I installed a dry oil sump pump on my engine and I use 20W-50 Amsoil Synthetic. I don't see why a person can't install the same system on their rig even if it's not for the rigors of off roading. I aim to squeeze all the life out of the engine Hugh Reynolds built for me especially since it cost 45 hundred to build. Should you be interested in going with a dry sump send me an IM .  

In reguards to Mr. dschwab9's post, your points are understood.
What area of the country do you live in ? and what do you do when
your oil is so hot that at idle the oil light comes on??
with summer temps here hitting 110F almost daily and in the deserts
hitting 120s the heavier oil is what I need.

Mind you I have run the 160F thermostat since the the kick was
a youngin at about 17,000 miles, and have better then followed the
factory service intervals on oil changes of 7500 miles, let the engine
warm a few minutes before running it hard, and now I learn I cut
my engines life short at 250,000 miles, darn guess I screwed up

The important # in motor oil is the first  5-xx  this is the flowability
at cold start temps, mind you multi-weight motor oil was designed for
your wife. Start car, 3 seconds, car is in reverse, 6 seconds going 40 MPH
running late for kids to school or going to work, by the 30 second mark
she has hit the freeway, water temp is now a warm 80 degrees and if you
ran straight 30 weight oil metal shavings are merrily working their way to the
oil pan and into the filter from lack of "flow" or volume if you will.

The "tight" tollerances of an engine are in a constant state of change or wear,
altho we hope this is a slow process, the slower the longer the engine will in theory
wear, some wear longer that others, and after the millions of cycles an engine
goes through, in the years of service, many factors pop up, length of each
trip, over all engine temps, hot weather, cold weather starts, road conditions
dust from wheeling, overall average speed (lots of low range driving)  
where do I stop, factors all combine over years of service to equal engine
life, no telling how long an engine will last, as these factors are the final
descision makers, we on the other hand need to help these factors be
more favorable to our engines.

Motor oil has the same "thickness" by thickness I mean the physical
size of the oil molecules, don't belive me, use a good micrometer and
measure some different weights, oil has thickness, and is like little
ball bearings in the engine, it keeps one part  just away from the next part
to prevent wear, the vescosity (weight) is the factor that determins how
it will flow at a specific temp. 50 weight at 30F is some thick stuff, but
get it hot as in a raceing engine and it provides the nessisary cushon
between high speed moving parts, I don't recommend 50 single weight
oil for a daily driver, as it requires special attention in a cold engine, but
it does have it's place in the lubrication world. Like I said 20-50 HOT!! Weather
,not daily, daily I run 5-30, for the most part, but when the oil is so hot the
cushon goes away, and the low oil light is on at idle, I go thicker.
After all the cushon is gone at such low pressure and it is the flow rate
that keeps the little "ball bearings" in place to protect your engine, like
a wheel bearing race, no race, bearings fall out, metal to metal contact
begins, OK the horse is dead now so I'll stop typing... in a minute,
Bottom line, do what ever you heart want's to, this is America, and if I
want to run 20-50 in the summer it's my God given right golldarn it!!!

Well, in my Zuk 1.3, I run 20W50 year round because I have to fill it with oil and check the gas once a week if I run anything thinner  .  This thing eats oil like crazy.  The cylinder walls and the rings are pretty well shot.  The head is a fresh rebuild, so I know the valve seats are ok.  Whomever had the Zuk before I got it obviously didn't do much motor maintenance, and it eats oil like crazy.  One of these days I'll get around to putting a 1.6 in the buggy.....Until then, I'll keep feeding the beast dino fluid.

A lot of your oil choice will be driven by the condition of the motor.  If you have a newer motor in good condition, run what the manufacturer suggests for oil viscosity.  If you have an older motor that has worn, you may need to go to a heavier viscosity to make up for the wear, and to slow down oil consumption.

Yes, I forgot to include the worn motors,
I thought about it , but forgot to include
that factor in the motor oil equasion.

I had ~130k on my 1.6L8v when the #4 cyl was only getting 35psi compression.  I did a full rebuild with .020" bore, Cam, decked head and block and it runs great now.  I hope it outlasts its last lifespan.

How a rig is driven I would think is a big factor too. I run redline for hours and hours every weekend. How many revolutions does that poor little motor go on average per mile? For this reason I change my oil every 2000 miles. As far as reliability, Ive never owned anything so relentless.


Mike

I own an 84 SJ10 with a 1.0 that has 88k.  I change oil like the sticker under the hood suggests, 6000 mi and 10w40.  I have put 16k on since I bought  off EBAY less than a year ago.  I drive it with my foot to the floor and  it never lets me down, except for the #1 plug popping out every 4000 miles because the guy before me used the wrong plug.  I have noticed more oil around the head gasket and valve cover gasket lately.  Is this because I am using the wrong oil?  I really would like to know what oil to use since I plan to keep it stock and not go up to the 1.6 or any other engine.  And thanks for the info on Fram; it was a little late.  Any info would be great.  Brace

   Yeah, I just found out about Fram's recently too.  I'll be changing it out on the wifes car and Tracker next oil change(should be in about a week unless the Hurricane stops me .  As far as oil goes, it sounds like you rig was babied (meaning not driven a lot of miles) and now your driving it regularly. Someimtes when you change a trucks driving habits it starts to leak some.  I had an 84 Chevy pickup with a strait six, bought it in 94 with only 14,000 original miles on it, it was so clean under the hood that you could literally eat off the motor (that is if you're inclined to do that sort of thing )  After about a year I noticed the valve cover and other things leaking oil, it's perfectly normal.  Now I know you're folowing the manufacturers recomendations here with the 6,000 miles rule, but if I were you (now don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to open a can of worms here) I'd change your oil a lot sooner, like every 3,000 miles instead, that little four banger is working very hard, and it's very cheap preventative maintenence.  As far as weight goes, I'm sure there are other suggestions like you've already seen here, I personally have used 20-50 dino juice in my wifes 94 Escort (it used to have a lifter tap in the morning when you'd first start it up but with the thicker oil it has gone away) and I used it in my 90 Trooper 2.6 four cylinder (it had 165,000 miles on it and held up really really well).  But I think 10-40 is a good weight for your lower milage engine.  Besides, I don't know much about older Zuk enignes, maybey the ports are smaller and you need a thinner oil to get around in there.  I'm sure somebody out there can help a little more than me, I'm kinda new around here  Hope it all works out for you,   Dave

Good points all!

Mike Hagen, ponytail and all  : His statement here is a testament to the toughness of these engines.  A co worker cranked his tracker to 170K on it and it still goes.  True its had some work, but that little bugger motor just keeps going and going.  It impresses me more and more each day.  Which is why I got its bigger brother, the Vitara!

trackinstile.:  Good call on Fram.  Stay away from them like you would the plague.

I forgot to note one important thing in
regards to my rebuild, I didn't bore the
engine and go oversize, I just honed the
cylinders, and turned the crank, so I have
new rings and bearings, and a valve job
to put in the SS exhaust valves, and now
the motor runs great and is turbocharged!!

Another testiment to the durability
of the Zuke Motor !!

I just did the .030 overs when I rebuilt to try and squeeze a bit more displacement/compression out of the engine.  80HP with an auto tranny leaves a bit to be desired for highway driving.

Yeah, I'm changing the oil in the Tracker today, I'm probably going to go with a Purolater Pure One, there was a report on the web floating around somewhere I found and after reading it (hey, maybey it was here ) they mention Fram at the botom of their list, but Purolater's were pretty good, they were'nt thrilled with the piece of sting wrapped around the filter element, but everything else is ok                                              Hey Samarai Hamster, and the rest of you, what kind of filter do you use???  Just wondering, thanks, Dave

I use two types, depending on which one I can get.  Most of the time, I use NAPA/WIX 51396 this is the NAPA gold and they are made by wix filters.  Because they aren't in the big box discount stores competing with the trash made overseas, WIX does not have to build them to a price.  Fram used to be this way, then they went big box waldo world and now rank as one of, if not, the worst filter ever made.

WHen I am unable to secure a WIX filter, I use Purolator filter.  Forgot the number for my rig but I have had tremendous success with these filters in years past.  I just think the WIX is a tad better, but not by leaps and bounds.

Speaking of oil change, just had mine done, back was sore so I took it to the garage and had six qts of Mobil 1 I go to get the rig and there is one full qt plus almost another full quart in my box!  Glad they were there, but WTF?  The manual speciifcaly states, 5.5 qts to fill when changing oil and filter.  Immediately, I popped the hood and proceed to dump the rest of the open qt plus half of the other qt to make sure I had 5.5 in there.

ANd this was the zuki dealer where I bought my rig.......tsk tsk tsk...........that does not make me happy at all.

 .........

I use Wix also. Air and oil. If you hold a fram air filter in one hand and a Wix in the other the quaility is clear. The Wix flows better also. This is one of these things, Pay now or pay more later.

Mike

     ???Are you able to get the Pure one filter? Or just the regular Purolater filter? Thanks,   Dave