ZDDP Oil Additives

[TobyB]

Ah, yes, but if you have a new engine, the synthetic doesn't play well with ring sealing.

And sure, now you can buy a good- quality dino break- in oil, so why not?

Back when this first happened, that was harder (circa 2006, I seem to remember)
when they were just taking out the zddp and not saying anything about it.

t

[ForcedFirebird]

i would buy breakin oil over an additive. the breakin oil hopefully has everything designed to work together. slapping a bottle of ZDDP in a "random oil" in my opinion is not going to work as well albeit better than nothing

Exactly.

Or, just use M1 15w50, cause it works well without another $15 in additives :p

and again, but I agree, not best for break in.

It's really not that difficult. Avoid synthetic for ring break-in (I have not had any issues breaking in cams on synthetic with adequate zddp). Just is very disheartening to put a nice new shiny cam in your car (m20, or any flat tappet/solid rocker etc) and wonder why you have a strange miss a few months later. People can tell me all they want about what they read on the internet, or was told by "someone" how/what to do - BUT - nothing beats personal experience.

Just last year, had to replace a cam in a built Ford 400 motor in my neighbors truck (freshly restored '78 F250 4x4 with a crate 351m), number one lobe was wiped so bad after just a few thousand miles, the lobe was basically non-existent. He brought it to another mechanic who shaved the rocker pedestal down to compensate, seeing it is a non-adjustable rocker setup - this other "mechanic" thought the lash may heve been off. That lasted a few weeks until he brought the truck into our shop. Didn't take us long to diagnose what happened, so he not only had to pay for a new cam/install, he also had to buy a new rocker arm because someone put a band-aid on it. Simple removal of the valve covers while running showed the rocker was hardly moving at all.

Before anyone says "that's a Ford engine" - it doesn't matter. Typical cam buckets (lifter, whatever you call them) and other modern roller cam motors don't need zddp, because, the surfaces are not two hardened objects rubbing directly together, and wear together as a unit. Old technology that used outdated oil when built need to be treated as such, and it's a simple factor - most over the counter oils that are fine for modern engines are not good for engines that were build before these changes. This also works in reverse. Most modern motors have tighter tolerances to ward off oil consumption typically use thinner oils, with almost no zddp, to pass strict emissions standards.

For a simple comparison, would you run leaded fuel in your e30? ;)

Take what I say with a grain of salt, but some of us have been driving and building cars since/before e30's were still fairly new (or new) cars.