Prolube oil additive

[EatDart]

Merry Christmas folks!
Question for y’all. Have any of you ever used Prolube engine oil additive with you small blocks? Any recommendations?

 

[EatDart]

For a 66 with 273ci thy is..

 

[Plymouth 65]

You'll get many opinions for and against oil additives. I've never used that particular one but have used the Trickflow additive without issue. JMO 65

 

[Newbomb Turk]

IMO if your oil needs an additive you need to buy a better oil.

 

[melcardona]

IMO if your oil needs an additive you need to buy a better oil.

words of wisdom well said.................back in the 92 i helped out a friend who had a shop ..he was a trained race engine mechanic..who was getting into daily driver repair....back then what i understood was...never use q state or penz..............to much paraffin......these oils loved to burn on top....after giving mr parr a hand for a wk to get caught up on his cust work load.........he schooled me on engineering/chemistry facts that the nascar/nhra teams/owners all knew.........there was only 1 oil co spending millions on getting it right.......valvoline.......and how many million dollar race co use valvoline ..mr parr said all of them....even those who had paid endorsements of other oil co.......of course everyone has there opinion....when the pro lube gas bag said.........oh you dont need zink addative in any oil................hummm.....passs.........

 

[Bewy]

Yes, buy the oil with the correct additives already added. Adding an additive might actually reduce the oil's capability. Playing Russian Roulette [ Putin doesn't play fair....] doesn't pay.

 

[EatDart]

I use V1 Racing with zinc

 

[EatDart]

Thanks everyone!

 

[4spdragtop]

I have used Rotelle T4 15/40 forever with Lucas zinc additive. NEVER an issue.

 

[340six]

 

[mopowers]

I have used Rotelle T4 15/40 forever with Lucas zinc additive. NEVER an issue.

I don't use the stuff, but I saw the other day Advance Autoparts had Rotella 10-30 for like $2-3 a gal on clearance. You should see if the 15-40 is the same price.

 

[66fs]

I have rebuilt a lot of engines. I used good oil from the start and never had a problem. I use Valvoline VR1 in all my personal engines, except the 5.7 Hemis. There are other good oils out there, just make sure that 273 has zinc in the oil for the flat tappets.

 

[RLF Cuda]

I formulated Delo 400 for Chevron in the 1980's and '90's. I like heavy duty diesel engine oils like Delo and Shell Rotella T as they have the right level of Zinc Dithiophosphate needed for cam wear protection. I ran Delo in my '66 426 Hemi, '67 383 Formula S, '70 383 Challenger R/T and the 340 Formula S I still have, all with no issues. Heavy Duty Diesel Engine Oil has much higher levels of dispersant and detergent to keep diesel soot suspended, so it will keep your engine cleaner and especially keep the ring pack clean. The rest of wear protection is from viscosity and SAE 15W-40 is much like 10W-40, so it will work well in most older engines with no issues. The 15W just means that the oil will allow starting down to -15°C (5°F) and pump at -20°C (-4°F). Good enough for 99.9% of applications.

 

[Newbomb Turk]

I formulated Delo 400 for Chevron in the 1980's and '90's. I like heavy duty diesel engine oils like Delo and Shell Rotella T as they have the right level of Zinc Dithiophosphate needed for cam wear protection. I ran Delo in my '66 426 Hemi, '67 383 Formula S, '70 383 Challenger R/T and the 340 Formula S I still have, all with no issues. Heavy Duty Diesel Engine Oil has much higher levels of dispersant and detergent to keep diesel soot suspended, so it will keep your engine cleaner and especially keep the ring pack clean. The rest of wear protection is from viscosity and SAE 15W-40 is much like 10W-40, so it will work well in most older engines with no issues. The 15W just means that the oil will allow starting down to -15°C (5°F) and pump at -20°C (-4°F). Good enough for 99.9% of applications.

You are the only tribologist I know that says to run a diesel oil in a gas engine.

No way on earth would I do it and I don’t know any other tribologists but you saying it.

More zinc is not more better.

All engine oils have zinc.

Zinc is a consumable in the oil.

That’s engine oils 101.

 

[RLF Cuda]

Back in the day when Passenger Car oils were formulated to work with slider follower cams, they had 12 millimoles/kg ZnDTP. Engine manufacturers didn't like ZnDTP as the phosphorus poisoned catalytic converters. Current formulas have about 8 mm/kg ZnDTP. And OEM's were transitioning to roller followers to reduce engine friction so ZnDTP was not as critical. However, Heavy Duty Diesel engine oils had to have 12 mm/kg ZnDTP to meet one specific engine test for roller follower wear (GM engine) and still need 12 mm/kg ZnDTP to pass the test. So, HDDEO's still work with slider follower gasoline engines. There are provisions in the API classification system that allow HDDEO's to also claim API SH through SK oils. New API SN and later oils have low Zn levels and also are formulated to not foul Direct Injection engines. However, lower Zn levels are also leading to timing chain wear issues, especially with very long DOHC engines running a single chain.
Everything is a tradeoff. But I stand by the use of HDDEO in older gasoline engines.

And yes, as you say, ZnDTP is consumable. That and contamination are the reasons one needs to change oil to refresh the additives and remove sludge and varnish precursors. More than 90% of engine deposits come from unburned hydrocarbons from combustion, so draining oil is the only way to remove these deposit precursors. HDDEO will keep them in suspension and also keep them from forming deposits better than PCMO's (Passenger Car Motor Oils).
When you actually know what goes into an oil formulation, this all makes sense. Yes, there are oils formulated for specific applications including racing and motorcycle engines, but HDDEO will work in most instances, especially with say 3000-mile drain intervals.

 

[MOPAROFFICIAL]

I use V1 Racing with zinc

It works... but it is not a great oil by any means. Put some heat into it.. and the viscosity goes bye bye

 

[RLF Cuda]

Viscosity is a LOG LOG function of temperature. Put temperature to any oil and the viscosity drops. SAE 40 has higher viscosity than SAE 30 at any temperature. What is more important is shear stability which is related to the Viscosity Index Improver used to make a single grade oil into a multigrade oil. Lower quality oils will shear out of grade quicker than higher quality oils. But this is hard to determine without testing. HDDEO's are more often made with very stable VII's as they are designed to be used in truck engines with 15,000 mile drain intervals, far exceeding passenger car drain intervals. When I was formulating Delo 400, we tested it in trucks for 2 million miles at 15K oil change intervals and tested for viscosity being still in grade at the oil drain point. Engine life alone speaks for the quality of the oil, at least in that application. Right now, I trust Shell Rotella and Delo to not shear out of grade during any PCMO application and reasonable drain interval

Here is a paper discussing the temperature effect on viscosity: https://www.lube-media.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Lube-Tech093-ViscosityBlendingEquations.pdf

 

[Two Time Signet]

Several above have covered it well. Calcium-based detergents, and to some extent magnesium ones, compete with zinc (ZDDP) in motor oil by binding to the same metal surfaces, trying to clean them, and potentially washing away the protective zinc film which from what I understand led to quite a few failures associated with lifters and cams.