Zinc been taken out of Rotella oil & other diesel brands

[Russ/40]

If it were mine, I would be comfortable with dropping the pan and cleaning it and the pic up screen out. Follow up with 20W/50 detergent and don't worry about it. You won't get big loose particles breaking loose and floating around. Done it MANY times with no ill effects.

[deuce lover]

I use Valvoline racing 20-50 oil available at NAPA.It has zinc in it.What happens without the zinc the cam can go flat.

[flatjack9]

As has been stated many times, there is still zinc in the oil, just not as much. Still plenty for any flathead. Use your favorite oil and sleep easy.

[mike42]

For what it's worth.....I had to go to Auto Zone for something this morning and ran across a can of STP Oil Additive.....on the label it said it had a zinc additive in it !

I asked the guy in the store and he said yes it did, as well as a Valvoline Oil he showed to me.

Mike

[woodypecker]

Originally Posted by L78CHEVELLE

In my opinion there is a lot of knowledge people on the Ford Barn about this subject and I have learned a lot. Since, I posted my original question something has happened to show me what happens when the rubber meets the road. Helped a friend replace some sticking valves in his '40 engine back in September 2012. New valves, one piece valve guides, new Johnson adjustable lifters, and a friend of his gave him new Lincoln valve springs he had left over from a restoration. He has driven the car 952 miles since we did the valve train work. He came by this week with the car and the valve train was very noisy. We took off the intake and every valve gap was excessive. When I did the valve adjustments the first time I used a punch on the lifter threads to keep them from backing off. The lifers had not backed off. I adjusted the valves again and changed the Rotella oil we put in back in September with new Rotella oil and this time I added the Lucas Oil zinc additive. I told him to drive the car about 500 miles and let me know what happens with the valve train. He does drive this car during decent weather all year. I'm not sure if the valve train excessive wear was normal for new parts, if the extra strength Lincoln springs was the cause, or if the zinc reduction was the problem. I will get back to the Ford Barn with some new information after the 500 miles on the new lifter adjustments. Just for the record the clearance for the intake was set on .0011 and the exhaust on .0012 the first time and the second time adjustments. When I checked the lifters after the 952 miles the intake valves were from .0013 to .0015 and the exhaust were .015 to .017.

How do you know that the lifters did not back off. how were they marked and could you see it clearly afterward. I have an engine open now that had one lifter backed off .020 and I would like to mark them to see what is happening in the future.

[ole39]

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amsoil now offers oil with zinc in it, look for z-rod

[bwood53]

Why such heavy oils? Ron says 5-20. Which is much lighter. I drive a old turbo diesel... use rotella. Just a matter of opinion?

[L78CHEVELLE]

Here is the follow up on the engine we put new valve train parts in and drove around 1,000 miles without any zinc additive last fall. The engine valve train was very noisy after the 1,000 miles so we adjusted the valves again and added Lucas Zinc additive to the Rotella oil. He showed up this week end with 628 miles on the new engine valve adjustment and the Lucas Zinc additive with NO valve train noise. Did the zinc prevent the valve train noise from returning or was that need for a valve train adjustment just the natural break in wear for new engine parts???? For the cost of the zinc additive I think I will add the zinc additive to my oil changes. Can not be too pretty, too rich, or have to much engine protection in my thinking.

[coolcoupe]

I never thought of using stythetic oil.Any votes for or against?

[Ken Bull]

I want the best oil for my FH, when I bought it in mid '90s it ran good but no history of a rebuild etc. just that I should continue to use 40 non-detergent oil. Reading all the comments here I got ready to order CCMO. Went to their site & in the info they stated "if using non-detergent oil, CCCMO is not recommended" . The engine was clean inside the valley cover & oil pan had no sludge. The engine has been running good since on the road 9/2009 with 2 non/D oil changes with Zinc & MMO added & 378 miles run time. Im a member of the "Leave well enough alone Club" So untill my fear subsides ???