Don't over look 15-40 implement oil such as john deere oil.There is still plenty of 5 gallon buckets out there that arent low emission formula.This is what ive been running in my flathead.
I'll say this one last time: the newest grade of oil API type SN has a molecule or two that removes the zinc additives - that is why they made it. If you have a flat tappet cam and want to protect it use Brad Penn or Joe Gibbs oil - that is what they are blended for. If you want to feel good then throw in a gallon of diesel oil, a few pints of various additives and maybe some cooking oil for good measure! There are oils blended for your engine, if you want to use them.
Good info guys aswell as the other threads-i failed to look at last night before my drunken panic-thanks for all the good info! and sorry to beat a dead horse! Still there is plenty of fresh info here for all the others not yet aware as well. Thanks .
As I've been unable to purchase Brad Penn, I've been using Valvoline Vr-1 Racing Oil. It has all the zinc you need.
www.ZDDPlus.com Alliance Vendors here (last on the list) Read the info on their website. Very informative, call them if you have questions - they are great people!
I use Brad Penn but if in a crunch add one bottle of comp cam break in lube each and every oil change
I am about to fire my blown Hemi and have been told Brad Penn is the oil hands down. Go to their web site and they show you dealers in your area, when I checked there were lots of dealers all around me. I only had to drive 15 mins. to buy it and they said its selling like crazy! I am glad I found this before I fired my solid lifter motor.
I've heard from a few sources that the blue bottle of STP has zinc in it. I always put some in when I change the oil in my Acadian, it has a stock 194 6 cyl. Am I getting enough zinc in the oil with a bottle of STP added?
There is zinc in motor oil just drastically reduced ,Buy Some and add it ...Thats what most are doing ......Speedy Bill sells it
Shell Rotella T currently contains 1200 ppm of Zinc about the same as pre-2001 automotive motor oils and 50% more than most current motor oils (at 800ppm). It use to contain about 1400ppm before 2006. It also has many other wear protectors that reduce wear 50% better than other oils. It is perfectly suitable for gasoline engines and is a less expensive option to protect your engine.
If you are starting a brand new motor, you might also want to add some Lucus break in additive as some added insurance
I was told to use Rotella T by a pretty cool cat for the very same reasons mentioned. I've been using 15W 40 for several years now and my Y block runs good.
Having used up my stash of the old good stuff I've bought a dozen bottles of ZDDP and intend for it to be in every fresh engine and added to every oil change from now on. Frank
Look on the blue bottle.......they have an Email address for you to ask questions about their products. Let me know what they say about STP blue.......I'll let you know if you got the same answer as I did.
My quote here is still something to consider. SM has inadequate zinc. CJ has reduced zinc from CI. There are jugs marked SM/CJ. Either CJ has a lot less zinc than some believe, or SM & CJ really aren't interchangable despite the labeling. The zinc content will be off for one or the other.
We just used Lucas Break in additive for the first fireup on my Son's rpu engine because the shop that did the machining recommended it. Lucas makes some good stuff, so we feel pretty confident in it being ok. The bottle said to drain the oil out after 1000 miles, but we always do it a lot sooner than that, maybe 100 miles, just to be safe. The label made no reference of putting any more in on subsequent oil changes but since he is running a flat tappet cam we want as much wear resistance as possible, so I called Lucas to inquire. The tech there said on each regular oil change just put in half a bottle and that will give it enough zinc parts per million to be fine. At $15 a bottle it will add $ 7.50 to each oil change but sure is cheaper than buying a new cam. Don
Lucas also makes a High Zinc break in oil. I keep it around for my flat tappet engine builds. Larry T
Good point. I've used Brad Penn. Good stuff. But had never even considered that it is All American. Problem I have is that only one shop carries it (that I know of). last time I did an oil change I couldnt get to him so I opted for Valvoline Racing oil (Not for street use) and dumped in some ZDDP additivie. I think I'll have to pony up for a case of Brad Penn next time I'm by his way.
It just advertizing hype I guess but I used a qt of this in my new engine. At least it says that it is the stuff we need and it is available at any Auto zone or retail outlet. No special order and inflated prices. I liked their stuff way back when because it worked for me so I trust them today.
i lost a cam in my truck after about 1500 miles. since then i use valvoline vr1 oil and have 25,000 miles on the new cam with no problems. says on the bottle made for flat tappet cams. -danny
it's not just at break in that's the problem, it is long term that your cam and lifters need the zinc. i now use it in all the flat tappet cam'ed motors i work on. -danny
I was in O'Reillys the other day & saw some edelbrock 30 wt breakin oil with added zddp on the counter
We heard good things about Amsoil break in oil and wanted to use it when we first started my Son's Olds engine. The problem is, no one carries it, or ANY Amsoil in stock, the dealers want to ship it in to you from the main warehouse. I don't get it, they have dealers who show up with booths at most car shows, garages have big AMSOIL banners out front, and no one stocks the stuff. Maybe in some other places the dealers may stock Amsoil, but down here they have a really dumb distribution setup. When I want to buy oil I want to walk in and walk out with it in my hands, not wait for UPS to bring it. Don
In my daily driver I use diesel oil and have for years since we bought it in 55 gallon drums for the road tractors and farm tractors. No problems yet. Except it's a little harder to turn over when it's really cold.
If you did it a few years ago that's great, but in the last few years the ZDDP in diesel oil has seriously been reduced as well and you need to be very careful of which rating it has or you'll get the lower ZDDP version. All diesel oil is not created equal.
First of all - it's not the Zinc in Zincdialkyldithiophosphate - it's the phosphate that does the anti wear protection. Also there is not only one ZDDP, there are many. Those ZDDPs activate in a distinct temperature range and different ZDDPs need to be activated at different temperatures to do their job. Since you don't even know what mixture of different ZDDPs is in your additive, your chances getting that right is pretty much zero. Temperature activation is designed to occur at those temperatures experienced by the camshaft/lifter interface. If ZDDP is added to cold oils, it may not go into solution at all and precipitate out into the crankcase. If ZDDP is added to hot oil, the ZDDP may activate in the crankcase (or sump) before getting to the valve train components it is supposed to protect. Good lubricants are mixtures of 10-12 separate chemicals which are blended together at specific temperatures in a defined order. ZDDP is added only at that point where blenders can be certain that the oil will no longer exceed the ZDDP activation temperature. And you want to try this at home? Some highly compounded (high levels of additives) oils such as diesel engine oils contain considerable quan***ies of detergents to protect the engines from the harmful effects of soot (unburned Carbon). Detergents act in much the same way as ZDDP. They must be absorbed on the surface to do their job. The detergents in high-detergent oils often compete with the ZDDP for the cam and lifter surfaces, resulting in those components having insufficient metal surface for the ZDDP film to be effective. ZDDP must be kept separate from detergents during the blending process. Also ZDDP is a is not the best extreme pressure agent because it is easily abraded during boundary lubrication conditions and is easily depleted because of its additional role as an antioxidant. It was first used, cause there was plenty of surplus left after the war, and later it was just convenient, cause it was dirt cheap and did more than one job in the oil. In a nut shell: your chance of messing up your original oil formula by adding a ZDDP additive is pretty high, the outcome is questionable, at best it does nothing - in the worst case it can harm your engine though. If you are looking for better TBN (Total Base Number) or better extreme pressure agent, there are additives out there that use modified overbased calcium petroleum sulfonates like OilExtreme to do a better job than ZDDP without the downsides of a ZDDP additive. Frank
I think the reason for lifter problems is the quality of the parts.... I have had only one lifter issue over the years and that was due to spring pressure....My old Dodge truck had over 200,000 miles on it and used no special oil...Maybe I have just been lucky...
10W-30 Rotella T-4 is all I use in my flat tappet engines. Why? I learned why right here on the HAMB.
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