WANT TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT A 327

Question

ok by now i think everyone has seen my questions about this engine i am putting in a s10 its a 327 .060 and i got it running and its doing great i just have some last questions i'm trying to figure out

1.) ok i have just plain water in the radiator i know it can cause rust but i have not made it to autozone yet to pick up antifreeze but i only drove it once since i put the plain water in it and the temp shot up to 190 degrees after going on the highway for awhile. now is that just cause of the plain water being in there and when i put in the antifreeze should the temp go down

2.) ok this is a 1966 327 .060 and i have 10W-40 oil in it and the oil pressure is at 60 for awhile then it goes down slowley and finally hits 10 and then the oil pressure goes up to about 25 and i shut it off and about 15 minutes later come back start it up and it goes back to 60 its not the oil pump i changed that my friend says he put 20W-50 oil in his 327 since they are older engines they run thicker oil and after that his stayed at 80 and the lowest it went was 60 so should 20W-50 be good to use or since its such thick oil can it cause my engien to lose power ???????

thanks for the answer everyone !!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

Water is a much better coolant than anti freeze, not worse. So you are going to need more radiator and fan. Keep this engine between 180 & 190 degrees (a 180 thermostat). The oil viscosity will not have a very significant effect on oil pressure, if it is idling warm at 10 pounds my guess is the cam bearings are worn.

It will live like that if the rod & main bearings are good.

The radiator is your next hurdle.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

1.  The thermostat is what controls the temp of the engine.  If you are using a 190 degree thermostat...190 degrees.  If you use a 180 degree thermostat...180 degrees, get the correlation?

2.  Chevrolet engine oil pressure has a tendency of varying you only need 10psi for every one thousand RPM in a small block, so you may not need to do anything. I worry more about pressures that don't change much with RPM than I do about low pressures. Are you experiencing any problems, knocking noises? If not...no worries.  My car idles at about 20psi in hot weather and never gets above 50 psi in hot weather, but it doesn't see 5,000RPM either.  10w30 or 10w40 will suffice in a small block chevy.

Answer 3

Shouldn't matter about the coolant, something else is probably wrong. 20w-50 sounds to thick to me for summer, especially with a new motor. 10w-30 should be all it needs.

Answer 4

ok.

1. antifreeze keeps your engine cooler and has anti-corrosion properties. it does this by raising the boiling point of water. even racers run antifreeze or they run a very similarly based coolant (royal purple liquid ice) or something similar.

2. today's oil is not meant for older engines. newer engines have tighter clearances/ tolerances than older ones, thus they have less minerals. here is an excerpt that explains what i am trying to tell you.

"Phosphorus is the key component for valve train protection in an engine, and 1600ppm (parts per million) used to be the standard for phosphorus in engine oil. In 1996 that was dropped to 800ppm and then more recently to 400ppm - a quarter of the original spec. Valvetrains and their components are not especially cheap to replace and this drop in phosphorus content has been a problem for many engines. So why was the level dropped? Money. Next to lead, it's the second most destructive substance to shove through a catalytic converter. The US government mandated a 150,000 mile liftime on catalytic converters and the quickest way to do that was to drop phosphorous levels and bugger the valvetrain problem. Literally.

In the US, Mobil 1 originally came out with the 0W40 as a 'European Formula' as it was always above 1000 ppm. This initially got them out of the 1996 800ppm jam and knowledgeable consumers sought it out for obvious reasons. Their 15W50 has also maintained a very high level of phosphorus and all of the extended life Mobil synthetics now have at least 1000ppm. How do they get away with this? They're not classified as energy/fuel conserving oils and thus do not interfere with the precious government CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) ratings. This also means that they don't get the coveted ratings of other oils but they do protect your valvetrain."

this is why newer oils just cannot be used in older engines. most people running older engines use "diesel oil" because of its high mineral content and Phosphorus. when you use newer oils in older engines oil pressure is nominal at best. thats why people think putting thicker oils in older engines works. its actually a bad way to operate and a common myth.

Answer 5

In case you don't know it most engines when running and warmed up run at near the 200 degree mark , usually the thermostat is a 196 degree opening . Some from the early 70's was 205.



All engines start and the oil is thick because it is cold and the pressures go way up like that . As the oil heats up it gets thinner and that is why the pressure drops .

10 W 40 = 10 is the relative thickness of the oil when cold so it can turn over and start , you will notice that the pressure is way up .

As the oil warms up its relative thickness goes up to 40 oil thickness and the pressure comes down because it flows like water because of the heat it is absorbing .

However the lowest pressure should not go below 25 psi ,

For slightly wore out engines the 50 would give it better protection and slightly raise the pressure when hot because it is thicker.

If you are in or near cold weather make sure your first number is either 10 or 5 or you will never start it when cold.

I do not believe that it will make your engine loose power.