To choose the proper lubricants for your vehicle check the owners manual and make sure you are using motor oil and lubricants that meet the requirements of your engine and vehicle. It is extremely important the requirements listed in the owners manual or engine labels are met.
For Full Synthetic Motor Oils
PDX Oil recommends Valvoline motor oils.
Valvoline products can be found at most auto parts stores and many other retailers.
During Eric’s research in finding motor oils to replace AMSOIL it was discovered that motor oil sold at NAPA, with the NAPA name, was actually Valvoline motor oil.
A store manager told Eric that, “All NAPA branded motor oils were actually Valvoline”
Eric buys all his synthetic motor oil for his own vehicles from NAPA in the NAPA branded quart sized bottles. NAPA frequently has very good sale prices so a lot of money can be saved if you watch for sales at NAPA.
For Regular/Conventional Motor Oils (except in older vehicles)
(Except those older vehicles with a flat tappet camshaft.)
Note: For vehicles with flat tappet camshafts, and only those without catalytic converters, see the classic vehicle recommendation below.
PDX Oil recommends Valvoline motor oils for engines that do not require a synthetic motor oil.
Valvoline products can be found at most auto parts stores and many other retailers.
During Eric’s research in finding motor oils to replace AMSOIL it was discovered that motor oil sold at NAPA, with the NAPA name, was actually Valvoline motor oil.
A store manager told Eric that, “All NAPA branded motor oils were actually Valvoline”
Eric buys all his conventional motor oil for his own vehicles from NAPA in the NAPA branded quart sized bottles. NAPA frequently has very good sale prices so a lot of money can be saved if you watch for sales at NAPA.
For Classic Vehicles
(Those with flat tappet camshafts, without catalytic converters)
PDX Oil recommends Penn Grade 1 Motor Oils.
Engines found in classic vehicles don’t generally have roller camshafts. (unless they have been modified or are a rare exception)
Most of these engines have flat tappet camshafts. These engines do much better on motor oils that contain zinc and phosphorus and some other anti-scuffing additives that are found in motor oils made specifically for these engines.
There are many brands of motor oils that contain the necessary additives for long engine life but Eric believes Penn Grade 1 to be the best motor oil for these engines and uses this brand in his own classic vehicles. Penn Grade 1 oil is manufactured to very high standards and is very much like the oil classic vehicle engines were originally designed to use.
Oil Supplements
Generally Eric doesn’t recommend using supplements in motor oils.
For the most part motor oils are made to be used just how they come in the container and require no additional product be added to them.
There is one exception; Vehicles that sit for extended periods of time, especially those using synthetic motor oils.
When vehicles sit for prolonged periods of time the oil tends to drip off or run out of bearing surfaces leading to dry starts. This is sometimes heard as extra noise when the engine is first started.
This can be exaggerated when using synthetic motor oils due to the better flow characteristics of synthetic lubricants allowing the lubricant to continue to flow out of bearing surfaces better than conventional motor oils after engine cool down. (An unwanted side effect to an otherwise great thing)
There are two oil supplements Eric recommends for engines that are inactive for extended times or see limited use.
First choice is Power Punch and the second choice is Lucas. Both can be found at local automotive parts stores with Lucas being easier to find.
For Oil Filters
Standard filters:
PDX Oil recommends Wix oil filters.
Wix makes excellent oil filters and they can be found in most auto parts stores.
During Eric’s research in locating filters to replace the AMSOIL filters he liked he looked at many oil filters comparing the specifications and build quality.
Wix came out on top.
If you want to save some money buy the NAPA gold line filters, they are high quality filters. (Eric was told by a NAPA store manager that, “All NAPA branded filters are actually made by Wix”) The NAPA gold line filters are very good filters.
Very high quality filters:
PDX Oil recommends NAPA Platinum filters.
If you want a very high quality oil filter the Napa Platinum line filters appear to be the exact same quality as the AMSOIL filters.
During Eric’s research in locating a high quality oil filter to replace the AMSOIL filter Eric chose the NAPA Platinum line. Eric looked at the specifications for the NAPA Platinum filter and the AMSOIL filter they appear to be very close if not identical.
Eric also cut them apart and could not find any appreciable differences, certainly none that would justify spending the extra money on the AMSOIL filter.
Extremely high quality cleanable/reusable filters:
PDX Oil recommends K&P cleanable/reusable oil filters.
They are expensive but it is a one time expense and a major upgrade to your engine. Eric believes they are worth the added one time expense.
There are other cleanable/reusable oil filters available but Eric believes the K&P to be superior in design.
These filters are not only beyond excellent, they are also cleanable and reusable.
These are the same high quality oil filters Eric uses on his airplane and automobiles.
Not only do these filters flow better, they also filter better than most standard oil filters.
As an extra benefit you can see the type of debris being caught in the filter. This information allows you to determine if you have excessive wear inside your engine and often it can be determined where the wear is happening so it can be repaired before major engine damage happens.
Another benefit is that because these filters get cleaned and reused you stop putting used oil filters full of motor oil and contaminants into the landfills contaminating ground water and the environment.
K&P oil filters can be purchased at: K&P Engineering
If you want to see a video Eric did showing the same filter in an aviation application click here.
Note: The filter seen in the video is a Challenger filter. It is the same oil filter as the K&P filter. K&P builds the Challenger oil filters for Challenger Aviation.
