Quote: The answer is no. Don't use the 10w30 with a flat tappet cam . If the oil container says for Gasoline engines only and has the round sunburst symbol, then it has no zinc additives and is unexceptable to use in engines that do not have roller cams. I know of no 10w30 that still has zinc . Valvoline racing oil has zinc and there may be others too but do some research or you may wear the lobes off of the camshaft, scattering that debris all through your engine .
Also the Shell Rotella that was designed for deisels has the zinc in it and a lot of guys are now running it.
You won't find a reputable engine builder that will install a new cam in an engine that doesn't have an oil with a zinc additive in it. The no zinc problem is what many people attribute all of the new cam failures to in the last few years.
Valvoline has this bulletin http://www.valvoline.com/downloads/2008-003a.pdf dated June 2008 which says basically that they think the zinc in all their regular oils is sufficient but if you want extra the VR1 has about 75% more than their regular oil.
Again, I'm not an expert on any of this but I am trying to make some sense of it. I do have a concern with putting extra additives into an oil not knowing how it will react with the other additives that are already in that oil from the start.
Also the Shell Rotella that was designed for deisels has the zinc in it and a lot of guys are now running it.
