NEW ZDDP additive from Lucas Oil

Hi, I just put a new set of rings and a cam chain in my bike do I have to worry about break in and oil additives?

Rings are very important to brake in right. Cam chain makes no difference.

otakar wrote:

Yes I did state that I believe that hi Priced Motorcycle oils have ZDDP. i refuse to pay $10-$14 a quart for oil On the average that is a $60 oil change. My oil change is about $16 total with synthetic oil when I buy Rotella at Walmart, and add 2oz of ZDDP. Take a look at a decent Motorcycle oil.

www.redlineoil.com/Products.aspx?pcid=13

Be sure the walmart shell has zinc I heard they are reduced. I get mine from the bulk barrels at the truck stops

soif i was to buy say diesel truck oil where do i look to know i am getting enough?

Rotella is formulated Rotella. At first there was some talk that the formulation was changed along with the the automotive oils but that turned not to be true. As long as it is Rotella it will have the same formulation no matter where it comes from. Even though there has been some reduction there is still a significant amount of ZDDP in Rotella. Compared to virtually none in automotive oils. This is why it must still be fortified with a ZDDP additive. By % weight it is .140/.130 Zn/Ph and not the .25/.21 it should be.

T_Dub wrote:

So you use this stuff in all of your oil changes? And during break in?

www.valco-cp.com/torco.htm

Oils & additives are one of the most debated topics on any engine building relate forum.

Joe Gibbs Break In Oil is another option. Your local speed shop probably carries it. It's not cheap.

It's flat tappet cam failure that is the biggest concern with break in. I have seen failed cams from just about every manufacturer at one time or another, cars and bikes.

Flat Tappet Cam Failures have been on the rise since they took the additives out of the oils.

If you're running GPz 750 cams, use GPz buckets. Some of the early 650 buckets had issues.

There's also the option of DLC coatings.

I have been doing a lot of research on this subject and have found out some interesting information. One little tidbit is that "Pennzoil Platinum" and Walmart "Super-Tech" synthetic are bottled on the same line. It is also possible that Rotella-T Synthetic is also. I have posed some strategic questions to Shell tech support and I am awaiting some answers.

I'm looking into it now too. I just ordered a couple papers from SAE on the subject. Just from reading abstracts it looks like they've replaced ZDDP with cleaner, better performing additives.

T_Dub wrote:

cleaner, better performing .

Those are usually mutually exclusive...

Usually, but these oil engineers are good. ZDDP will gunk up eventually, the new additives last longer allowing longer drain times and they also don't mess with your cat. Anyways, I'll have the whole story tomorrow when those papers arrive, I got a couple that investigate the boundary lubrication characteristics and the thermal breakdown properties of the ZDDP and some of the cleaner additives.

I don't trust this "you should use it because its not there any more" argument. I'm absolutely certain modern motorcycle oils are better than old ones, the engines today have to withstand much greater speeds as well as more aggressive lift profiles. If I had the money I'd get a cam and a tappet from an old bike and a new bike and analyze them in the lab, but I'm not buying that stuff just to destroy them.

The oil people have been looking into replacing ZDDP since 1992 or even earlier, I'd imagine they've got it right by now.

Well, I got my first bit of info and here it is right from Shell

"We have a product that is called Pennzoil Racing Motor Oil and is available in SAE 50, 60 and 25W-50.
It has approximately 1800-2000 ppm of zinc additive for extra wear protection. Other engine oils with comparable anti wear protection would include Shell Rotella T 15W-40 and Pennzoil Long Life 15W-40."

I will call them up and continue the emails to milk them for more info.

Cool, I think I know where to track down a relatively new cam and tappets to test too now that I think of it. And I can test my old KZ650 cams. We'll get to the bottom of this.