ZDDP in engine oil

[70bigblockdodge]

I can only comment on street use engines, but these folks who use a 15/xx or 20/xx oil make me cringe. The worst wear period for gas engines (except severe duty towing service, police, etc.) is cold startup. Its especially bad for limited use engines where the oil gets to drain off parts. The engineers I ask at Chrysler/ FCA tell me the worst wear occurs at cold startup, so the lighter weight primary number is important unless you live in Texas and use the engine every day.
And yes ZDDP is important for flat tappet engines. Consider that all the domestic OEM's sold ZDDP additives back in the day in their service parts lines, I suspect that they stay emulsified in the oil pretty well and do what they are supposed to do. Engineers hate getting nailed with warranty expense!
BTW, I was a 30 year Chrysler veteran in Service /and Parts (Mopar) including a stint at Mopar Performance.
Mark

So what would your recommendation be for a stock stroke 400 with new bearings and with the high mile cast crank the clearances just come into spec (probably back out of range now) cylinder walls were straight but worn, not out of spec but larger than "the book" would like. Stock oil pump with shim in the spring to go over 55psi and a very shallow small capacity E body pan.
Are you putting 10w whatever in that!
I'm not and especially not at 6200 RPM.
And yeah it's a street car. I may have to drive it to Carlisle this year.
I think I'll live with the extra wear for the 75-100 cold starts a year.

 

[Joseph James]

Can synthetic oil be used? Is there any advantage in an old engine? I see Mobil 1 has a 15/50 for flat tappet engines. I am using Valvoline “hot rod” 20/50 oil supposed to be high zinc and I dump in Lucas zinc additive. New engine I want to make it last long as possible.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

Can synthetic oil be used? Is there any advantage in an old engine? I see Mobil 1 has a 15/50 for flat tappet engines. I am using Valvoline “hot rod” 20/50 oil supposed to be high zinc and I dump in Lucas zinc additive. New engine I want to make it last long as possible.

It's fine, just $$$$. Trick with a old carbureted car is change oil often. Saturating the detergents with contaminates is bad. Gasoline is a terrible fuel and thins the oil on a short trip engine (no chance to boil out the gaaoline, not that it completely leaves the oil but hotter is better to clean your oil.

 

[ayilar]

I have been using Penn Grade 15W40 in Medina, happy with that oil so far (changed it twice already, 5k miles and 2.5 years). At the suggestion of @david hill I bought Valvoline VR1 10W30 for my 1970 TNT 'vert and will be using that oil in that car.

Question: Ming's engine was just rebuilt (head gaskets, new bearings, piston rings, new pistons pressed on the reconditioned rods, crank polished, rotating assembly balanced, block cleaned/bored, heads redone with Lunati springs/hardware). I was wondering if there is a special break-in oil that I ought to be using?

@cbarge @Ripinator @david hill @Davea Lux @furious70 and others?

 

[Davea Lux]

I would break in any engine with a good grade of conventional oil, The VR1 fits that bill and it is a high ZDDP oil, that should insure a good camshaft break in as well. Don't forget to use a quality oil filter as part of the break in process. Run the engine at a variety of PRM ranges for about a half an hour and then change the oil and filter. After that, drive the car the way you would normally use it. I would not use a full synthetic as part of the break in process on a 440.

Dave

 

[furious70]

VR1 is what I use. I do still have some vintage (25 yrs old) odd quarts of oil I use as onsey twoseys as well.

 

[cbarge]

I use conventional oil with STP oil treatment.
Break in the cam, change the oil and replace with the same.
Why spend big money on break in oil that will get dumped anyways?
No issues from here and done many times over.

 

[Ripinator]

I have been using Penn Grade 15W40 in Medina, happy with that oil so far (changed it twice already, 5k miles and 2.5 years). At the suggestion of @david hill I bought Valvoline VR1 10W30 for my 1970 TNT 'vert and will be using that oil in that car.

Question: Ming's engine was just rebuilt (head gaskets, new bearings, piston rings, new pistons pressed on the reconditioned rods, crank polished, rotating assembly balanced, block cleaned/bored, heads redone with Lunati springs/hardware). I was wondering if there is a special break-in oil that I ought to be using?

@cbarge @Ripinator @david hill @Davea Lux @furious70 and others?

Since my new engine has a Comp Cams High Energy cam installed, I used Comp Cams 15W-40 break-in oil. I figgered: it's their cam - therefore, I'll use their break-in oil. Cam break-in went well, and I'm still running that oil, since I have fewer than 400 miles on the new engine. After a few more miles, I'm gonna dump it and fill the crankcase with Penn Grade 15W-40.

 

[ayilar]

Thank you all.

Lunati sells a 10W30 high-zinc oil for break-in, but I can get the Valvoline VR1 10W30 for $6 at O'Reilly -- an amazing price in light of current petroleum product price hikes (e.g., it is half the Lunati price at Summit and 40% less than the Penn Grade 15W40). That will make a big difference (almost $100 with tax) on 2 oil changes, and since the VR1 has gotten very good reviews from most everyone here, I'll go with it.

 

[65CopCar]

Thank you all.

Lunati sells a 10W30 high-zinc oil for break-in, but I can get the Valvoline VR1 10W30 for $6 at O'Reilly -- an amazing price in light of current petroleum product price hikes (e.g., it is half the Lunati price at Summit and 40% less than the Penn Grade 15W40). That will make a big difference (almost $100 with tax) on 2 oil changes, and since the VR1 has gotten very good reviews from most everyone here, I'll go with it.

Well I will be the exception. Can't remember if I lost one or two cams on VR1, but I switched to Driven some years back when I lost 3 cams in a short span. 440 and 383 engines - nothing crazy. Its the old Joe Gibbs oil. Its not just zddp - its the whole package.