1952-59 Ford oil for 239

Someone told me to run Motorcraft diesel oil in my 239 Y block,I think it was Ole Don,what's the difference between diesel oil and regular oil? What should I run in my car? Thanks for any help

 

Flat tappet cams need oil with a high phosphor zinc content - commonly referred to as ZDDP. Since they have foisted catalytic converters on us they have been phasing this out of oils due to it mucking up the converter and affecting pollution values. Generally speaking most oils with a viscosity above 40 should have enough content. In the US you have more oils available for use than we do in Oz. There have been multiple posts on the Y Blocksforever forum about this with all sorts of opinion of which oil to use.
Regards

 

Motorcraft oil for diesels, Rotella T, Delvac, are easy to find. Pennsoil and Quaker State have the same oil as comes in a Rotella bottle, but I dont remember the brand names. You could buy regular motor oil and add a bottle of zinc additive, but I just buy Rotella. If its good enough for a new ***mins, its good enough for my old Ford.

 

I've been using Wolfs Head synthetic blend 15W40 with a half bottle of Lucas ZDDP additive with no problems in flat tappet engines..

 

There's a store called Fleet Farm here in Wisconsin and they have diesel oil for like 9.00$ for 5 quarts and car n truck oil for like 11.00$ for 5 quarts,should I buy the diesel oil?

 

I have read lots of articles on this very subject and they all said not to use diesel oil ! Diesel oils have high detergent in their oil which is not good .
Here is a few off the top of my head that is good to use . Original Mobil 1 , Original Pennsoil , Brad Penn , Comp Cam , Joe Gibbs , Amsoil w/zinc -which I use , Royal Purple w/zinc , Rotella , any flat tap break in oil will all work .
Valvoline Racing was on the list of not having enough zddp in it .
The biggest problem with other oils is that the bottle doesn't tell you if it has the minerals you need for a flat tap is in their oils anymore ! Most any oil on the shelf today will not have the proper amount of zddp in the oil for your engine !
In a pinch any oil of a 10-30w will be better than than running low on oil ! It will not wipe your cam out that fast !
Just my opinion !

Jim

 

That would be me! the Motorcraft 15W40 Diesel oil has 1335 PPM ZDDP available at Wal-Mart and Autozone it is made by Conoco-Phillips. It is in my 302 with a Summit flat tappet Cam and no problems.Part of the problem with the Y-Blocks "back in the day" and the reason we sold those top oiler kits is because of non-detergent oils gunking up an engine.When I raced Y-blocks in stock cars a lot of the donor motors we got to build were full of waxy sludge clear up to the valley cover.If i could still buy it over the counter I would still be using Wynn's Friction Proofing additive,that was good stuff.

 

IMO, if its a rebuild that you've a ton invested in, then I'd shell out for amsoil or whatever high end oil brand is trying to cater to our market.
If its just a nice old running engine,your average conventional should work just fine. This isn't a monster, its just a little 239, that were on borrowed time since new.

 

The bottom line is, if you have an old engine that has been running for years, almost any oil will do. If you have all new parts, and new valve springs, (read higher performance than stock) you need at least 1000 PPM zinc. Several years ago Old Cars Weekly had an article written by a guy with letters after his name. They determined that 1000 PPM zinc was required in a flat tappet cam engine. If your engine is a fresh overhaul, the extra detergents in diesel oil wont hurt anyting. I have a 312 down right now originally built in 1999. Clean as the day I put in together back then. It was been driven in warm weather, all over the US. Beat on, drag raced, and it has made several one mile runs at Bonneville. It got new rings and the same bearings and goes back in as soon as my tired old body can do it.

 

Ole Don...somehow I don't think you're that old. I gotta' say..this site has been the best thing for us "green" builders. I would probably spend more time scratching my head if it wasn't for it.