I'm getting ready to fire up a new little mill with a mild flat tappet cam. I think I'm gonna give bradd penn oil a try (for it's zinc content) and was wondering is the break in oil worth a try or is it overkill.
My daily is a 5.9 Cummins rodnokker. We have the same issues with zinc because the new trucks are running ULSD, catalysts and particulate filters. The new CJ rated diesel oil has the same zinc content as gasoline engine oil. You can still get CI rated diesel oil(with the good additive package) in 5 gallon buckets from your local fleet supplier. Don't trust diesel oil unless it is CI rated. Brad Penn or Joe Gibbs is the other way to go. Rumor has it that Castrol is working up a mix for flat tappet engines, but it's not on the shelves yet. Dan
Valvoline VR-1 NON synthetic race oil. If you read the back, it talks in great detail about its high zinc content, specificly formulated for engines with high spring pressures and flat tappet cams. Good stuff and a bit easier to find than Brad-Penn. Also, STP Blue has a shit load of lifter friendly zinc. I add a bottle every oil change. Plus, its good enough for Richard Petty...... -Abone.
Definitely use some sort of high zinc content oil. I have seen too many flattened cam lobes in the last couple years. Use it for break-in, and keep it up after too. Older engines need it in their diet. If you want to switch to a synthetic, do it after around 500 miles. By then all moving parts are happy together (I switched too early once and the stupid thing never really broke in completely) and you'll experience the benefits of synthetics, and you shouldn't have any extreme wear problems.
I used valvoline racing non-syn also with no trouble. I believe the part # NAPA uses is a 749. I run it all of the time. Dave
are additives any good? i just read about some zinc additive that will bring up regular oil to the old standard. other than that i have heard that rotilla still has the right amount no?
the break in additive is not overkill its good insurance. on new motors i use the one available through gm parts counter the local speed shop guy swears by it, he has been doing it forever....plus i use 5w30 or 10w30 synthetic...forget what people say about no break in with synthetic its a bunch of crap. the light oil insures quick sling of the oil onto the cam.....oh yeah and dont forget to prime the whole system before you fire it....
I just bought a bottle of Lucas Zinc additive( $13. ) Haven't tried yet. I plan to use it in my flathead.
Crane Cams used to recommend General Motors EOS (engine oil supplement) for break-in: http://www.goodwrench.com/PartsAccessories/EngineCareProducts.jsp Should be available at any GM dealer. Crane now makes their own additive. They have some pretty good recommendations for break-in on their website: Correct break-in procedure. After the correct break-in lubricant is applied to the cam and lifters, fill the crankcase with fresh non-synthetic oil. Prime the oil system with a priming tool and an electric drill so that all oil passages and the oil filter are full of oil. Pre-set the ignition timing and prime the fuel system. Fill the cooling system. Start the engine. The engine should start quickly and run between 1500 and 3000 rpm. If the engine will not start, don't continue to crank for long periods, as that is very detrimental to the life of the cam. Check for the cause and correct. The engine should quickly start and be run between 1500 to 3000 rpm. Vary the rpm up and down in this rpm range during the first 15 to 20 minutes, (do not run the engine at a steady rpm). During this break-in time, verify that the pushrods are rotating, as this will show that the lifters are also rotating. If the lifters don't rotate, the cam lobe and lifter will fail. Sometimes you may need to help spin the pushrod to start the rotation process during this break-in procedure.
Avoid the new "CJ-4" rated diesel oils and if you use diesel oil use the "CI-4+/CF/CF-2/SL" rated for pre 2007 diesels the new stuff is intended for the new trucks with particulate filters and cat converters and the zinc content is drastically reduced. The new passenger car engines run roller cam followers and consequently get by on less zinc, and I suspect this as the reason the OEMs went to rollers. The ZDDP is said to shorten the life of a catalytic converter. ZDDP is available as an additive from an Alliance vendor, and I plan to use it, at least for the break in. I'm an Amsoil independant dealer and I plan to use their new "Premium Protection" synthetic oil from startup, with even extra ZDDP additive for the 1st 500 miles. The Premium Protection synthetic has a full load of ZDDP and is available in 10W-40 & 20W-50 viscosities. The Amsoil engineers, in response to a pointed question from me, said synthetic is OK for break in, but likely will take more miles to break in. I'm gonna be running a fairly extreme flat tappet cam for street use, and springs to match, so I plan on also using the new lifters from Comp Cams that have a hole .012" EDM'ed in the face of the lifter to bleed oil out directly in the area of lobr-lifter contact. Dave
just broke in a 318 with a comp cam flat tappet.We used Brad Penn "break in oil" "the green oil". Break in seems to have gone well. But I will say that Brad Penn racing oils are tough to get and we are only about 1 1/2 hour from the Bradford oil refinery.We finaly contacted a sales man that brought out a couple cases
All very good tips here! Regarding wiping out a new cam, I tend to set the valves a little loose for initial fire up and break in. That was how I was showed by an "old timer" about 30 years ago. Bob
Brad Penn is the only oil I use and put in my customers engine. GM does still sell the EOS additive but it's not listed the same anymore. It's a break-in additive now under a new part number.
Better get up to speed on that, they've been taking the zinc out of diesel oil as well... Yep, but some people keep floating the whole Rotella thing out there, most of the Rotella here has been low zinc for a while... yep. It's a break in additive now, but it is still there...
Joe Gibb's has come up with his own break in oil.Everybody at the race teams uses it to break in there race motors.I used it on mine. http://www.joegibbsracingoil.com/
I work at an auto parts store and our rep told us that , yes, all major oil companys must abide by the new restrictions for cats as well as wide band O2 sensors, the loop hole is thier "HIGH MILEAGE" oils, avaliable in limited quanitys as they allow them the hi ZDDP ratings of yesterday. Also the Lucas and other brand additive are a great idea for any new engine as well as a great assembly lube. I used to work at a speed shop and after dealing with cam warranties and questioning start up procedures, a lot of it is, I belive in a combination of initial startup procedure, prelubing ( during assembly and priming) and the choice of motor oil additive. just my 2 cents.....................
It also goes back to assembly. You have to make sure that all of your lifters will spin freely in the bore. If you have one thats tight in the bore it wont spin and it will eat a lobe. I put the assembly paste on the foot of the lifter and cam lobe so it gets traction to spin the lifter with nothing but oil on the sides. You don't want to let it sit around long, and you don't want to wash all of that lube off preoiling. As soon as you see oil up top, drop in the distributor and get it running. A set of valve covers with the tops cut off to watch the pushrods spinning is a good measure too. If they don't rotate you have a problem. I use the 15w40 Rotella CJ-4, and VOAs have shown it to still have 1200 ppm zinc 900 ppm phosphorus and 35 ppm boron, what they call triple protection, so far no troubles. But that doesn't mean there won't be, we are watching it. These are levels that car oil had prior to 1998. On break in, a bottle of EOS is good too. But making sure the lifters spin is the most important thing. You can have pure ZDDP oil and still eat a lobe. My opinion is that lifters and cams were at fault, not the oil. When the OEMs quit using flat-tappets the companies that used to make good lifters and cam blanks either went to making rollers or went out of business. Cheap overseas made lifters made their way into the supply chain and suddenly we have trouble. Johnson, who made the best lifters went out of business, and the void was filled by cheap llifters of poor finish and tolerance. If it was the oil, there would have been failures of engines built prior to 1998-2000, and there wasn't. Another shuck and jive from the cam companies is all it was. I don't know if Johnson even makes good lifters since they came back. I am not buying in to the super oil need. I ran a fleet of OTR trucks on Rotella and the rep I know has assured me that the CJ4oil surpasses the need of any flat tappet or pre 2007 diesel. He wouldn't be saying that to fleet owners and maintenence keepers you do VOA and UOA programs if it wasn't true, you would have a class action suit on your hands in a heartbeat, because it isn't conjecture, the VOA/UOA sheets are fact.
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