One thing to remember is that synthetic oils prevent wear. Which means it will deter wear on surfaces that require break in. I worked for Mobil for 18 years. It was never recommended for break in purposes. I would run a regular high quality oil with zinc additive for first 500 miles or so. Maybe even for follow up oil change, before I would switch over to synthetic oil.

Even 5 seconds is a long time. That's why priming the pump with a drill should be considered as part of the break-in process..

Yep. The dude's a "Mechanical Engineer" (which is evidently a proper noun), not a tribologist. Take what he says with a grain of salt. Regardless of what he says, ZDDP is a good oil additive and oils with high ZDDP-content should be used during engine and cam break-in. Years ago, we ran some tests to see how much ZDDP some commonly-used oils had in them. The results are posted here.

That's an older list so a lot of those levels might be less now depending on the intended application of the oil.

The best way to KNOW what the zinc and phosphorus levels are in a particular oil is to buy a quart and head down to the nearest Kenworth type dealer, buy an oil sample kit and pour some oil in it and send it off. Costs about $25 +/-.

Bobistheoilguy is a good site to look at new and used oil analysis reports. Most of the 15w40 diesel oils are still in the 1000 ppm range on both. The 5w40 diesel synthetics seem to have closer to 1100 ppm than the conventional oils on reports I've seen which I found a little odd.

Kevin

When you say "blindly" you are taking just as strong position in the other direction. I have reviewed him for 2 years and have seen plenty of criticism/and positivity...and I think He knows his stuff. But that is not the point her. That is why I said to consider it and research it, but just because other sites may bad mouth him, does not make him more/less credible.

I find his rankings of oils intriguing and I had issues with Royal Purple and cams as what led me to start looking into this a few years back. I am not selling anything, but merely stating it is "worth a read" at the 540ratguy blog and oil rankings.

Just because you said: " Regardless of what he says, ZDDP is a good oil additive and oils with high ZDDP-content should be used during engine and cam break-in" That unfortunately does not make it so in the other direction. His PSI test shows that when you add ZDDP to some oils it wrecks them and makes them worthless. Some oils with a high amount of Zinc performed well on his list.

You went to great efforts to dog him but not disproven his testing procedures. Again I say an interesting read for those interested in engine oil from a guy doing some exgensive testing and just reporting what he finds.

Thanks

Some of what the guy says is true, some of it is garbage. As I've said before, the main two issues that I have with his tests and results are:

1. He doesn't provide any uncertainties anywhere. Seriously, numbers without uncertainties are meaningless. If you don't believe me, I'll sell you my 100,000,000 hp 2002 Ram for $100,000 cash (note: +/- 99,999,775 hp). You never know, it could have 199,999,775 hp and be a good deal...

2. The other problem is this statement:
"The ppm (parts per million) quantities of zinc, phosphorus, moly and in some cases titanium, shown in the ranking list below, are taken directly from the Lab Reports that came back from the Professional Lab 'ALS Tribology' in Sparks, Nevada. Some oils have MORE ZINC than phosphorus, while other oils have MORE PHOSPHORUS than zinc. It just depends on the particular oil's formulation. Either way, the numbers below are correct and are NOT typos."
The ppm data are mass fractions. Because zinc is ONLY added to oils in the form of ZDDPs (while the phosphorus in oils can be from a variety of molecules) and because ZDDPs always have a 2:1 phosphorus atom to zinc atom ratio, the phosphorus to zinc ppm ratios should never be less than [(30.97*2)/65.39]=0.947. It's pretty basic chemistry. If you take a look at his measurements for "5W30 Joe Gibbs Driven LS30 Performance Motor Oil, synthetic," for example, you can see that the ratio is 1496/1610=0.929. What does this mean? That his data (or the data that he got from ALS Tribology) has some really high uncertainties.

You could ask him. He responds to questions. I think the PSI testing he does of the oils is fascinating and shows how oils lubricate under pressure. Regardless, I am going to switch to Amsoil 5w-30 signature Series oils in all my Mopar's.

Have you been able to find any ZDDP numbers for Amsoil Signature Series oils? Their Dominator, Z-Rod & others have high ZDDP content, but I've been under the impression that their Signature Series have considerably less because it's designed for newer vehicles with catalytic converters. Coincidentally, many have roller cams as well. Zinc & phosphorous have a negative affect on catalytic converter systems.

Exactly. It is harmful to converters and he warns about that. He also discusses use of Zinc and all the myths and hype it brings. He tested a lot of oils adding zinc and it made the oil a lot less effective. He will recommend you use for example--the Valvoline Hi Mileage full synthetic 5w-30 over their Valvoline racing oil with more zinc, etc...I have asked him things on his blog and will get back to you within hours typically Just be nice when asking the question Ask him if he has the specs..... A lot of people have gone there to fight with him and he talks about that in his dissertation. 5 quarts of Amsoil Signature series 5w-30 is think is 44.00 at my local auto parts store. He says if you use oils on his top 10 list you won't take out a cam.
I am done...Oil discussion can be tough crowd to work with! .I only mentioned this originally for guys interested in oil like I am.

My flat tappet engines get broken in on Valvoline VR1 and a bottle of the Comp Cams break-in additive. After that they just get Valvoline VR1. No problems yet.

Zippy's rotation test is a must or you are eolling the dice. BUT, if you find a lifter not rotating, put some 500 grit sandpaper in your palm, push the offending lifter base against it and rotate till the shine is gone. Clean, retest. Never lost one yet. This tip came from an engine builder that also raced top alcohol for decades.

Not sure if this is directed at me or not...either way, I'm not trying to be difficult (and I'm genuinely sorry if I came across that way). Like I said - the guy has some good information on his site, and it is definitely worth a look. Even still, some of his advice should be taken with a grain of salt. ZDDP is a proven, effective anti-wear agent. It is beneficial up until around 1800 - 2000 ppm, at which point it can start to cause corrosion inhibitors to become less efficient.
If you're interested in oil, you should check out some (peer-reviewed) tribology articles on the subject, some of which are open-access and can be found via Google Scholar searches.

Same hear as that's just what I do and have always done. Never had a cam wipe on me yet and have always run flat tappet cams. Ron

Oh yea I always make sure my lifters rotate. Good advice from Zippy. Ron

I always make sure my lifters are smooth in the bores but I never really watched them rotate while the cam was working them. Tomorrow I'm going to stab the cam in and check the centerline then lash the valves. I'm going to mark them and make sure they turn while I set the lash. My last cam was the only one I ever lost and from what I've read on here my old springs were to firm. So I went with the springs recommended by Howard's tech line support and I'm following their break in procedure to the letter with their break in lube.
I want to be ready for the NSS race at Dragway 42 fathers day weekend

Gus

Just some thoughts?

540rat has made some very questionable statements on the SCTA site, and "mechanical engineer" also includes people who design poured concrete dams.

Does anyone here believe that the gauge pressure reflects the condition at every journal in the engine? Crank journals receive (something like) gauge pressure, but it's multiplied perhaps 5 to 10 times by journal rotation (the hydrodynamic wedge) - larger journal have more local oil pressure than smaller in direct proportion to their OD: a 3.000" main is 20% higher than a 2.500". "Dipper" rods (lawn mowers, older automotive, pre-1953 Chevy L6) have NO oil pressure. The low rubbing speed of a cam lobe vs. tappet makes this factor very small...

Difficult to do but interesting to contemplate:
The lifter gallery is most commonly fed in line with a gang drill. What if the entry to each tappet bore was instead tangential (intersecting the circumference, not aimed at the center) to the tappet OD, and the tappet body has small curved directional recesses? Every time the tappet was unloaded, the oil pressure would tend to rotate it. Loose lash during break-in would insure rotation...