What's the best oil to run in our old motors? What's a good break in oil? Does it need to be high in Zinc, Someone said Diesel oil was good because of the zinc and it was cheaper

Thoughts?

I use Brad Penn or now Penn1 green oil. Break in 30w
Bob

The amount of zinc in diesel oil has been reduced over the last few years

Was a Brad Penn fan until they changed the formula now I only use Joe Gibbs racing oil. They have a nice formula for break in that you can leave in for a few hundred miles to insure a good break in. Then you can replace it with their Hot Rod oil designed for flat tappet cams.

Gus

I heard Joe Gibbs is good also.
And VR1 valvoline
Bob

I am now using the Gibbs oil as well. Had my 440 dynoed and that is what the engine builder recommended to me.

BR40 for break in and GR5 afterwards.

I also chose their GL-4 gear oil for m 18 spline trans.

Link

I've used the Gibbs and Lucas oils in FT & race engines, both have been fine.
Local circle-track engine guru switched from Gibbs to Lucas, saying it tests more consistently.
He's currently testing VR1's oil.

For my old stuff with a flat tappet I have been using the Lucas hot rod oil on my last few oil changes. I have also used Valvoline VR1 in the past.
I can`t remember what I used for break in oil.

I run the Shell RotellaT 15W-40 in my gas and diesels.

Not in Shell Rotella.

You might want to research JR1 Racing Oils. Quite a few NHRA and IHRA drag racers use their products.

It has actually but is still over 1000 ppm on the last oil analysis I saw. Bobistheoilguy usually has fairly current reports in their heavy duty engine oil forum.

If you really want to know, go to Walmart and buy a quart of Rotella and for comparison, a quart of the store brand 15w40 and then go to a Kenworth or other heavy truck dealer and purchase two oil analysis kits and send in a sample of each. Should cost you about $50 total +/- and then you KNOW what you're getting. Unless you are approaching roller spring pressures, anything in the 1000 ppm will be fine. Chances are the Walmart brand will test as good or better than the Rotella.

Kevin

Here's an analysis of Rotella T5 15w40 non synthetic I found on Bobistheoilguy from February this year.

Kevin

Here's a 10w30 T5 Rotella.

Kevin

I just received my answer direct from shell. Here is what I was told.

Case No: 00116431
Enquiry: Rotella t
Response:

Hello,

Trust you are well. We have not reduced the zinc content of our Rotella Oils -all of the Rotella Multigrade oils (with the exception of Rotella Multi-vehicle 5W-30) still contains approximately 1200 ppm of zinc and 1100 ppm of phosphorus which is suitable for flat tappet engine application especially those that require high zinc oil.

Hope this helps. Stay safe

The Blackstone analysis confirms that.

Kevin

This is why I run Shell Rotella T6 syn 5W40 in my wet clutch motorcycles that have shim-bucket slider cams. Its JASO-MA2 rating is good for most water cooled bikes. The 15W40 is good for most Air cooled bikes.
Stolen from BITOG, a member on here posted it there.

What is a good number to shoot for as far as zinc content? I see Valvoline 10w30 is 760 for zinc and 690 for phosphorous, Valvoline VR1 10w30 is 1400 for zinc and 1300 for Phosphorous, and Shell Rotella T5 10w30 is 1085 for zinc and 989 for phosphorous. Not a fan of synthetic myself, prefer to stick to conventional. Looks like T5 is synthetic. Currently using VR1, but shell seems cheaper.

Don’t waste money on those speciality oils, get some Lucas break-in additive and the Walmart oil.
1/3 of a bottle, and a oil change will cost you <$20 including filter.

There are potential problems with using zinc additives... how do you ensure that it's fully mixed before starting the engine?

I could see several seconds (or minutes) before the bottle is completely mixed with the 5-8 quarts of oil and has at least 1000 ppm throughout, even if you pour it in first.
Meanwhile, what's happening to your cam/lifter interface?