Pinto engine oil
Discussion
Now, I'd have to disagree slightly. I used to work with a chap who bought his cars from a guy that worked at the Ford factory in Halewood. (Now Jag.) The Ford guy advised my work buddy NOT to use 20W/50 in Pintos because that was a contributory factor in the classic Pinto camshaft failure.
I believe Ford recommended 10W/30. AIUI, the oilways to the camshaft bearings are a little on the small side so using anything thicker can starve the camshaft bearings.
OTOH, if your engine is tuned the oil may run a little hotter so 20W/50 might be appropriate - I wouldn't argue with Burton's recommendation for an engine that they had prepared.
Either way, I would agree to try to avoid synthetics as they tend not to get on with the seals in older engines.
HTH
I believe Ford recommended 10W/30. AIUI, the oilways to the camshaft bearings are a little on the small side so using anything thicker can starve the camshaft bearings.
OTOH, if your engine is tuned the oil may run a little hotter so 20W/50 might be appropriate - I wouldn't argue with Burton's recommendation for an engine that they had prepared.
Either way, I would agree to try to avoid synthetics as they tend not to get on with the seals in older engines.
HTH
As I understand it, and my experience supports this, the 'classic Pinto camshaft failure' isn't of the bearings but the lobes and followers. The spraybar easily becomes blocked meaning a lobe runs dry quickly. My Kent fast road cam suffered as a result of a spray bar blockage (I don't know how as I change oil very frequently) and a couple of people I know had variously a Granada and a Cortina with Pintos and they had lobe/follower breakdown. I've never known a cam bearing failure though.
motco said:
As I understand it, and my experience supports this, the 'classic Pinto camshaft failure' isn't of the bearings but the lobes and followers. The spraybar easily becomes blocked meaning a lobe runs dry quickly. My Kent fast road cam suffered as a result of a spray bar blockage (I don't know how as I change oil very frequently) and a couple of people I know had variously a Granada and a Cortina with Pintos and they had lobe/follower breakdown. I've never known a cam bearing failure though.
Fairy Nuff! It was an old story and only second hand at that. It could equally be that bore of the spray bar is the marginally sized bit and causes the problem if you use too thick an oil. Or maybe it's just that the thicker cold oil takes longer to get to the camshaft on a cold start. (The camshaft being a long way from the oil pump.)Either way, I believe Ford's recommendation back in the day was for 10W/30 (I'm prepared to be corrected on this!) and personally, I would want to stick as close to this as possible for a standard engine.
Like I said earlier, for a Burton engine, I'd stick with their recommendation.
ETA Vulcan - apologies!!
Frank, I think you might have a point with the distance to the spraybar. This would be a particular problem with engines that are run only occasionally whereby the oil film completely drains off between runs. If it's used daily the lobes would remain 'oilier' as t'were. I have a Haynes for a late eighties 2.0 litre SOHC (Pinto) Granada in my spare room, buried as is the way of these things. I'll dig it out and see what that says. Not that Haynes is gospel truth always...
This is Re: Pinto engines. I had a 1980 Ford Cortina MkV 1.6 with a Pinto engine. We bought it in 1982 with 18,500 on the clock. We drove down to Interlaken in Switzerland with 108,000 on the clock, I sold it in 1994 with 129,000 in the clock. I put another rear axle on before the Swiss trip as the diff was groaning a bit. I never had any problems with this car and must say it was one of the best we’ve had.
I changed the engine oil every 3500 miles and put STP in at every change. Neve failed an MoT, never smoked or burnt oil. Brilliant engines.
I changed the engine oil every 3500 miles and put STP in at every change. Neve failed an MoT, never smoked or burnt oil. Brilliant engines.
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