Engine Oil Changes

grignac48

I was reading an artical about how they are limiting an oil aditive called LDDP due to a sulpher issue. It was pretty technical but the jist of the article was that those of us running older engines with traditional cam and hydraulic lifters needed to watch this. This LDDP helps maintain oil in high friction points. The article went on to say that they had seen an increase in cam failure because of this. On modern engines with rollers and bearings it was not an issue. I need to find the article again and see if there is a link online for this. I know people are always doing oil comparisons but was unaware that the manufacturers are constantly changing the formulas. Makes it kind of hard to pick a favorite and stay with it. :-|

FuzzFace2

That‚Äôs one of the reasons why when breaking in a new cam you should run the GM additive (forgot the name sorry) that they use for motor break in. It helps keep the oil between the parts under high PSI like the lifter to lobe. Any one know what the name of the GM stuff is and if there is some thing else like it on the market? Dave ----

jeepsr4ever

Their are many zinc diphosphate additives on the market and little difference between them. Most of the cam issues on hydraulic cams when used with cam break in lube are caused by hardness issues between cam and lifter which need to maintain at least a 10 point difference in Rockwell hardness. The issues with the roller guys and valve springs higher than 100lbs is usually caused by lack of these Zinc and phosphate additives which are expensive and are on the EPA watch. Oils have become cheaper to refine in the last 10 years and synthetics are coming out with little detergent and Zinc phosphates which were and are critical in most applications. We had known this was coming when we had AMC-HD blended. I would suggest a additive if you know the oil doesnt have these at every oil change. If the oil you are using has them I would think twice about just a strati oil change instead of adding un-needed additives.

ironman_gq

try using a good diesel oil like Rotella they tend to have higher zinc phosphate levels and aren't as restricted by the EPA in the levels they can use. you could also try a good race only oil as some of them have higher levels of additives

AMX69PHATTY

Hey FuzzFace2, is this the GM Oil Additive you are talking about ?

It's Part Number 1052367, they call it "Assembly Lubricant" on the label.

The Label on the back of the 16 oz. Bottle says:

"GM DOES NOT RECOMMEND THE USE OF THIS OR ANY PRODUCT AS AN ADDITIVE TO ENGINE OIL."

Is this the stuff you're talking about, or is it something different ? :-|

FuzzFace2

I think it is I will have to look it up on another forum to see. I did not use that when I did my motor, motor oil on bearings & pistons, Comp Cams lube on cam and lifters, Shell Rotella oil and STP additive. Fingers are crossed that it does the job. I will check ASAP and get back to you Dave ----