On Wed, 31 Jan 2007, Mike Pisani wrote:
> Thanks to all who shared their wisdom on the modern
> engine oil, especially Kai, Robert and John. Before
> reading Kai's posting on Wishbone Classics, I bought
> Castrol HD-30 to use as my break-in oil with a new
> GP-2 cam. My understanding is that this Castrol has a
> good amount of the zinc and a few other additives as
> well. Does this sound correct?
The answer is: what is the API code on the container? If it's API-SJ or
higher (current is SM) then the oil has lower ZDDP. Period. The only off
the shelf stuff "like the old stuff" is specialty oil with API-SG rating.
I'm not sure about API-SH, haven't read any articles on it. SJ or higher
oils seem to have been where the "problems" started.
Other than the existing API-SG stuff, the older Diesel oils (like
Rotella-T) had more ZDDP, but the formulas are getting changed to reduce
the zinc (and some other metals) according to EPA mandate, at least
that's my conclusion from some reading on the topic.
That said - specialty oils, like racing oil and motorcycle oil that have
an API-SG rating are what you want. It costs more, but it's evident that a
cost-justification can be made. $50 per oil change for 10 years is def.
less $$$ than replacing the cam every 5000 miles.
I was only half-joking about the roller cam. But absent a roller cam
design or a retrofit to a modern OHC with modern oiling, RIGHT NOW, "we"
need to look at these specialty oils... It was also posted to this list
that STP and some other oil "fortifiers" have ZDDP, I have no idea how
those work in our engines.
> Thanks,
> Mike
> '69 TR6
regards,
rml
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