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Break In Oil for a rebuilt engine

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Norton47

Jedi Warrior
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I have seen the information from the fella that is in southern Washington state, I believe and others on the lack of ZDDP and Molybdenum disulfide.
So the other day my friend brings over some quarts of oil for changing the oil in the red car I am working on.
I look and these are have caps that are for the 1992 Olympics.
It's Havoline 20W50 Formula 3 and it says it is a turbo formula. I figure this may still have all the good stuff still in it.
It was in his Dad's garage, as he has passed on years ago it just sat there gathering dust. I got 6 quarts from him.

But will this be to heavy for break in period during January here in Washington or not?

The Bentlys says over 30 deg F that Texaco 20/40 is ok for normal use.
I looked at the Castrol site and only the Diesel oils show Zinc and Phosphorous, supposedly, the wrist pins in diesels have the same issues as our engines cams and tappets.
I am waiting to hear from my rebuilder and his cam guy.
What are the opinions out there?
 
Why are you trying to save a couple of bucks on a freshly rebuilt engine ? Buy the right weight oil, dump in a can of EOS or Mr Moly, and don't worry about it.

You can use up the leftover oil next summer when it's warmer.
 
Greetings Randall - As always, you are so logical.

I used 10W30 Castrol for the first 3200 miles after I rebuilt the engine for my TR3A last sprig. But I also added a bottle of AC Delco EOS that I bought from my nearest GM dealer for $7.00.
 
I wouldn't use the old oil - just because it's old doesn't mean it has the additives you want. I haven't seen anything on the Joe Gibbs oil so I don't know what level of ZDDP it has either.

GM EOS or Crane Cams Super Lube Break-in Concentrate are good sources of the ZDDP additive. The GM EOS is reportedly about 6000 ppm zinc and the Crane Cams lube is nearly all ZDDP.

Bryan
 
Well the idea wasn't to save a buck, but to save an engine.
I haven't seen what is considered the proper break in weight, so I asked.
This just seemed to have the possibility of having the right additives, as it was made before the issues with ZDDP came about.
I also wanted to hear what other were using or had used with out problems.
Thanks
 
That is too heavy a weight for break in. Normally break in oil is lighter 05-30 and some go lighter than that.
I'd save the oil though as you are probably correct about the zddp content as the reduction in zddp has only recently happened.
Try the break in oil noted above with some EOS and you should be fine.
Luck with it, always nerve wracking lighting it up the first time.
 
Norton47 said:
Well the idea wasn't to save a buck, but to save an engine.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I misunderstood.
I'm fond of Valvoline products, so I'd probably use VR (the "Not Street Legal" stuff) in 10W30 for winter in Seattle.

I rather suspect it has enough ZDDP ... my understanding is that lower levels of ZDDP still offer the same initial protection, they just get depleted quicker than higher levels ... but EOS is still cheap insurance.

I also rather like spinning the engine with the starter (plugs out) until the oil pressure comes up. In addition to being sure everything is lubricated promptly when I do fire it up, it gives me a chance to listen for bad noises indicating obvious problems.
 
I've heard that GM has discontinued the EOS additive. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/hammer.gif There may still be some around at various dealers, so start hoarding it!
 
martx-5 said:
I've heard that GM has discontinued the EOS additive.
Click to expand...

GM did discontinue the EOS but they have now reinstated it. It has a different part number now but uses the same name. I ordered some from GM Parts Direct a few days ago. I haven't received it yet but I got a tracking number so I suppose it is on its way.

Bryan
 
Mickey,
Very informative article...especially the section dealing with the increase in ZDP in the 70's.
 
If you are not changing the cam and the flat tappets (cam followers), I assume that these have already been "broken in", therefore I would assume that you don't need to worry about the amount of all the important additives. But for about $7.00 for the AC Delco EOS, why take a chance on your re-built engine ?
 
I rebuilt my engine last winter and have since driven my car for close to 5000 miles and all seems well. I used Castrol 10W-30 with a bottle of STP blue for the break in and second oil change. The STP is supposed to contain a healthy percentage of ZDDP and I intend to add a bottle with every oil change.
 
Don
The cam was found to be very worn. So it was send out welded up and reground. I have to double check on the followers, but I can't imagine he used the old. Good call though.
Sounds like EOS is the stuff to use. I will also see what the rebuilder says, he was going to check with the cam guy. I will have to come to some understanding there due to warranty concerns.
Thanks everyone for the input.
 
The flat end of the tappets (in the 4-cylinder TR engines) should have a circular spiral look on the flat surface. They get to look this way because the bore for the cam followers is a bit off center and this causes them to rotate for proper lubrication. If some of yours are grooved or gouged on the flat end, this tells you that these were not rotating as they should have been rotating.

In my case, both times that I did have them out, about two or three were like this and I took a 1/2" thick piece of plate glass about 6" by 8" (free from the local glass and mirror store) and I lapped the ends flat again with emery cloth on the flat glass.

New ones are available, but for quite a long time, they were imported from some Asian country and these were not heat-treated. They only lasted about 800 miles. Who can tell you if you buy new ones that they might not be from the bad batch and were on the shelf for the last 10 or 12 years. Check the hardness if you can find someone with a Rockwell hardness machine. I think the flat end of the tappets should be heat-treated to about 58-60 on the B scale.

All of mine are still the original ones that came with the TR3A when I bought it brand new in May 1958 and they now have 178,000 miles on them.
 
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