James:
A pre-lube system will undoubtedly cut engine wear - but I have
no idea about the payback (if any) and whether or not any of us will
keep our cars long enough to reap the benefits.
The fact that no OEM has such a system may tell us something -
perhaps the payback is small, or perhaps the OEMs are simply too cheap
to install them. I know that the OEM solution to startup engine wear has
been anti-drain back valves and low viscosity oil that circulates
quickly on startup.
Speaking strictly from intuition, I would say that the spin-on
oil filter conversion is probably a good step in this direction, as the
oil does not drain out of the filter, reducing the amount of time the
engine operates without oil at startup. This may well get you most of
the pre-lube benefits for a lot less cost. Dunno. <shrug>
I can offer an anecdote relating to this. I had a 19840 Fiero at
one point (poor substitute for a LBC, but I digress). I had to be very
careful that I used an oil filter with an anti drain back valve in it.
If the filter did not have one, there was a horrible noise at startup in
the morning as the crank rattled around in the main bearings. The
reference books in the auto parts stores were usually wrong (no drain
back valve) and the quick lube oil places would try use filters with no
valve. The OEM filter had one - so I got very fussy with quick lube
people and auto parts counter people when buying filters.
FYI, some OEMs put the valve in the side of the block, but many
also use a filter with an anti-drain back valve. They both work.
The point of the story is that my Fiero amply illustrated the
oil starved nature of a cold startup, and the effectiveness of
anti-drain back valves as a solution to the startup lubrication problem.
It may be that a spin on filter with an anti-drain back valve is all you
need to reduce engine wear to a minimum - and a pre-lube system would be
gilding the lily.
Vance
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-6pack@Autox.Team.Net [mailto:owner-6pack@Autox.Team.Net] On
Behalf Of JHMDDS@aol.com
Sent: November 02, 2007 8:48 AM
To: 6pack@autox.team.net; spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: [6pack] Engine Preluber
With all the threads lately about engine oil, I was wondering what the
group
might think about an engine preluber?
Thanks,
James '75 Tr6 and "66 Spitfire
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