Engine break in

[firebane]

Man the assembly lube I used was thick as snot and super stringy. It stuck to EVERYTHING!

 

[Skweegle89]

First of all, I made a mistake.



When I suggested using Comp Cams Additive on the cams/lifter bottoms (because of it's tendency to remain where applied) , I actually meant Comp Cams Assembly Lube (part # 103).



Assembly Lube must be applied before the engine is closed. And apparently, you are all dropped in and ready to do the break-in procedure - so that ship has sailed. Forget about it.



I am not an expert by any means, so consider the source. But, as far as the supplemental zinc additive (whichever brand you choose):



For the break-in and the two subsequent oil changes, I have had excellent results with Rotella T 15W-40 and one bottle of high zinc additive.



After that I change over to Mobil 1 15W-50 (or 5W-50). This is just a personal choice and is based on my laziness/forgetfulness to change my oil on a frequent basis. Those two Mobil 1 products have a high ZDDP content (1300/1100). And, since they are synthetic, will retain their initial lubrication properties for much longer than conventional oils.



But, to answer your question; After the first two oil changes (with zinc additive), it is perfectly all right to just run straight Shell Rotella T 15W-40.

Glad to hear it. I just acquired 55 gallons of it today, so I should be set for awhile. Ordered 2 bottles of additive for break in so I should be set there as well. Thanks for the info.


Sent from an old rotary telephone.

 

[chengny]

See my edited post regarding the cost of a 55 gallon drum of Rotella - you lucky f*cker!

 

[350runner]

Luckymofos.com
How much for 10 gals????

 

[Skweegle89]

See my edited post regarding the cost of a 55 gallon drum of Rotella - you lucky f*cker!

Lol I'm pretty pumped about it. Just a drop in the bucket to the company though. We run 150+ trucks. Average truck holds 10/11 gallons of oil. Runs 2500/3000 miles a week and changes oil every 10,000 miles. They are good to me though. I worked out there for 4 years. They give me all my fluids and grade 8 hardware and let me borrow specialty tools and things like that. Pretty cool place to work.


Sent from an old rotary telephone.

 

[ScottyB]

If you really want to know if you are using too much or not enough zinc for your engine start doing regular Oil analysis. The numbers you get back won't point to something specific you can compare to any other engine. What it will do is give you a baseline for your specific engine and when numbers start changing from that baseline you've already established. It won't tell you what is happening downstream to your Cat or O2 sensors but it will tell you what is happening inside the engine.

I don't know that it is cost effective, but if you really want to know this would be the way to do it. Keep in mind that just a couple samples won't tell you anything because the numbers you get are specific to your engine only. If you don't have a baseline then you won't have anything to compare to. A good analysis company will be able to help you interpret the numbers as long as they have enough data to work with.

 

[Skweegle89]

If you really want to know if you are using too much or not enough zinc for your engine start doing regular Oil analysis. The numbers you get back won't point to something specific you can compare to any other engine. What it will do is give you a baseline for your specific engine and when numbers start changing from that baseline you've already established. It won't tell you what is happening downstream to your Cat or O2 sensors but it will tell you what is happening inside the engine.

I don't know that it is cost effective, but if you really want to know this would be the way to do it. Keep in mind that just a couple samples won't tell you anything because the numbers you get are specific to your engine only. If you don't have a baseline then you won't have anything to compare to. A good analysis company will be able to help you interpret the numbers as long as they have enough data to work with.

Idk what they cost, but I'm not past looking into it. Thanks for the info. Kind of disappoints me that 30 years ago you could dump whatever you wanted in the oil pan or fuel tank and run these things for a quarter million miles, simple couple hundred dollar rebuild and you could do it again. Now we're hunting for the best additives and driving out of our way to find clean fuel without ethanol in it. That's progress for you I guess.


Sent from an old rotary telephone.

 

[firebane]

Idk what they cost, but I'm not past looking into it. Thanks for the info. Kind of disappoints me that 30 years ago you could dump whatever you wanted in the oil pan or fuel tank and run these things for a quarter million miles, simple couple hundred dollar rebuild and you could do it again. Now we're hunting for the best additives and driving out of our way to find clean fuel without ethanol in it. That's progress for you I guess.


Sent from an old rotary telephone.

We also choose to drive a 40 year old truck old technology and trying to fight against todays standards

 

[Skweegle89]

We also choose to drive a 40 year old truck old technology and trying to fight against todays standards

Lol touché. But even with this technology, you won't see a 2015 pickup on the road in 2055. To me, that's not progress. I will sacrifice heated seats and 30mpg if it means that my vehicle will last longer than 10 years. Just a shame the rest of the world didn't see it that way. Vehicles are disposable now.


Sent from an old rotary telephone.

 

[firebane]

Lol touché. But even with this technology, you won't see a 2015 pickup on the road in 2055. To me, that's not progress. I will sacrifice heated seats and 30mpg if it means that my vehicle will last longer than 10 years. Just a shame the rest of the world didn't see it that way. Vehicles are disposable now.


Sent from an old rotary telephone.

Truth could not be better spoken.

 

[Skweegle89]

Was just talking with a guy that just put the same crate motor in his truck. Said his motor already had oil in it and the pump was already primed. I never even thought to check. Good thing I didn't just dump a gallon of oil in it.


Sent from an old rotary telephone.

 

[GTME94]

I was just reading through and was going to suggest that since it is a crate motor it was already primed.
I don't know about your engine but I've done engineering sign off on re manufacturing of newer overhead cam engines and they were primed and had a motored test at the end of assembly to check for proper friction and oil pressure reading.
You might want contact the manufacturer about what oil they used and if it has ZDDP already.

 

[Skweegle89]

I was just reading through and was going to suggest that since it is a crate motor it was already primed.

I don't know about your engine but I've done engineering sign off on re manufacturing of newer overhead cam engines and they were primed and had a motored test at the end of assembly to check for proper friction and oil pressure reading.

You might want contact the manufacturer about what oil they used and if it has ZDDP already.

I was going to call my local gm dealer and ask. It only makes sense with the warranty that comes with it. I'm curious about zddp.


Sent from an old rotary telephone.

 

[Skweegle89]

Well GM didn't have any idea. Called summits tech support and they thought they came dry, but he didn't really know for sure. Has anybody else bought one of these that can verify what kind of oil is in them?


Sent from an old rotary telephone.

 

[Jacknife]

Well GM didn't have any idea. Called summits tech support and they thought they came dry, but he didn't really know for sure. Has anybody else bought one of these that can verify what kind of oil is in them?


Sent from an old rotary telephone.

Have purchased several myself. put in several more for others. Have never seen one come with oil. I have seen a person purchase a crate motor in the turn key package that came with oil to be put in, but cam in qaurt container. Never seen any crate motor come with fluids in them.