New zinc additive for oil in older engines

[John S.]

Can anyone tell me what is my best option with the new oils having less zinc in them I have a 1965 corvette with a 327 engine 365 hp and it has cam lube break in oil in it after I had it redone. What is my best option for my oil. Do I need a zinc additive and what kind and amount if I do. Thank you for any assistance I can get in this new controversy.

[Keith B.]

Re: New zinc additive for oil in older engines

Buy the correct oil with the CJ4 ratting and you won't need to add anything

[Michael J.]

Re: New zinc additive for oil in older engines

Buy the correct oil with the CJ4 ratting and you won't need to add anything

+1, the best way to go.

[Michael W.]

Re: New zinc additive for oil in older engines

Thank you for any assistance I can get in this new controversy.

There is no controversy, just a lot of people that want to make things complicated.

Read Duke William's treatise on the subject and all will become clear.

[John S.]

Re: New zinc additive for oil in older engines

what about the Classic Car Motor Oil made up by the Indiana Car club strictly for classic cars. This was mentioned in Hagerty article.

[John S.]

Re: New zinc additive for oil in older engines

where do I find Duke Williams article?

[Michael J.]

Re: New zinc additive for oil in older engines

Page 3 here:

http://www.stlouisncrs.org/news_files/St_Louis_NCRS_Chapter_July_2011.pdf

[Joe L.]

Re: New zinc additive for oil in older engines

what about the Classic Car Motor Oil made up by the Indiana Car club strictly for classic cars. This was mentioned in Hagerty article.

John------


I expect that oil would be fine, too. However, I'll bet it's a lot more expensive than the CJ-rated engine oil you can buy at Walmart and I'm certain it's a lot more inconvenient to get one's hands on.

Notwithstanding the opinions of others, for a CJ oil I prefer Shell Rotella. In my opinion, Shell has the best detergents of any oil on the market.

[John D.]

Re: New zinc additive for oil in older engines

John Smith, The Shell Rotella T doesn't have nearly the zinc it used to have.
Use Brad Penn. The Green Oil. They have distributors all over the USA. Or you can buy it on line. Thwy are located in NW PA. Their web site is rather confusing since they have so many different products. Sorta like lookng at a Loctite website. Just buy the Green Oil. It's 30 weight hi-detergent loaded with zinc. Right out of the ground.
Readily available and affordable. John D

[Michael W.]

Re: New zinc additive for oil in older engines

John Smith, The Shell Rotella T doesn't have nearly the zinc it used to have.

False. Your information is out of date and incorrect. Rotella still has more than enough ZDDP to suit any engine.

[Rick A.]

Re: New zinc additive for oil in older engines

agree with Michael

[Duke W.]

Re: New zinc additive for oil in older engines

You need to read my oil article, John. CJ-4 dates to 2007, and as of today nothing has changed, but there is a new CK-4 that will be on store shelves next year. So far it appears that the P concentration limit has not been reduced, but I'm still looking into it.

BTW, all CJ-4s use basically the same base oil and additive chemistry. I don't see how any of us could determine if one CJ-4 is better than another. It's a generic product, but it take millions of dollars to conduct all the lab and field tests to achieve API certification, which none of us are able to do AFAIK.

It seems Shell has done a good marketing job with Rotella, being as how that's what most guys recommend, but there is no valid technical reason to buy it in preference to any other national or house brand that has the proper API certification data, and that why I recommend just buying on price.

Walmart's Super Tech brand (photo attached) is usually cheaper than the national brands, so that's what I usually buy, but the last time I bought engine oil at Walmart, Delo the the least expensive, so that's what I bought.

Of course Walmart and Pep Boys don't do their own engine oil blending. They contract it to a API certified blender, which could be an independent or one of the majors, so what's inside the bottle may be Rotella, Delo, or Delvac.

Duke

[Joe L.]

Re: New zinc additive for oil in older engines

You need to read my oil article, John. CJ-4 dates to 2007, and as of today nothing has changed, but there is a new CK-4 that will be on store shelves next year. So far it appears that the P concentration limit has not been reduced, but I'm still looking into it.

BTW, all CJ-4s use basically the same base oil and additive chemistry. I don't see how any of us could determine if one CJ-4 is better than another. It's a generic product, but it take millions of dollars to conduct all the lab and field tests to achieve API certification, which none of us are able to do AFAIK.

It seems Shell has done a good marketing job with Rotella, being as how that's what most guys recommend, but there is no valid technical reason to buy it in preference to any other national or house brand that has the proper API certification data, and that why I recommend just buying on price.

Walmart's Super Tech brand (photo attached) is usually cheaper than the national brands, so that's what I usually buy, but the last time I bought engine oil at Walmart, Delo the the least expensive, so that's what I bought.

Of course Walmart and Pep Boys don't do their own engine oil blending. They contract it to a API certified blender, which could be an independent or one of the majors, so what's inside the bottle may be Rotella, Delo, or Delvac.

Duke

Duke------


There's absolutely no doubt that all of the brands meet the SAE/API standards----no doubt, at all. However, that does not mean they are all the same. It's a question of how much do some brands exceed the standard or exhibit qualities not defined in the standards.

There's also no doubt that store brands are not manufactured by retailers like Walmart but are, in fact, manufactured by others, in some cases possibly by Shell, Chevron or Exxon. However, that does not necessarily mean the product in the store brand is the same as the major-branded product. All of it meets the SAE/API standard but that does not necessarily mean it's the same.

However, if you happen to get a store brand that's really Shell Rotella in the store brand's packaging, you'll be in really good shape.

[Patrick H.]

Re: New zinc additive for oil in older engines

Duke------


There's absolutely no doubt that all of the brands meet the SAE/API standards----no doubt, at all. However, that does not mean they are all the same. It's a question of how much do some brands exceed the standard or exhibit qualities not defined in the standards.

It's the same, in many ways, with gasoline. That's why I only put those that meet Top Tier standards in my 2008 Corvette.

http://www.toptiergas.com/

[Joe L.]

Re: New zinc additive for oil in older engines

It's the same, in many ways, with gasoline. That's why I only put those that meet Top Tier standards in my 2008 Corvette.

http://www.toptiergas.com/

Patrick-------


I've been recommending Top Tier gasoline for years----just about as long as it's been around. I've been sold on it from almost the beginning.

By the way, my opinion of Top Tier was reinforced when we toured the Chevron facility in a tour as part of the NCRS San Jose National Convention a few years ago. Seeing first hand the extensive testing protocols associated with Top Tier was extremely impressive.