleep next to it, and if you listen close, it ticks. Are there any old engines anywhere that don't tick? Unless it is so loud it sounds like a hammer I would worry about something else.

I just fixed an exhaust leak that was masking my Ticking...

...not to mention... there was a sale on high mileage oil(non-castrol like I usually use) and I had just run out of my stock of Wix filters and used a fram for the first time instead... seems like a combination that makes for some unusually loud ticking that couldn't be releived by the revving remedy...

Let's hope it's gonna be fixed by getting rid of that fram filter and getting back to my wix stock...

dT

KevinC cleared up my old info on parafin-base crude oil stocks in the above referred to post. Always remember, check anything I post with a REAL expert before you try it. That said, I've used nothing lighter than 10w40 for almost 40 years. I used straight 50w Castrol in the Fiat 1600cc hot rod motor, and it needed it at 8krpms. The undersquare (stroke longer than bore is wide) 2.6 puts a lot of pressure on the crank rod and main bearings, especially if boosted. I like a tough oil film and high oil pressures, and I'll live and die on castrol 20w50 until somebody proves to me that something else is better. I also really like the stock mitsu oil filter a whole lot better than any aftermarket filter, most of which I consider to be junk.

I will also note that a lot of the engines I have torn down that used Pennzoil/Quaker State were VERY quiet even though they had badly worn clearances, and even lifter that wiggled in the bore. All kept nice and quiet by the half inch of baked on sludge on the inside of the engine. I've pulled off valve covers that only had enough open room in them for the rockers to move, the rest solid with parafin goo, and the pan was almost as bad....

Timing chain guides wear too, and they'll contribute to the noise as well...

Thanks guys. I will run this for 500 miles and change oil/filter.