i will get the name and number to a company that we used on our dirt track car thay make an oil for your motor. you send in your old oil and they run test to make better oil for that motor it is not cheep though
Comments and questions: On sludge... It forms on engines that are driven often on short trips. The oil needs to reach operating temps each and every time you run an engine. If not, the additives in the oil that prevent sludge and clotting never 'activate' to do their job. If you see an engine with sludge, then you can bet the owner made lots of short trips to work, church, and store over the engine's life. If a car is driven on the highway for a good portion of it's life, or even driven in stop and go traffic (to heat it up good), then it stays sludge free. Synthetic vs Dino: Dino oil has a certain life under strict conditions of heat and pressure. If an engine ONLY produced heat and pressure, the oil would last for X amount of time/miles. Synthetic oil has a nearly unlimited life where heat and pressure are concerned. If an engine ONLY produced heat and pressure, you would change your oil only a couple of times during an engine's life span. The problem is that internal combustion allows fuel and carbon by-products to reach the oil and react with it. So, this is the problem with dino oil, not considering it's reformulation. This leads me to the obvious question: How is synthetic oil affected by this reformulation? I have converted to synthetic oil in all my vehicles except the diesels. Teflon goes in everything. Even put it in gear oils. Dave Edit: Also should mention that a brand of oil's tendency to cause sludge in great or small amounts depends on the oil's paraffin content. More paraffin causes more sludge build up. Now, just because one oil has the tendency to sludge somewhat more than another, you can't blame the oil. They are good oils. It is just the driver that uses his car 4 or 5 times a day to drive around the corner, rather than allowing the engine to reach optimum temp.
I didn't want to name names, however Pennzoil is one that is very high in paraffin content. The reason that you have never had a sludge problem is that you have taken care to drive your car in a responsible manner. I don't dare slam Pennzoil as a brand, they are known in the industry to be one of the best, if not the best, dino oil out there. Dave
I am not sure about this but I don't think all overhead cammed cars have roller points of contact? With a overhead cam verses a old stlye cam I would think there is a lot less pressure between the cam lobes and the valve stems than there is between the cam lobe and the lifter on the older system where the lift has to travel up thru the push rod and use a fulcrum to push the valve stem. Isn't that part of the benefit of an over head cammed engine. It takes less power to run the cam(s) than the traditional method. There is less friction and many of those systems can even get by using a belt? Its the high pressure contact that eats the lifters/cam if they do not have that zinc and phosphorus combination in and on the surface of the contact points. I would think in the older style engines running flat tappet or solid lifters the most friction in the system exists between the cam and the lobes. Other than the rings in the cylinders and the old style rockers I think this would have the most metal to metal contact?? By additives I think they meant adding a specific mixture of Zinc and phosphorus to the oil or even a liquid version of cam lube (if such a thing exists) and not the off the shelf stuff like STP or slick.
We will never notice sludge build-ups no matter what oil we use, we change our oil to often. One fact is that Pennzoil has very high ASH content, ASH is the amount of hard deposits thats left over after you boil off all the oil. This doesnt effect us, it effects the grandma who drives her car once a month or the people who dont do oil changes because they have to keep adding a quart every 2 weeks. When I worked at a machine shop we took surveys of the type of oils used. Pennzoiled motors not always but usually had the worse looking deposits.
Well, I know my old 2.3 OHC had a slider, but all the newer ('89 and up I belive) have a roller in the rocker that the cam rides on. My 4.6 has a roller in the rocker that the cam rides on too. http://www.fordracingparts.com/parts/part_details.asp?PartKeyField=5637 I know that some of the new engines put the cam directly on top of the valve stem. Honda's DOHC rockers roll on the cam. The LS engines use a roller lifter and a needle bearing fulcrum. I could go on and on. The trend is going to full roller valve components. They're more durable, reliable, and perform better than a slider cam. OHC has the advantage of less reciprocating weight, which means you don't need such a stiff spring to control the valve. That is why it takes less power to drive OHC cams.
My grandpa and dad have always used Castrol. My grandpa had an old Dodge van with 250,000 miles on the 318 engine. Castrol was the only thing it had in it since new. He pulled the valve covers and stuff off and the engine was clean as a whistle inside. I've been running it in my 250 for about 17,000 miles now and it looks cleaner inside now then when I got it.
I have rebuilt a lot of engines. most, yeah MOST, OHC cars don't even have bearings in the head. Just cam on aluminun. A lot of DOHC cars, like Nissan, use hydraulic followers(like lifters), shims(for adjustment) right below the cam. Absolutly no rollers. If low Phos/zinc oil would cause harm they wouldn't recommend it. I only use full synthetic in EVERYTHING. my lawnmower has sythetic oil in it. I rebuilt my daily drivers motor(84 Fiero 2.5 Flat tappet hydraulic cam) about 7 years ago. It saw Non-detergent oil for it's first warm-up and then nothing but the highest API service oil I could get. I have put about 120,000 miles on it and it runs fine. And clean inside too.
Valvoline is nice. I used it in an old 302 that had a slight rod knock with all 20w-50 oils except valvoline and castol. I still don't know why those oils made a difference. But, Castrol seems to stay cleaner longer.
Wow, there are so many studies & comparisons that all contradict themselves it's crazy, like Penz, yes Penz did have an issue with there oil for years its not a secret it was just never spoke loudly. Penz was so set on fighting corrosion that they had alot of anticorrosives in there base..like 11 diff. chemicals. It would actually start breaking it self down on the shelf, turnig darker & darker then when applied to heat & not changed in 3k or 3 months it would actually leave deposites/sludge. They have since fixed that and you now see "pure base" on the bottle. All conventional oils are fine if used where they are ment to be and changed when they should be. Synthetics are great but be aware they are not all created equal. The U.S. doesnt recognize synthetics as being man made but a level of cleanliness. Take Castrol Syntec for example its not synthetic in European countries because it's not synthetic!! Castrol actually went through a lawsuite because of thier claims over there. Mobile is good stuff ,Purple and some of the others are great also. Just use the right consistency & CHANGE THE OIL you'll be fine.
This is all in reference to the older cars but today all the cars have specific reccommended lubeS per the engine families. For example Ford nearly all spec 5w20 blend even for the trucks. Many people just cannot get over the old school thinking and use 10w30 types in modern engines. While it generly does not hurt to use these heavy weights in summer, winter starting is another matter. The lighter blends are used to help fuel mileage, cold start wear as well as for higher heat breakdown. The latest change is to remove most of the ZINC antiwear additives due to it's effects on cat converters. This by it'self is not good for long term wear. A way around it is useing 'race spec' lubes.
