Is this the correct Redline 5w30 to quiet the hemi?

[HEMIMANN]

Now its cold. 5 degrees this morning lol

You're welcome!

 

[HEMIMANN]

Cold piston slap was the bane of the "new" generation of the Cadillac 425 engines when they were first introduced in 1977. I was a line mechanic (engines, differentials, etc.) for Cadillac back then. In the years since, I've seen it many times. Fortunately, it has never been a negative thing for longevity in any engine.

In the early 90's, the 350 Chevy engine suffered from a cold "thud-thud-thud" in the first 2-3 seconds upon cold start up. My 1993 Suburban did it. This problem was borne of a very slight block align bore problem for the crankshaft main bearings. GM issued a TSB and claimed that it wasn't a longevity issue. Mine went to 200K miles before being totalled out by a falling tree during a tornado, but it had gone all those miles without failure.... but it continued to it's last day to thud upon cold start regardless of ambient temperature.

The hemi tick issue, though, seems to have a different long term outcome.

If memory serves, the Buick 3.8L V6 had off-center rods because they refused to cast a new crank - they sawed off the block and crank from a 307 cu in V8, I believe? So then engine didn't fire even and piston-slapped. That's back when V8's were king and cheap people bought the quasi V6.

Then the 1979 oil shortage hit and people starting buying V6's in droves, and complained about GM's half-a$$ed 3.8L. So the redesigned it and called it the 3800 - a superb engine. We worked on it in college - I wrote a report about it.

 

[Sherman Bird]

If memory serves, the Buick 3.8L V6 had off-center rods because they refused to cast a new crank - they sawed off the block and crank from a 307 cu in V8, I believe? So then engine didn't fire even and piston-slapped. That's back when V8's were king and cheap people bought the quasi V6.

Then the 1979 oil shortage hit and people starting buying V6's in droves, and complained about GM's half-a$$ed 3.8L. So the redesigned it and called it the 3800 - a superb engine. We worked on it in college - I wrote a report about it.

The original "Odd-fire" 3.8L engine had the compromised crankshaft. Later, around 1977, it became even fire and had a balance shaft to address the quiver felt especially at idle. Inasmuch as it powered the Buick Grand National, it does garner a lot of respect!

 

[buckeyexx]

The original "Odd-fire" 3.8L engine had the compromised crankshaft. Later, around 1977, it became even fire and had a balance shaft to address the quiver felt especially at idle. Inasmuch as it powered the Buick Grand National, it does garner a lot of respect!

Buick grand National is the one car I want to own one day.