I'm running valvoline full synthetic 20w50 in my 86 rx7 n/a. I just had a rebuilt motor put in about a year ago. I always ran castrol gtx 20w50 with a quart of hiper lube. Do you thikn the chane will hurt anything and is synthetic much better. The motor runs like crap with quaker 20w50 in it. That was my last oil chane 800 miles ago and Im changing it out. ANd what should I set the timming on for a street ported motor. and will timimng effect iidle. Rob

 

Your question about oil is answered in the FAQ (sticky at the top of the page).

 

Crap with Quaker 20W50?
How so?


-Ted

 

Hung out with Rick Engman alot this weekend. Rick uses nothing but Valvoline synthetic in all of the race engines for Jim Downing. He said he wouldn't use anything but synthetics in a rotary be it street or race use. I spoke to Yamamoto-san at Sevenstock about synthetics this last weekend. He's been on the rotary program at Mazda for around 30 years and has been the head of it back since the 3rd gen engine program began. He stated the reason that Mazda does not recommend synthetics for the rotary is due to how well it mixes with fuel for the oil metering system. Some are better than others at this and rather than tell people which are good and which aren't, it is just easier to say not to use any of them. I only got 3 names out of him. A synthetic he hates for rotaries is Mobil 1. He said it is terrible for rotaries. (You should hear his opinion of aftermarket apex seals!) He likes at least Valvoline and Royal Purple. Didn't get any more names than that as he speaks hardly any more English than I do Japanese and I would have been there all night. If you are running premix and not using the oil metering system, you can use whatever you want. Rick said that there is no longer any issues with seals swelling with current synthetics. This was a problem a long time ago with old formulations. Be happy with your Valvoline. The top builder in the U.S. uses it.

 

From what I understand, synthetic is fine only if you use the good stuff. The crappy synthetics leave deposits that aren't good for your engine.

Regardless, check the FAQ.

 

I heard that synthetics oils don't lubricate the apex seals properly.

 

I just told you guys why from the top rotary engine person in the world!

 

Yeah listen to the rotarygod lol

 

Hahahaha crap....i just switched to that :P

 

crap so did i....i guess next check ill change the oil...to just RP everywhere....

 

If you guys are premixing it doesn't matter which one you use. It is only relevant from the oil metering perspective and nothing else. While I don't premix, alot of people do and they shouldn't worry.

 

I hate to tell you but your question is irrelevant since Valvoline Synthetic is not a "real" synthetic oil. Its nothing more than a severely hydrocracked Group III base oil.

A TRUE synthetic is either Group IV (PAO) or Group V (Ester) base stock. You can pretend you are running synthetic oil all day long.....

BTW, it was a stupid judge that ruled that Group III is a synthetic oil in a Mobil lawsuit against Castrol. Those of you paying Group IV or V prices for a Group III basestock oil are getting ripped off.

 

Guess I shouldn't have rebuilt with RA seals... sorry rotorygod!

 

I spoke with Engman longer about aftermarket apex seals. It's interesting what people like him notice when it comes to seals. Also talked about the RA, Atkins seals and a few others. I don't really want to post specifics of each here as I don't want people arguing over them. I just know what I was told by Engman and by Mazda about tests that have been done with various aftermarket ones. Mazda actually does test them all since they want to know if something has been learned that they didn't know. Some are better than others. Yamamoto-san commented on ceramic seals. As you know we have the pricey Ianetti seals and another unnamed company. Just by looking at them the Ianetti seals are the darker grey ones and the others are lighter. They are also half the price. According to Yamamoto-san the lighter ones are very brittle and he does not recommend them.

 

I use Mobil 1 synth, 222k miles on the engine

 

what exactly is up with this premixing thing you can do that just like on a two stroke engine or what???

 

OK....so what i hear, and saw actual proof of is that synthetics seem to foul up the plugs?? can anyone verify??? maybe there was another reason for the fouled plugs i saw.....

I just switched to syn Mobil1 this past oil change, and am now confused about what to do for the next oil change...

-Jahan

 

Thread closed... subject covered in the FAQ for FC.

And to reply to this:
Rick builds race motors... hardly even in the same ball park as street motors. From hours of talking with him myself, I am convinced he knows race motors and how to get a rotary engine to run at maximum power for 500 miles and then comes apart for rebuilding, just fine... its building a motor that spends most of its time driving to the 7/11 at the corner that has him stumped.

So I would take his advice for a street car about that far.

But either way, this subject has been covered 1000 times and is in the FAQ for FC sticky thread.