Engine Oil

[Run to Rund]

Diesel oils like Shell Rotella or Chevron Delo 400, both 15-40 weight, have a lot of good additives like ZDDP, if they are the "old" CI4+ spec, and do not also meet CJ. EPA has attacked diesels too, and the traps etc. that they now have do not like those additives. So, the CJ oil is decent but no where near as good as the older CI4+. APE "lets" the oil companies say their new oil is "backwards compatible" so the new stuff like the gold band "low emissions" Delo says CJ and CI4+. My local Chevron distributor still sells the "old" stuff in 5 gallon and larger containers.

[d1hitter]

Brad Penn aka KENDELL, good ****.

[Tom Goldman]

No advantage for me using normal synthetics in throttle stop cars, altho I do run a heater to warm the oil to 160 deg before I start the car.
Class cars using ultra light grades yes, some major gains when using oils that have the viscousity of water.


Like was said before, I change mine @20 runs ,so its hard to justify the expense of synthetics.
I switched to Lucas Racing oil this year ,since it has a very high zinc phosphate content,and the results are excellent ,with no wear problems or lifter issues.
PLUS , the contingency award for Div win and r/u is a big plus !

[SCOTT SST2871]

I was having bearing wear issues also and i started using the gm engine oil suppliment (eos) in my oil!!it has zinc along with other anti wear additives and it has solved the issue so far
scott fifield

[Michael Beard]

CAM2 Blue Blood Racing Oil has over 2,000PPM Zinc, high phospherous, etc... everything you're looking for, and it's cheaper than some of the other synthetics. I run their 0w30 full synthetic... full time, too, and that includes double-entering at big money bracket races. In my opinion, it's more consistent in hot lap situations, where a 20w50 will start to thin out after so many heat cycles and make the car pick up. They also make some 15w30 and 20w50. cam2racing.com

[Chris Williams]

We run the Lucas 20-50, change every 20-25 passes, and just pulled the engine apart. Bearings and everything else looks great.

[KEVIN T]

Rock, Thanks for your comments.

OK, the consensus is to stay with oil that has a zinc compound in it. I switched over to Lucas oil this year as well. I agree that the cost of sythetic does not make it practical for my class. I stayed with the 20/50 grade and the oil pressure would vary from 40-50 psi pre race and 20 psi or so post race. Second question is would a thinner grade oil help. I have expierenced lifter failure twice recently, (80 runs between failures) both on the right bank. 2 & 4 cylinders. It made a mess of a lot of parts. Don't want to go through that again.

Thanks,
Kevin Tiedemann
S/ST145T

[283nova]

ive had good luck with valvoline vr1, internal looked great.

[d1hitter]

Originally Posted by KEVIN T

Rock, Thanks for your comments.

OK, the consensus is to stay with oil that has a zinc compound in it. I switched over to Lucas oil this year as well. I agree that the cost of sythetic does not make it practical for my class. I stayed with the 20/50 grade and the oil pressure would vary from 40-50 psi pre race and 20 psi or so post race. Second question is would a thinner grade oil help. I have expierenced lifter failure twice recently, (80 runs between failures) both on the right bank. 2 & 4 cylinders. It made a mess of a lot of parts. Don't want to go through that again.

Thanks,
Kevin Tiedemann
S/ST145T

it ain't the oil, check your pushrod lenght and springs and also no oil restrictors

[Tim H]

I also use the Valvoline VR1 race oil, it has ZDDP in it and states it on the back of the bottle.