which oils affected by removal of zinc?

[tford]

Was Mobil 1 15w-50 affected by this? I'm thinking about buying a motor that has a flat tappet cam and don't want to risk wiping a cam out after I buy it. Do you guys think I would be o.k. buying this even though it's not a roller cam? Opinions greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tim

 

[sailbrd]

I logged on to Mobil Oils site and put in all the info for my GN. They said the oil to use was the Mobil 1 extended wear. The specifically mentioned that the oil has ZDDP in it.

 

[tom h]

All the Mobil1 oils (except 0W40) are now ILSAC GF-4 rated. That means there are strict limits on how much Zinc it contains, about 0.08% IIRC.

0W40 is not ILSAC GF-4. One of the indpendent oil sites analyzed it couple years ago, it had 0.11-0.12% Zinc.

IMHO a 0.12-0.15% Zinc target seems appropriate for flat tappet cams.

I would be adding 1/2 bottle (8 oz) of GM's EOS to the Mobil 1 ...

 

[tford]

Thanks alot guys. Your knowledge could save me thousands of dollars. The EPA sucks. I hope Al Gore isn't the next president or we'll all be driving electric cars at the track instead of our pride and joy Gn's & T's. Thanks again, Tim

 

[GNRick]

This whole oil issue was addressed in the GSXtra a couple years ago. A Mobile One engineer recommended V-Twin motorcycle oil for our cars. Personally, I switched from Kendall to Valvoline VR-1 Racing oil.

 

[tom h]

Based on published specs, VR1 oil looks very good.
I just can't find any 10W-30 in my area! :frown:

 

[mikestertwo]

I switched over to 15-40W diesel motor oil. Has plenty of zinc. Seems to have quieted my valve train a little bit too.

 

[GNRick]

Try O'reilly's for the Valvoline. $2.89/quart here, for 10W-30/40. They might have to special order it for you. Diesel or Shell Rotella is good too. Or Royal Purple but it is $7.99/quart.

 

[fitz3820]

I just toss a blue bottle of STP Oil Stabilizer in when I change the oil, you can get it at wally mart for a few bucks.

see: STP Oil Stabilizer

 

[gnxtc2]

Well I don't want to bust your bubble but the EPA has gotten to the diesel oils. The new Rotella (the bottle has a "rainbow" on it) now has reduced levels of zinc in it.

The Valvoline Racing VR-1 oil is not the correct one has that higher levels of zinc. The correct Valvoline Racing oil is this one and is marketed as "Off Road Use Only" Conventional Motor Oil .

There is better oil out there has a high levels of zinc. Penn Grade 1 Racing Oil

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

 

[tom h]

The Valvoline Racing VR-1 oil is not the correct one has that higher levels of zinc. The correct Valvoline Racing oil is this one and is marketed as "Off Road Use Only" Conventional Motor Oil .

The risk of "off road use only" racing oils is that they may lack detergents and other additives that are essential to preventing sludge buildup and other bad things. If the car is a true race car and gets its oil changed every few hundred miles, or after every race day, detergent-free oil may not be a big deal. I'd be very cautious in a street or street-strip car.

BTW, VR1 is spec'ed at about 0.12% Zinc & Phos, which is probably OK for all but severe-duty use.

 

[turbo nasty]

I went from Valvoline 20w50 Durablend to Rotella 15w40 and noticed that my oil was getting dirty alot faster.

Went from Rotella to Valovoline VR-1 20W50 and my oil stays much cleaner now.

 

[GNRick]

Well I don't want to bust your bubble but the EPA has gotten to the diesel oils. The new Rotella (the bottle has a "rainbow" on it) now has reduced levels of zinc in it.

The Valvoline Racing VR-1 oil is not the correct one has that higher levels of zinc. The correct Valvoline Racing oil is this one and is marketed as "Off Road Use Only" Conventional Motor Oil .

There is better oil out there has a high levels of zinc. Penn Grade 1 Racing Oil

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

Where did you get the info on the amount of zinc in the oils? Is there a chart somewhere? Is that Penn oil tops on the chart?

 

[mikestertwo]

Fortunately I was able to pick up 42 gallons of the older DELO 400 15-40W Diesel motor oil from a local store. The newer oil is "LE" Low Emission which has a lower zinc content. To top it off, the "LE" oil is more expensive!

 

[Quiky One]

BOTTOM LINE: Running an old engine without zinc in the oil is bad news-- especially when breaking in a fresh build. Ask around and you'll hear about high rates of camshafts going flat. Avoid the problem by choosing the right oil-- that has a zinc content of at least .11%. If you're running zero zinc content oil in an old engine, I believe you're asking for trouble.

I've done some research. Here is the zinc content of todays oils:

20W-50
AMSOIL (old) none
AMSOIL (new) none
Castrol GTX .12
Exxon High Performance .11
Havoline Formula 3 none
Kendall GT-1 .16
Pennzoil GT Perf. none
Quaker State Dlx. none
Red Line none
Shell Truck Guard .15
Spectro Golden 4 .15
Spectro Golden M.G. .13
Unocal .12
Valvoline All Climate .11
Valvoline Turbo .13
Valvoline Race .20
Valvoline Synthetic .12

20W-40
AMSOIL none
Castrol Multi-Grade .12
Quaker State none

15W-50
Chevron .11
Mobil 1 none
Mystic JT8 .15
Red Line none

5W-50
Castrol Syntec .10
Quaker State Synquest none
Pennzoil Performax none

5W-40
Havoline none

15W-40
AMSOIL (old) none
AMSOIL (new) none
Castrol .14
Chevron Delo 400 none
Exxon XD3 .14
Exxon XD3 Extra .13
Kendall GT-1 .16
Mystic JT8 .15
Red Line none
Shell Rotella w/XLA .13
Valvoline All Fleet .15
Valvoline Turbo .13

10W-30
AMSOIL (old) none
AMSOIL (new) none
Castrol GTX .12
Chevron Supreme .11
Exxon Superflo Hi Perf 135 .11
Exxon Superflo Supreme 133 .13
Havoline Formula 3 none
Kendall GT-1 .16
Mobil 1 none
Pennzoil PLZ Turbo none
Quaker State none
Red Line none
Shell Fire and Ice .12
Shell Super 2000 .13
Shell Truck Guard .15
Spectro Golden M.G. none
Unocal Super .12
Valvoline All Climate .11
Valvoline Turbo .13
Valvoline Race .20
Valvoline Synthetic .12

5W-30
AMSOIL (old) none
AMSOIL (new) none
Castrol GTX .12
Chevron Supreme .11
Chevron Supreme Synt. .12
Exxon Superflow HP .11
Havoline Formula 3 none
Mobil 1 none
Mystic JT8 .1
Quaker State none
Red Line none
Shell Fire and Ice .12
Unocal .12
Valvoline All Climate .11
Valvoline Turbo .13
Valvoline Synthetic .12

Here ya go

 

[SS/GNX]

Nice work... Valvoline Race is going in mine! ( on the next oil change.. I thought I was in great shape with the Rotella, but I can do better!)

 

[gnxtc2]

Where did you get the info on the amount of zinc in the oils? Is there a chart somewhere? Is that Penn oil tops on the chart?

I was at a machine shop and the owner sent out samples of oil to be tested. I'll see if I can get a copy of the results.

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

 

[gnxtc2]

Nice work... Valvoline Race is going in mine! ( on the next oil change.. I thought I was in great shape with the Rotella, but I can do better!)

Just be careful with the Valvoline Race, it also has a high level of moly. Moly makes things slippery. If you have rollers in the motor, the extra moly might rollers slide instead of rolling

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

 

[gnxtc2]

Here ya go

That's from 1999

 

[SS/GNX]

Just be careful with the Valvoline Race, it also has a high level of moly. Moly makes things slippery. If you have rollers in the motor, the extra moly might rollers slide instead of rolling

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

I did catch that in your previous post, thanks very much. No, I have flat tappet, so slippery is probably good!

If thats from 1999, anybody got any new info? Cause if Rotella is less then it was on that chart he made, I really dont know if I want to use it!