Need help with oil options

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1972orangebeast

1972orangebeast

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Ok I'll start off with what's going on, I put a new cam and lifters in my 340 last year, I broke the motor in with Lucas oil zinc additive and 30w rotella, I drove the car maybe 500 miles, had a couple issues and come to find out the rings were all bad. I built a fresh 360, just had the crank, rods, pistons balanced, new rings and all new bearings on the bottom end, I reused my top end because it was fine. Now I know I don't need to break the cam in but I have all the other bearings and rings to break in. My issue is do I use the same oil and additive I did before and run it with zinc and rotella? Or I was wanting to switch to like royal purple synthetic that has extra zinc in the oil, or maybe another brand. If I switch oil types should I break it in differently? Or should I not go synthetic? This car is a street car prob won't see track, long cruises and have some fun. Opinions please
 
With a different block, I would go through the break-in process again. Some may consider it "splitting hairs", but it is possible for the lifter bores to be off from the previous block which can change the wear characteristics a bit. Whether or not it's enough to matter depends on the person. I tend to be extra cautious and not take any chances. You have to "break-in" the rest of the engine anyway.

As for what oil to use, changing brands shouldn't matter as long as it's a quality oil with the proper additives. It's usually better to use an oil with the zinc already in it rather than playing chemist. It wouldn't hurt to confirm what the current Rotella oils have for zinc. These days you can't take it for granted because most shelf oils don't advertise it and have had the content reduced over the years, including diesel oils.

Personally, I use Amsoil Dominator 5w-20 in my race car, but they have a wide variety of oils and viscosities to choose from. They also have their own break-in oil.

[ame]http://www.amsoil.com/techservicesbulletin/motoroil/tsb%20mo-2007-08-08%20flat%20tappet.pdf[/ame]

www.amsoil.com
 
Rotella T 15-40 has 1200ppm of zinc, and as far as I found out it's the only Rotella that does anymore.
 
I picked up Lucas break in oil to start with, what do you guys recommend after that? Synthetic vs non? Weight recommendations, I live in ohio , no winter driving just spring to fall
 
The more times goes on, the more I find, oil is oil, and synthetic likes to leak, although 50/50 is fun too. You can buy the hype, but they all last just the same, and come from the same a**hole in the ground.

The more important aspect is change intervals, keeping it fresh. Try this, wit new fresh oil, take and wipe the dipstick with your thumb and forefinger, rub them together, feel that slide? That's fresh oil, remember it. As time goes on, check your oil, when you feel it loosing that 'slide' and your fingers start gripping. Time to change the oil.
 
Depends on what you want, IMO. I use all synthetic (Mobil 1) not blends.

You should never break in with any synthetic, full or blend; the rings may not seat with that. Just use a good quality petroleum oil. (I like Castrol GTX.) I also don't put any additives in during break in for the same reason; the only thing that goes in besides new petroluem based oil is the can lube.

The reason that I use all synthetic is both from my endurance type racing (rally) experience and also experiences in stock engines on the street.

On street engines, the wear that I have seen on a total of 4 mopar engines (slant 6 and 3.5L V6 and 2 small blocks) has been incredibly low; each engine that I have run on Mobile 1 from nearly new has reached 250k miles and more; I don't know how long they would go because they get sold and I never see the real end of life. Rockers and hydraulic lash adjusters have been all replaced at 200k miles on these engines and they run like brand new motors after that.

On the rally engines, which commonly see 100-150 hard turbocharged miles in an event + cruise miles, the level of oil breakdown is dramatically less for the full synthetic vs a non-synthetic. Non-synthetic oils will be solid black after this hard use, but synthetic will be a light translicent brown.

I have also had oil system failures and one race incident was dramatic: I started losing oil pressure after 2 miles after the leak started, and I had ZERO oil pressure after 4 miles and said "What the hell" and raced the final 2 miles with NO oil pressure, with a little feathering of the throttle. The engine ran perfectly on the Mobil 1 synthetic throughout and after I refilled. I tore down the motor, and I swear to god, the bearings, cam surfaces and bearings, cylinders, and oil pump did not have a scratch on them. This is on an engine that runs around 60-70 peak HP per piston so is not a low internal load engine.

I can't think of better reasons to run full sysnthetic. For some apps, oil is oil is oil but not in my experience in street engines and in my racing apps.
 
X2 !
nm9stheham got it !

I worked at a Chemical Plant where we made synthetic oil, they sold a lot of it to Ryder Truck. Syn oil for Ford transmissions, rear end, and motor. Conventional oil doesn't stand a chance against synthetic. It won't break down. If you could filter it and get the acids back out you could still use it. After a break-in, I always go to synthetic, a ring's best friend. It will end your sludge problem.

Mobile is the best, but pricey, so I use a brand just under that, full syn and not the Walmart brand. Compare what is said about heat. I only change my filter, add some, and dump it once a year. You gotta get it in your head, it's not regular oil. Why waste it ! And Don't use a Fram filter, no check valve.
 
Thanks for all the help, another question after break in I came across this old valvoline racing oil that's 10w30 has added zinc and stuff, heck it even states on front of bottle off-road use only lol....,, anyway would 10w30 be ok for summer in ohio?
 
You have to use a zinc additive if you are running a flat tappet cam. NO exceptions. Use a mineral based break in oil initially and for the first 1000-2000 miles. Using a break in additive with regular oil is to take an unneeded risk. Mineral based oils help the gaskets seat better than a synthetic. You can them switch to a synthetic oil with a zinc additive afterward.

There's no doubt that synthetic oils hold up better than conventional oils. With multi-weight oils, synthetics start out as a base at the thinner weight with additives to increase the viscosity in response to heat. Mineral oils are the opposite, starting out as a more viscous weight with additives to decrease viscosity at lower temperatures.

The problem is that 95 plus percent of engine wear occurs at startup when the engine is cold. Conventional oils quickly lose their low viscosity properties while synthetics preserve cold startup protection.

Engines don't fail because the viscosity is too low, but because it is too high. High viscosity oils increase fuel consumption and are only useful to help reduce oil consumption in engines with loose tolerance valve seals and rings.

If you've rebuilt you engine using modern components, forget 10w-40 and 20w-50. Use a 0w-30 or 5w-30. If you are ruinnng a roller cam and roller lifters, you can forgo to zinc additive.
 
No flat tappet or roller :( just hydraulic, used some Lucas break in oil, and then I'll use that valvoline 10-30 racing oil cause I have enough for 5 changes so......
 
Whatever is on sale, it all does the job, after break-in you don't need zinc additive. Notice yours is the only question on oil? If it were a problem there would be a HUGE problem and our cars would have died a long time ago.
 
1972orangebeast said:
No flat tappet or roller :( just hydraulic, used some Lucas break in oil, and then I'll use that valvoline 10-30 racing oil cause I have enough for 5 changes so......
Click to expand...

Good choice, flat tappet cams need zinc! And the stiffer the valve springs the more you have to make sure you use a racing oil or a zinc additive. VR1 is good oil
 
Thanks for all the info! Yes it's the vr1 stuff so glad I bought the stuff up, I got it like $.50 a qt few years ago, they were discontinuing this line of oil when I worked at an auto parts store! I forgot all about it until I came across it buried under stuff in garage lol
 
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