engine oil, zinc, additives, etc

[Richard B.]

Regarding GM E.O.S., it was recommended to me to put a pint of this in with each oil change due to the changes in engine oil additives. The guy behind the parts counter at a local Chevrolet dealer confirmed that many are buying this and doing just that for the older engines. In reading the label on the back of the E.O.S. it says, "GM RECOMMENDS EOS ASSEMBLY LUBRICANT ONLY FOR THE SPECIFIC PURPOSES LISTED ABOVE. GM DOES NOT RECOMMEND THE USE OF THIS OR ANY OTHER PRODUCT AS AN ADDITIVE TO ENGINE OIL". It says all that in capitalized letters.

Is it ok to just pour this stuff in with the oil?

[John D.]

Re: engine oil, zinc, additives, etc

Richard, NO IT ISN"T. I didn't listen to the old timers on this board recently. About a month ago at a chapter board meeting in a Chevy dealership. I bought the same crap as you did. So I brought it back to our meeting and my buddy Barry said to me WTH are your going to do with that stuff. He said di you read the label? I said to him the parts man said it was the real deal. Well it isn't. You and I bought the wrong thing. Don't be like me-return it as it's for engine assembly. Not crap-just not what your wanted. Give it to your engine builder. GM doesn't have the EOS oil supplement any more.
Go into the archives as there are a ton of posts on this subject. Probably this summer alone there are 50 posts. John

[Clem Z.]

the reason GM does not want you to use EOS

all the time is because if you have a engine that uses oil these metallic elements will be deposited in the combustion chambers and piston tops causing detonation problems. we were advised never to have EOS in any engine used for racing because it could cause piston burning.

[Larry L.]

Re: the reason GM does not want you to use EOS

There is another reason not to use assembly lube at an oil change.
It makes one passes threw the oil filter and most of it is gone.

There is one thing on the market that has proven to work and that is Slick 50
The examples:

One a Chrysler Lebaron 88 with Turbo - I drove for 350,000 miles with out a lower engine overhaul. 100 miles a day to and from Dayton Ohio to Cincinnati, Ohio for 15 years. It needed a head every 100,000 due to thermal stress cracking. The block was perfect complete with cross hatch on bores. I put in a quart of slick 50 at 12,000 and each 100,000 miles. The cam and roller rockers were perfect at 350,000 miles.

The better example is a 23" Toro lawn mower we used to mow 2.5 acres each week, 11.5 hr. of full throttle operation. At the end of the summer the engine was trash. Piston rings and bore looked like old corrigated barn roofing, Crank journel was the shape of a barrel.
Put a new short block in mower, after one 11 hr. mowing. Drained oil and put int 10% slick 50 and at the end of season the engine was perfect, the mower was used up mechanically - gave it to some guy for parts. He use the engine for a long time and always told me how nice it ran and never used much oil.

The third example is my John Deere tracter 318 - 1982 - at 2,000 hr. the engine is still going strong with little oil usage. 2,000 hr. is equivalent to a car being run at 60 mph full throttle for 100,000 miles.

Another good engine addative is molidium disulfate. It has an affinity for oil and for steel - making the oil stick to the steel. The example for this is the Radar Antenna Drives in a B52 that used to have a life expencency of a few hundred hours. Changing the gears to a cone drive did little to help the life span. Addign mollidium disulfate to the lube allowed them to run for 1,000 of hours with out any noticable wear.
I did my 66 350 Hp 327 in 1969 at 9,000 miles, had to remove the oil filter to make sure the filter did not plug, added one tube 3 oz to oil and ran engine for a few hundred mile, drained the oil, added a new filter and oil,
Results - the engine at 41,000 runs fine, uses little oil, and made 20 more HP on a chassis dyno than a 390 hp 427 - The 390 had an alum intake, a 750 cfm holly and side exhaust. Fuel air ratio was 13:6 except at off idle to 1,800 where it went very lean (14.3) and then to 13.6 all the way up to 5,000.
The 327 350 Hp had ported heads, flow matched intake, exhaust, 2 1/2 in ram horn manifolds and off road muffler - the rest as delivered from factory. Fuel air ratio was 13.7 from 1,500 to 5,800. After 30 years I replace the valve cover gaskets on the 66 327 and checked a few rocker arms and they showed little wear - more like a perfectly polished ball and socket.

Both of these schemes have been proven in my book of experiments over time and miles.

The real secret to longevity is PERIODIC MAINTENCE and attention to detail.
The Chrysler - every 4,000 and each 100,000 replaced drive train, all belts and hoses along with new head. Clutch lasted 350,000 due to non abuse and good shifting practices.
The mower and Tractor - oil change and filter each 50 hr.
Corvette - Twice a year the car has a lube, oil and filter. Once when I unpack it in spring, and again as I put it up for winter in the fall.

When Penzoil and Quaker state merged an began making generic oil. The CEO was a Harvard MBA and didn't understand the differences - JERK. Learned to rip it off in shcool and not pay any attention to product and customers. After all oil is oil. - I switched the Corvette to Rotela 15W40 - Works great.

[Jeremy D.]

Re: the reason GM does not want you to use EOS

I also use Slick50/15W40 in my JD 420 tractor (Onan engine), and I run it at WOT most of the time....it's got a zillion hours on it, and last summer I took the motor out because the starter puked....pulled the heads off for the heck of it to put on new head gaskets, and they looked beautiful. I run 15W40 Rotella(get it free when ya work for an excavation company!)in my 'Vettes religiously....NEVER have I had an oil-related problem, and oil pressure at all RPM's is great. Just curious....anybody run Rotella in their C4,5 or 6's that say to use the Mobil 1 stuff? Just asking, 'cuz I run Mobil 1 synthetic in my Silverado & wife's Tahoe.....it would be MUCH cheaper for me (ie. FREE)to run Rotella in both of them.....

[Clem Z.]

the only reason to use mobil1 is the extended

drain cycle. if you change oil every 3/4000 miles i would say use the free stuff. with mobil 1 i change once a year and install a new filter every 4000 miles.