By
Keith Ansell, President
Foreign Parts Positively, Inc.
www.ForeignPartsPos itively.com
360-882-3596
Oil is Killing our cars
Part I
About a year ago I read about the reduction of zinc
dithiophosphate (ZDDP) in the oils supplied with API
approval that could affect sliding and high pressure
(EP) friction in our cars. The reduction of these
chemicals in supplied oil was based on the fact that
zinc, manganese and/or phosphates reduce the
effectiveness and eventually damage catalytic
converters and introduce minute amounts of
pollutants into our atmosphere.
A month or so ago I had a member of the Columbia
Gorge MG Club bring a totally failed camshaft and
lifters back to me that had only 900 miles on them!!
I immediately contacted the camshaft re-grinder and
asked how this could happen. They were well aware of
this problem as they were starting to have many
failures of this type. In the past, the lack of a
molybdenum disulfide camshaft assembly lubricant, at
assembly, was about the only thing that could create
this type of problem. My customer has assembled many
engines and had lubricated the camshaft properly and
followed correct break in procedures.
This got me on the phone to Delta Camshaft, one of
our major suppliers. Then the bad news came out:
It’s today’s “modern” API (American Petroleum
Industry) approved oils that are killing our
engines.
Next call: To another major camshaft supplier, both
stock and performance (Crane). They now have an
additive for whatever oil you are using during
break-in so that the camshaft and lifters won’t fail
in an unreasonably short period of time. They also
suggest using a diesel rated oil on flat tappet
engines.
Next call: To a racing oil manufacturer that we use
for the race cars (Redline). Their response: “We are
well aware of the problem and we still use the
correct amounts of those additives in our products”.
They continued to tell me they are not producing API
approved oils so they don’t have to test and comply.
Their oils were NOT the “new, improved and approved”
ones that destroy flat tappet engines! “We just
build the best lubricants possible”. Sounds stupid,
doesn’t it, New-Approved but inferior products, but
it seems to be true for our cars.
To top this off: Our representative from a major
supplier of performance and street engine parts
(EPWI) stopped by to “warn us” of the problem of the
NEW oils on flat tappet engines. This was a call
that the representative was making only because of
this problem to warn their engine builders! “The
reduction of the zinc, manganese and phosphates are
causing very early destruction of cams and
followers”. They are recommending that, for now at
least, there must be a proper oil additive put in
the first oil used on new engines, beyond the
liberal use of molydisulfide assembly lube. They
have been told that the first oil is the time the
additives are needed but remain skeptical that the
first change is all that is necessary. Their
statement: Use diesel rated oils such as Delo or
Rotella that are usually available at auto stores
and gas stations.
This problem is BIG! American Engine Rebuilder's
Association (AERA) Bulletin #TB2333 directly
addresses this problem. I had a short discussion
with their engineer and he agreed with all that I
had been finding.
Next phone call was to a retired engineer from
Clevite, a major bearing and component manufacturer.
First surprise was that he restored older British
Motor bikes. The second surprise was that he was
“VERY” aware of this problem because many of the old
bikes had rectangular tappets that couldn’t rotate
and are having a very large problem with the new
oils. He has written an article for the British Bike
community that verify all the “bad news” we have
been finding.
Comp Cams put out “#225 Tech Bulletin: Flat Tappet
Camshafts”. They have both an assembly lube and an
oil additive. The telling sentence in the bulletin
was “While this additive was originally developed
specifically for break-in protection, subsequent
testing has proven the durability benefits of its
long term use. This special blend of additives
promotes proper break-in and protects against
premature cam and lifter failure by replacing some
of the beneficial ingredients that the oil companies
have been required to remove from the off the–shelf
oil”.
Next question: Now what do we do?
From the camshaft re-grinders (DeltaCam): “Use oils
rated for diesel use”, Delo (Standard Oil product)
was named. About the same price as other quality
petroleum based oils. They are not API formulated
and have the zinc dithiophosphate we need in weights
we are familiar with. From the camshaft manufacturer
(Crane): “use our additive” for at least the first
500 miles.
From General Motors (Chevrolet): add EOS, their
oil fortifier, to your oil, it’s only about $12.00
for each oil change for an 8 ounce can (This problem
seems to be something GM has known about for some
time!).
From Redline Oil: Use our street formulated
synthetics. They have what we need!
From our major oil distributor: Distributing Castro,
Redline, Valvoline and Industrial oils: “After over
a week of contacts we have verified that the major
oil companies are aware of the problem”. “The
representatives of the oil companies today are only
aware of marketing programs and have no knowledge of
formulation”. The only major oil companies they were
aware of for doing anything to address this are
Valvoline that is offering an “Off Road 20W-50” and
Redline.
From Castrol: We are beginning to see a pattern
emerging on older cars. It may be advantageous to
use a non-approved lubricant, such as oils that are
Diesel rated, 4 Cycle Motorcycle oils and other
specified diesel oils.
Last question: So what are we at Foreign Parts
Positively going to do? After much research we are
switching to
Redline Street
rated oils and stocking the Castrol products that
are diesel rated. Castrol, owned by British
Petroleum, is now just a brand name. This is a
difficult decision as we have been a dealer and
great believer in all Castrol Products for over 40
years. We have been using Castrol Syntech oil in new
engines for about 3 years so the cost difference in
changing to Redline is minimal. The actual cost in
operation is also less as the additive package in
Redline makes a 1-year or up to 18,000 mile change
recommended! Yes, it is a long change interval but
with lowered sulfur levels and the elimination of
lead and many other chemicals in the fuels there are
less contaminants in our oil from the fuel, which is
the major contributor to oil degradation. We will
continue to offer the Castrol products but will now
only stock the suggested diesel oils that they
produce.
Too many things are starting to show up on this
subject and it has cost us money and time. Be aware
that “New and Improved”, or even products we have
been using for many years, are destroying our cars
as it isn’t the same stuff we were getting even a
year ago.
For the cars that use “engine oil” in their
gearboxes this may even pose a problem as these
additives that have been removed could be very
critical in gear wear. We will be using oil
specifically formulated for Manual Gearboxes with
Brass Synchronizers. The only oils we are aware of
that fit the criteria are from General Motors and
Redline.
If you have any additional input let us know. We
need to let every flat tappet engine owner, i.e.:
every British Car owner know that things are
changing and we MUST meet the challenge.
Oil is Killing our cars Part II
Last month’s report on this subject is turning out
to be just the tip of the iceberg! Many publications
have had this subject of zinc-dialkyl-
dithiophosphate (ZDDP) covered in varying depths
over the last few months. Some publications have
even had conflicting stories when you compare one
month’s article with their next month’s article!
They are all ending up supporting our report.
I have had the good fortune to have the ear of quite
a few leaders in the industry including some
wonderful input from Castrol. We have been very
reluctant to “dump” Castrol, as it has been such a
great supporter of our cars and industry over the
years. Castrol hasn’t really abandoned our cars,
just shifted to a more mass marketing mode. Many
Castrol products are not appropriate for our cars
today, some still are.
Now for the latest report:
#1 Castrol GTX 20W-50 is still good for our cars
after break-in! 10W-40, 10W-30 and other grades are
NOT good. Absolute NOT GOOD for any oil (Any Brand)
that is marked “Energy Conserving” in the API
“Donut” on the bottle, these oils are so low with
ZDDP or other additives that they will destroy our
cams. Virtually all “Diesel” rated oils are
acceptable.
#2 Castrol HD 30 is a very good oil for break-in
of new motors. This oil has one of the largest
concentrations of ZDDP and Moly to conserve our cams
and tappets.
#3 Only an unusual Castrol Syntec 20W-50 approaches
the levels of protection we need
when we look to the better synthetic lubricants. We
are attempting to get this oil but will be using
Redline 10W-40 or 10W-30 as these are lighter
weights for better performance, flow volume, less
drag and has the additive package we need.
#4 The trend today is to lighter weight oils to
decrease drag, which increases mileage. Most of
these seem to be the “Energy Conservation” oils that
we cannot use.
#5 Redline oil and others are suggesting a
3,000-mile break-in for new engines! Proper seating
of rings, with today’s lubricants is taking that
long to properly seal. Shifting to synthetics before
that time will just burn a lot of oil and not run as
well as hoped.
#6 The “Energy Conservation“ trend was first lead by
automakers to increase mileage numbers and secondly
because the ZDDP and other chemicals degrade the
catalytic converter after extended miles, increasing
pollution. We don’t have catalytic converters and
the mileage gains are not that significant for most
of us.
For you science buffs: ZDDP is a single polar
molecule that is attracted to Iron based metals. The
one polar end tends to “Stand” the molecule up on
the metal surface that it is bonded to by heat and
friction. This forms a sacrificial layer to protect
the base metal of the cam and tappet from contacting
each other. Only at very high pressures on a flat
tappet cam is this necessary because the oil is
squeezed/wiped from the surface. This high pressure
is also present on the gudgeon pin (wrist pin) in
diesel engines, therefore the need for ZDDP in
diesel engines.
Second part of the equation is Molybdenum disulfide
(Moly). The moly bonds to the zinc adding an
additional, very slippery, sacrificial layer to the
metal.
I found out that too much of the
moly will create problems;
lack of this material reduces the effectiveness
of the ZDDP. The percentage, by weight is from .01
to .02%, not much, but necessary.
Latest conclusions: Running our older,
broken in engines on
Castrol 20W-50 GTX is ok. Break in a new engine for
3,000 miles on HD 30 Castrol.
New engines (after break-in) and fairly low
mileage engines will do best with the Redline 10W-
40 or 10W-30 synthetic.