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zinc in oil #813726
09/25/10 09:45 AM
09/25/10 09:45 AM
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prairiechicken1 Offline OP
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Because of the reformulation of motor oil and removal of the zinc, article popular mechanics October,are you adding zinc to your motor oil? They say without cams will wear excessively in the muscle motors

Re: zinc in oil [Re: prairiechicken1] #813727
09/25/10 10:33 AM
09/25/10 10:33 AM
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Junky Offline
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There have been several threads on this topic. Here's one of several threads. Or do a search.


2010 Black Challenger SE <> 3.5 V6
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Re: zinc in oil [Re: Junky] #813728
09/25/10 11:54 AM
09/25/10 11:54 AM
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South-Central (Sebring), FL
Commando1 Offline
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Quote:

There have been several threads on this topic. Here's one of several threads. Or do a search.




Unbelievable. My head spun after reading this:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2023613#Post2023613

Re: zinc in oil [Re: prairiechicken1] #813729
09/25/10 12:12 PM
09/25/10 12:12 PM
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Blairsden, CA
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Triggerfish Offline
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Junky attached a good thread for you to check out. www.bobistheoilguy.com has a lot of good info on oils & their properties, etc. I recently went thru the headache & expense of a flattened cam, due to poor oil lubricity & highly recommend you do some oil research if you have a solid flat tappet cam. I had a hi volume Carter pump on my hemi & repop pushrod. After hard starting problems & vapor lock issues, I installed a new Eddy mech pump & hemi return line w/ vapor separator, thinking I had a bad pump. I was using Valvoline VR1, which supposedly has hi zinc & phosphorous content but discovered the pushrod end was chewed up pretty bad & sent lot of metal thru the motor. I've been told the repop pushrods are junk & only the real Mopar pushrods have hardened tips. I haven't checked out the other lobes on the Bullet cam yet, but the hemi's down on power, but that could be due to a hairline crack in he #5 spark plug hole. But the fact that the pushrod was eaten up tells me the VR1 couldn't handle hi pump spring pressures. I switched to Joe Gibbs Hot Rod oil & like it. Due to EPA restrictions, even the best oils now have reduced zinc & phosphorous levels, so a zinc additive may be a good thing for you to add, but some oil gurus say additives compromise the orig formula of the oil, which hurts its lubricity & longevity, etc. I've talked to Brad Penn reps(formerly Kendall GT 1) & liked their oils, but its hard to get. Recently, Joe Gibbs Hot Rod oil was highly recommended, so I'm using it, but at $8 a qt, oil changes are expensive. If you have a flat tappet solid cam, research that website & it should help you make a good choice.

Re: zinc in oil [Re: prairiechicken1] #813730
09/25/10 12:36 PM
09/25/10 12:36 PM
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Commando1 Offline
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I heard an engineer once say that you should toss in a small bottle of Head & Shoulders and it will outperform any additive being pimped out there, (something about the anti-dandruff secret ingredient is some metal).
He goes to trade shows to their demo booths and tries to bust their myth.

Gotta love the guy for doing something he believes in.

Last edited by Commando1; 09/25/10 12:38 PM.
Re: zinc in oil [Re: Commando1] #813731
09/26/10 01:20 AM
09/26/10 01:20 AM
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Junky Offline
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FWIW, you can add too much zinc.

The guy that owns the local speed shop in my area said that 15-40 Delo plus a bottle of Redline zinc additive would be plenty good for breaking in my cam. Just telling ya what he said.

People over think this "zinc" stuff. If the valve springs are stock or the mild ones such as the Comp Cam springs for say the XE272H cam, 15-40 Delo or Shell Rotella T will work just fine. But add the additive for the break in. Just saying.

Now, if you're running a big honkin' cam and some big gun valve springs, like dual springs or beefy bee hive springs, then run an oil with more zinc such as racing oil, or something similar and maybe an additive. But remember, you can over do the zinc thing.


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Re: zinc in oil [Re: Commando1] #813732
09/26/10 01:24 AM
09/26/10 01:24 AM
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Florida STAYcation
dIc dOc Deity ! Offline
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Quote:



toss in a small bottle of Head & Shoulders and it will outperform any additive being pimped out there






Head and Shoulders !

SURE makes the sheep's "do" look good though

Hey ....what is that hi-zinc code on the oil container?

Re: zinc in oil [Re: dIc dOc Deity !] #813733
09/26/10 03:22 AM
09/26/10 03:22 AM
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Nampa, ID
None2Slow Offline
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I had read somewhere that Shell Rotella T is backing the zinc down as well. ANy truth to this? For what a bottle of additive costs compared to a rebuild, I'll keep my peace of mind until I hear otherwise.

Re: zinc in oil [Re: None2Slow] #813734
09/26/10 06:55 AM
09/26/10 06:55 AM
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ahy Offline
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From mosts with tests, Rotella T and all the latest spec diesel oils have less Zinc than before... but still a lot more than car oil and enough for a moderate flat tappet cam.

Re: zinc in oil [Re: Junky] #813735
09/26/10 08:16 AM
09/26/10 08:16 AM
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Florida
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Quote:

FWIW, you can add too much zinc.

The guy that owns the local speed shop in my area said that 15-40 Delo plus a bottle of Redline zinc additive would be plenty good for breaking in my cam. Just telling ya what he said.

People over think this "zinc" stuff. If the valve springs are stock or the mild ones such as the Comp Cam springs for say the XE272H cam, 15-40 Delo or Shell Rotella T will work just fine. But add the additive for the break in. Just saying.

Now, if you're running a big honkin' cam and some big gun valve springs, like dual springs or beefy bee hive springs, then run an oil with more zinc such as racing oil, or something similar and maybe an additive. But remember, you can over do the zinc thing.





These days it would be best to lean towards a little too much than not quite enough. The metal quality of cams and lifters has not been consistent.

Re: zinc in oil [Re: None2Slow] #813736
09/26/10 09:19 AM
09/26/10 09:19 AM
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Junky Offline
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Quote:

I had read somewhere that Shell Rotella T is backing the zinc down as well. ANy truth to this? For what a bottle of additive costs compared to a rebuild, I'll keep my peace of mind until I hear otherwise.



Well, the heavy duty (diesel all fleet) oils aren't there "yet". They still have 1100 to 1200 ppm zinc, according to several oil analysis posted on Bob Is The Oil Guy's web site. Yes there's talk that zinc will be lowered even more, but we won't know until they lower it, if they do.

1100 to 1200 ppm zinc is plenty of zinc for our stock to mild street cruiser. If anyone isn't happy with that amount then add in some zinc additive or buy the more expensive race oils, or the expensive "muscle car oils" coming out on the market.

Also, today's oils are far superior to the oils we ran back in the day when our muscle cars were new. Current oil blends are much better at lubricating... The older oils had to rely more on zinc/phosphorous for our flat tappet cams.

I'm just sharing what I've learned from lots of reading myself, looking over oil analysis on BITOG's web site and asking questions.

Happy motoring.


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Re: zinc in oil [Re: prairiechicken1] #813737
09/26/10 09:34 AM
09/26/10 09:34 AM
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BLACKHEMIRR Offline
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I use the Mobil 1 "High Mileage" 10W-40 in all of my engines. Their high mileage oils are API SL (not the low zinc SM), and I've never had a cam issue. My 440 has over 10K miles on it since I put it together. It has the Mopar .484 hyd cam and the 933 springs (320 lbs open pressure), aftermarket 3/8" pushrods, and the old factory adjustable iron rockers. I recently replaced the intake gasket, so I took a look at the cam and lifters. They were perfect. I used the moly paste on the cam to break it in and have used nothing but high mileage 10W-40 Mobil 1. Seems to be fine to me, and you can get it anywhere.

Re: zinc in oil [Re: BLACKHEMIRR] #813738
09/26/10 10:09 AM
09/26/10 10:09 AM
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Junky Offline
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If my memory serves me right the High Mileage oils have about 900 ppm zinc. These current oil blends have other lubricating ingredients that work well with the flat tappet cam.


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Re: zinc in oil [Re: prairiechicken1] #813739
09/26/10 01:35 PM
09/26/10 01:35 PM
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Marlboro, NY, USA
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I researched the hell outta this for an article in a recent issue of MA.

The ONLY readily available oil I found with 1200 PPM of zinc (agreed, generally, to be the ideal percentage for flat-tappet engines) is Mobil 1 full syth 15W50.

Rick

Re: zinc in oil [Re: Rick_Ehrenberg] #813740
09/26/10 04:56 PM
09/26/10 04:56 PM
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Blair County,PA
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Quote:

I researched the hell outta this for an article in a recent issue of MA.

The ONLY readily available oil I found with 1200 PPM of zinc (agreed, generally, to be the ideal percentage for flat-tappet engines) is Mobil 1 full syth 15W50.

Rick




This is not that hard to find and a lot less expensive.Read the Zinc content.

6218168-0010.jpg (68 downloads)
Re: zinc in oil [Re: 62maxwgn] #813741
09/27/10 12:19 AM
09/27/10 12:19 AM
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Badham Co.
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Y3 70 BEE Offline
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Wow this has been going on for long time. Watch at 5:37 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j22apcmtWKs

Re: zinc in oil [Re: Commando1] #813742
09/27/10 12:40 AM
09/27/10 12:40 AM
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Quote:



you should toss in a small bottle of Head & Shoulders and it will outperform any additive being pimped out there, (something about the anti-dandruff secret ingredient is some metal).






NOW I know where he came up with this ...

The cRaZyOlDcOoT and him were sharing a fattie and came-up with this "tech" ! ... ..







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