Zinc in oil

crazydaveEFI Expert

As we all know and have heard, zinc is dissapearing in motor oil. It has been estimated that low zinc levels in newer motor oils has been causing cam failures in older engines. Older levels of zinc were at around 0.2% but new oils can be as low as 0.05%. Few oils still have higher levels of zinc such as Valvoline VR-1 oil. Stp now has a new oil additive that is not that old thick goo. Their new oil stabilizer contains 6 times the amount if zinc (ZDDP) that was in a single quart of older spec motor oil. This means you should be able to add this to a flat tappet cam engine and have plenty of zinc.

3/2/075:16 PM

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lastpushbuttonMember

Rotilla Rotalla has the zddp too. I run full sythetic NAPA 30-50 race oil in my drag car. I belive it has an additive that will clog a cat converter. Making it NOT compatable for street?

3/2/077:16 PM

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panteradougMember

quote:
Originally posted by CrazyDave:
As we all know and have heard, zinc is dissapearing in motor oil. It has been estimated that low zinc levels in newer motor oils has been causing cam failures in older engines. Older levels of zinc were at around 0.2% but new oils can be as low as 0.05%. Few oils still have higher levels of zinc such as Valvoline VR-1 oil. Stp now has a new oil additive that is not that old thick goo. Their new oil stabilizer contains 6 times the amount if zinc (ZDDP) that was in a single quart of older spec motor oil. This means you should be able to add this to a flat tappet cam engine and have plenty of zinc.

Dave is there a name to it or is it just STP?

3/3/074:48 AM

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popsrcrMember

I use to use that old thick gook in my FE to keep the rear main from leaking.

Dave - if you get the product name, that would be great. I was unaware of this as well. Would like to pass it on.

3/3/075:06 AM

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crazydaveEFI Expert

It is just STP oil stabalizer.

http://www.stp.com/oil_stabil.html

They dont say on the web page how much zinc is in it, so I sent an email. That is when they told me it is about six times as much as oil used to have.

3/3/073:14 PM

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panteradougMember

Hum. I'll bet what they said was that one treatment has six times as much as one quart of the pre-smog oil?

That would give the normal "old" amount contained in one average oil change of 5 to 6 quarts.

I'll ask too. I alsmost ran out to get some when I read this today.

Anyway it is very good for me. I just need to know if I can run it with my Mobil 1 full synthetic?

Thanks Dave. It's a great tip.

3/3/073:50 PM

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dvilI'm here sometimes

Hot Rod article

3/15/071:42 PM

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DannyOcean (Guest)

Although this article is geared toward Porsches, the chart half-way down the page tells all.

http://www.lnengineering.com/oil.html

3/15/078:00 PM

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DannyOcean (Guest)

quote:
Originally posted by DannyOcean:
Although this article is geared toward Porsches, the chart half-way down the page tells all.

http://www.lnengineering.com/oil.html

P.S. - You cannot purchase STP "blue" in Calif.

3/15/078:01 PM

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jeff6559Member

quote:
P.S. - You cannot purchase STP "blue" in Calif.

AHA! So it's not Florida, it's California. We're gonna find out sooner or later!

3/16/0712:47 PM

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4nford"Live wrong and Perspire"

quote:
Originally posted by DannyOcean:
Although this article is geared toward Porsches, the chart half-way down the page tells all.

http://www.lnengineering.com/oil.html

Thanks, really informative stuff!

3/16/074:35 PM

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George PAdmin.

Just buy the stuff in the picture below. Its intended for diesel motors, so it still has its ZDDP content, AND tons of detergents. Its a single viscosity motor oil, which means the manufacturer has used a base oil with a more sheer resistant molecule. Notice the label says "heavy duty". You'll only find that on single viscosity motor oils.

I buy it at WalMart.

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3/16/078:09 PM

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popsrcrMember

So you run straight 30wt? Never really thought about it, but s/b fine since rarely do folks drive their Pantera in anything but perfect weather.

3/16/078:39 PM

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DannyOcean (Guest)

quote:
Originally posted by jeff6559:
AHA! So it's not Florida, it's California. We're gonna find out sooner or later!

I'm not in Calif. I posted the fact to spare my fellow members the agony of searching for STP blue.

3/16/0711:00 PM

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lf-tp2511Member

quote:
I'm not in Calif.

No, you are in Florida.

On Feb 18 you posted photos of your car at the ItaliaFest.

Wasn't rocket science to websearch and find the ItaliaFest. Feb 16-18 in Palm Beach, Florida. Track events held at the Moroso Motorsports Park in Palm Beach and the "Concours in the Park' held in Boca Raton on Sunday the 18th, which was the same day you posted the photos.

Some day you might even let us know your first name?

Larry