Mobil 1

[Lyndon S.]

What year did the Corvette switch to Mobil 1 as the factory fill for oil?
was it 1989?

[Keith B.]

Re: Mobil 1

I believe in 92 with release of the LT-1

[Tom H.]

Re: Mobil 1

I believe in 92 with release of the LT-1

That is correct.

[Joe R.]

Re: Mobil 1

Well I am certainly pleased that they did switch. I have a 96 and had to mill the heads because of an overheating problem. Blown Hose! When inspecting the engine there was no visible wear on any moving part including the valve train. The old 96 has over 200K and is my daily driver. That's impressive mileage from a small block chevy. And it's not done yet!

JR

[Keith B.]

Re: Mobil 1

Joe good to know my 94 has 140K and counting

[Michael W.]

Re: Mobil 1

But who knows how they would have lasted had regular oil had been spec'd. I thought the first Corvette to use synthetic oil was the 1990 ZR-1?

[Pat M.]

Re: Mobil 1

My 8500 mile 96 still runs perfectly on Mobil 1!

[Clem Z.]

Re: Mobil 1

i think corvettes went to mobil 1 when they did away with the engine oil cooler that was under the oil filter connected the the water jacket

[Bill M.]

Re: Mobil 1

i think corvettes went to mobil 1 when they did away with the engine oil cooler that was under the oil filter connected the the water jacket

That's right. Mobil 1 allows a higher oil temp, so Mobil 1 was a cost reduction and weight reduction by allowing removal of the oil cooler.

That's an engineer's dream change: cheaper and lighter.

[Joe L.]

Re: Mobil 1

But who knows how they would have lasted had regular oil had been spec'd. I thought the first Corvette to use synthetic oil was the 1990 ZR-1?

Mike------

As has been mentioned, the 1992 LT1 was the first Corvette to use Mobil 1 5W-30. The LT5 (ZR1) engine did not use Mobil 1 until 1993.

[Joe L.]

Re: Mobil 1

i think corvettes went to mobil 1 when they did away with the engine oil cooler that was under the oil filter connected the the water jacket

clem------


Yes, that's true but not all pre-1992 C4 Corvettes had an oil cooler. Only those equipped with the KC4 oil cooler option were equipped.

For the 1992 LT1 the large "close-coupled" catalytic converters made impractical the use of the PF-25 size oil filter. This, in turn, made impractical the installation of the adapter used with the KC4 oil cooler system.

Actually, I think the PF-25 size filter could be used on 1992-96 LT1 and LT4 but I guess GM thought it would end up too close to the converter. So, a special oil filter adapter was used which utilized the smaller OD PF-51 (later PF-52) oil filter.

[Clem Z.]

Re: Mobil 1

the ZR-1 went to mobil 1 when GM had problems with the camshafts journals in the heads were not getting lubed in extremely cold weather because it was taking too long for the dino oil to get flowing so they switched to mobil 1

[Lyndon S.]

[Clem Z.]

Re: Mobil 1

i have a friend with a C-4 turbo callaway and it has a sticker that say use mobil 1 but i am not sure of the year