65rangoon

this is from a bulletin Valvoline has posted and shows the oils they make in the VR-1 line

kalli

ahhh ... the story i heard was that the zinc/ph destroys catalyic converters. that's why they had to take em out. diesel engines don't have that problem so it was kept in for far longer

1971mach1

I really think the vast majority of classic car owners don't even know that the regular oil they have been using for decades is now bad for their engines. Even some regulars on this forum don't know about this. Heck I did'nt know until a few months ago, and the new oil standard has been in effect now for what? at least 3-4 years.
Other evidence that few know about this is that I can't find VR1 in 10w-30 or 30w at ANY store in my large metropolitan area, they only stock the heavy weights (that racers use), have to special order VR1 10w-30 and only a few stores will even do that.
Valvoline is marketing somewhat, they have "high zinc" stickers on the bottles. They also have a great website with the amounts of ZDDP (ZN/PH) in all their different products. (hint: only the racing oils have enough ZDDP).


As for zddp additives (there are some already), BUT I have also read that too much ZDDP is bad for engines too.
It would be easy to add too much because all oil still has some amount of ZDDP. And will the additive mix well or cause sludge???. It would be better
to have it already in the oil.

Starfury

That's a byproduct of the EPA going after diesel vehicles. Cats on everything '07+, so yes, no more high-zinc content in those oils.

JHPSTANG

What about Rotella? I've read that it contains enough ZDDP. Anyone used it? It is cheap and readily available.

kalli

it's unbelievable. they have 20w50, but can't organise the 10W30 of it.
I'll have to keep searching. Buddy of mine has an oil supplier that might be able to find something when I give him the ingredients list.

was checking on Valvoline Synpower. It's listed in valvolines ZDDP article, but found on another forum a response fromm valvoline:
============
Our Valvoline SynPower Full Synthetic products only contain 850ppm of Zinc, but if you don't mind us asking, why do you need so much Zinc, if the vehicle is not high performance. Stock applications only require about 750ppm of Zinc to be safe for the cam wear. High performance applications with oversize cams and extra added horsepower will require about 1200ppm of Zinc. Valvoline does not make a synthetic product available for these applications, as we recommend our Valvoline VR1 Racing Oil, which contains 1300ppm of Zinc and 1200ppm of Phosphorus.
============

Kalli

1971mach1

It's funny allright, even over here you can't find any of the ZDDP additives
in any of the major auto parts stores. They haven't even heard of them.
You can only get them online with ground shipment. More evidence that
very few classic car owners know about this issue.

Beware of Rotella or any of the diesel oil products they are also reducing ZDDP
because since 2007, diesels are also required to have cat converters.
Kalli, maybe look for a older API rated diesel oil that still has the high ZDDP content (as refered to earlier in this thread).

kalli

yep. that's what it's gonna be. I'll go to the carpart store and have them hand me every bottle of Diesel oil they can find. There are oils that are made 'for classics' that might even contain it but all of them are heavy weight (20w50 as well).
I am so tempted to get that VR1 20w50 and get it over with ... I'll find something though

Kalli

kalli

all seems no go.

will that and some regular oil do?

http://www.redlineoil.com/products_m...1&categoryID=1

I've ordered it anyway as i'm about to start the engine soon (see my whiile I'm at it post for pics)

Kalli

109jb

You could also consider oil formulated for use in motorcycles. Autozone sells Valvoline 4-stroke motorcycle oil that contains 1100 ppm zinc and is available in 10W-40 and 20W-50. At least near me the Autozone's have the 10W-40 in stock on the shelf.