Thank you for the reply!
Is higher Zinc mean it's better for valve tappets? Sorry, I'm new to this and doing a little bit of research.
You're welcome...
Research will give the tools to make better oil choices...
Friction modifiers additives are only a small percent of the total oil
product and help the base oil do things that it otherwise could not...
Additives fall into several basic categories but Moly, Phosphors and
Zinc are the most often used friction modifiers... what ever small
percent of FM employed they will not defeat a wet clutch in good
working order...
Thanks to BITOG data I think we finding the single most common
misunderstanding about motor oil is that higher zinc levels provide
greater wear protection. fact is more zinc provides longer wear protection...
but thats a moot point given the short oil change intervals owners
favor...
Zinc is not even a lubricant until heat and load are applied. Zinc is
only used when there is actual metal to metal contact in the engine.
At that point zinc must react with the heat and load to create the
sacrificial film that allows it to protect flat-tappet camshafts and
other highly loaded engine parts.
Can tappets live with out any zinc in the oil??? Aircraft engine manufactures say YES...
Pilots know most aircraft piston engines are air-cooled, so they tend
to run hot and due to this, they require the use of an ashless oil.
That simply means that when the oil burns, it must burn completely and
not leave any ash behind. Aircraft engines are mostly flat-tappet
engines and they seem to get along just fine without any ZINC...
Warnings of too much zinc use from the flat tappets know it alls...
1. Well known and respected Engineer and Tech Author David Vizard,
whose own test data, largely based on real world engine dyno testing,
has concluded that more zinc in motor oil can be damaging, more zinc
does NOT provide todays best wear protection, and that using zinc as
the primary anti-wear component, is outdated technology.
2. The GM Oil Report titled, Oil Myths from GM Techlink, concluded
that high levels of zinc are damaging and that more zinc does NOT
provide more wear protection.
3. A motor oil research article written by Ed Hackett titled, More
than you ever wanted to know about Motor Oil, concluded that more
zinc does NOT provide more wear protection, it only provides longer
wear protection.
4. This from the Brad Penn Oil Company: There is such a thing as too
much ZDDP. ZDDP is surface aggressive, and too much can be a
detriment. ZDDP fights for the surface, blocking other additive
performance. Acids generated due to excessive ZDDP contact will
tie-up detergents thus encouraging corrosive wear. ZDDP
effectiveness plateaus, more does NOT translate into more protection.
Only so much is utilized. We dont need to saturate our oil with ZDDP.
www.caltex.com
