Common sense oil & additive for old engines?

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CultClassik

CultClassik

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I'm sure this topic has been beaten to death but...rather than dumping $10 (or more) worth of break in additive each oil change, I had a thought.

When I installed the xe268 cam, I was already running 10w-40 diesel oil which seemed to be fine on the original (RV type I think) cam.

I did the comp cams break in additive, all is well so far.

For long term, I'd rather just use off the shelf 10w-30 and add zinc to it.

Lucas oil makes their break in additive which says it brings zinc level to 5000 PPM when added to 4.5 qts of oil.

Since oils are supposed to be 900 PPM these days...and you only need 1200-1400 PPM (right?) for old flat tappet cam engines (also consider a little higher spring pressure for me anyway, since I'm running comp 901 springs)...wouldn't it make sense to add just 1/4 bottle of this to 5 qts of modern oil? According to my math you'd be at almost 2000 PPM doing this.
 
5000ppm of zinc is a complete waste - and in fact may do more harm than good. 12-1400ppm is ideal (with the same level of phosphorus). Most oils these days don't even come close to 900ppm. The last few oil changes in my car I've used Comp Cams (50/50 synth/dyno) high zinc oil. Bought it in cases from Summit and it was not much more than conventional oil per qt. I use 15w-50 but I know they had 10w-30 or 40 too.
 
This is a good read too.

I've been buying the Edelbrock Syn by Torco when it is on sale at the local Oreilly's.
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$6 ish. I don't think they sell much of it at $10 so it ends up on an end cap every once in awhile on sale.
 
Well for $30 an oil change that doesn't seem too bad! I think the Delvac is ok by itself and I want to say it's only ~14 bucks or so for 5 gallons. Downside is it's 15-40 but it probably doesn't matter much.
 
I believe the best bang for the buck is Rotella 15-40 or 5-40 syn by the gallon. It has 1200-1400 ppm zinc and a great additive pack
 
Might want to check the diesel oil, pretty sure they changed the additive package to accommodate the newer diesels....
 
If you go onto Bob is the oil guy, there are tons of oil samples showing the new Rotella to have high ppm of zinc
 
I just do 5 quarts of castrol full sythetic and add the Edlebrock ZDP additive (sourced from summit racing) each oil change. One ~$12 bottle last's for 3 oil changes.

Easy, cheap, and benifits the whole engine especially on cold startups.
 
believe a roller will solve the issue....just saying....
 
I would read that article posted above...Seems convincing. More zinc or ZDDP is not necessarily better according to the article. These zinc additives seem to be a "buyer beware".
 
Yeah a roller would fix that...everybody around here said don't bother with a roller cam it won't matter on my engine! I strongly believe the EPA should be liable for installing a roller cam in everybody's flat tappet engine....

I saw the VOA for Delvac before I started using it, it was cheap and easy and I wasn't worried about killing the old cam when I dropped the engine in.

Now I'd just like to be able to run 10w30 and not have to spend a ton. And yes, I know that too much zddp is not a good thing, that's another reason I'm saying, add 1/4 bottle of the Lucas stuff to regular oil. Most oils seem to be 700-900 according to the VOAs. I will try it out. If you don't see a post about my car killing a cam lobe then you'll know if worked out ok!

I probably should just buy the fancy "muscle car" oils...I'm probably going to have 2-3 oil changes a year, if that.

Anyway, this was just a random thought I had today since oil change time should be soon after I drive the car a bit with the new cam.
 
mplex2000, just curious to why so many oil changes? How many miles are you driving per year?
 
Mobil1 synthetic 15W-50 has 1200 ppm ZDDP.

I think you will find that, in general, higher viscosity oil will have more zinc. Modern cars, that can't tolerate zinc because of the catalytic converters, are usually spec'ed to use lighter oil for less friction and higher gas mileage -- 10W30, 5W30, down to 0W10. So the oils offered in these weights tend to have very low or no zinc.

I can't see the sense of using an additive except for initial break-in. Just too much hassle, and too expensive. At any rate, break-in should be done using dino oil -- racing oil works fine because you you aren't going to leave it in the engine very long, so the lack of detergents isn't an issue.
 
I really like Mystic oil. I used to be a Rotella guy but had problems with oil usage. When I switched to Mystic I could hear the difference and have had 0 mechanical issues.

You can pick it up at Tractor Supply for $26 for a 2 gallon jug.
 
Quaker State has a new product called DEFY with ZDDP. Got it at Walmart $4.39 quart. Check out their web site for more info. Put it in my 79 360 Chrysler and my 88 318 truck.Was using conventional oil with Lucas break in lube,1/4 pint per oil change. We will see, so good so far.
 
Another great oil you can usual find on sale at auto parts is Valvoline VR1. 10-30. Lots of zinc and can usually pick it up for 5 bucks a quart
 
mvh said:
Mobil1 synthetic 15W-50 has 1200 ppm ZDDP.

I think you will find that, in general, higher viscosity oil will have more zinc. Modern cars, that can't tolerate zinc because of the catalytic converters, are usually spec'ed to use lighter oil for less friction and higher gas mileage -- 10W30, 5W30, down to 0W10. So the oils offered in these weights tend to have very low or no zinc.

I can't see the sense of using an additive except for initial break-in. Just too much hassle, and too expensive. At any rate, break-in should be done using dino oil -- racing oil works fine because you you aren't going to leave it in the engine very long, so the lack of detergents isn't an issue.
Click to expand...


I've been using the 15w50 Mobil-1 in my 69 340 for about 10 years now and love it


[ame]http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Files/Mobil_1_Product_Guide.pdf[/ame]

Here is a chart of the mobil-1 oils
 
I run Chevron Delo and a qaurt of Resilone Zinc additive in my race car and both of my trucks (all three are flat tappit cams).No problems yet ...
 
Don't be lulled into the "roller cams don't need zinc" fairy tail. Contact any of the better suppliers of roller rockers., cams and lifters and see what they recommend. If you don't have catalytic converters on your car run high zinc.
 
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