@arains44 It is always tough but Synthetic tends to clean better than conventional motor oils. Which can cause seal to leak that were not leaking because of build up, of course regular oil changes with good quality oil will do that same thing in that same engine.

Oil is a complex issue, hot rodders will tell you one thing someone else something else. Lots of British guy who build Rover v8's of all generations run 20/50, I personally find 10/40 is a good compromise in the PNW. If I lived in the BC interior 10/30 for late fall until May then 10/40 until November.

The reality is a good quality oil with good ZDDP will be fine IF you use a good quality filter and do regular oil changes the 3000 to 4000 mile ones not the once a year and done

 

For free you definitely take the Vr1

 

@Richard Gallant that all makes perfect sense.

We bought a house a few months ago, and my Disco now lives in a garage - it never gets much cooler than 60 degrees F in there overnight, so the only time it starts cold is when I leave work in the evenings. Also, living in Alabama, the Winter low temps are just sub freezing and that only happens on occasion.

I'm sure I'm being a little specific with all of this, but being in my line of work and not being a technical expert (I'm a driver coach - my background is racing cars, I run a business that sells electronics for motorsports) I tend to ask a lot of questions to further my own understanding because my clients tend to throw all sorts of car related questions at me. I know chassis setup and tires pretty well, but I don't have much oil knowledge at all, or other topics less specific to going fast on a road course. So I appreciate all the thoughts!

I think I'll go with the VR1 on the next oil change since I have tons of it. I've been using it to top-off my wife's Accord...

We got it to run in our 97' BMW M3 race car. The other owners of the car swear by Mobil 1. The first time we ran the VR1 was also the first time we heard the lifters making a bunch of noise at hot idle (very normal for a 170k + mile BMW straight six. It was also the first event after 16 hours of racing), so they wanted to switch back to the Mobil stuff.

We switched back to Mobil, and guess what? Lifter tap is still there. I don't think the oil had anything to do with it, I think the lifters are worn AND we don't have an oil cooler so the sump gets really hot in a 9 hour endurance race!

All of that being said, the Pallet of VR1 synthetic we got from Valvoline is just sitting. And it's good stuff.

 

Ran out of time to get the aluminum plug and drill and tap for the oil pressure test today.

I did decide to change the oil back to 15/40.

Ill update again once I’m able to get the piece for the oil pressure gauge.

Does anyone know if Harbor Freight or anyone sells a piece that threads directly into this spot on the Rover motor that is already adapted for the pressure gauge?

 

I’m going to run to the Auto parts store today to get an aluminum plug to tap for the pressure gauge.

Does anyone mind sharing a link to the part they bought?

I don’t really want to pull of the oil cooler plug in the parking lot to ensure I buy the right part.

 

What year truck, I can tell you the thread pitch and size

 

@Extinct 2004 dii

 

Finally got my oil pressure test done today! Thanks again for the help. My father in-law tapped a steel drain plug from O’Reilly’s for me on his mill.

Results:

Cold idle: 56-58 psi
Cold 2k rpm: 58-60 psi

hot idle (172 degrees water temp - that’s where it idles now with cold temps and the in-line stat): 28psi
hot 2k rpm: 56 psi

Looks to me like it passed with flying colors! Now I just need to figure out why it’s using oil and I’ll be in business.

 

[Alex_M] Can you post a picture of the plug you drilled and tapped (both ends)...

pls and thx.