I own a 'j-body' 2002 Cavalier, with the ubiquitous 2.2 OHV engine. On a forum for j-body owners, there was this post on oil:
"Good info. Along those lines, there's something else about oil these days. Until about 3 years ago, all oils contained Zinc Phosphates and Magnesium alloys. Those additons to oils made the older cams & lifters live longer. With lots of engines these days using roller valve train parts, that older combo of additions isn't nearly as critical. Older motors such as the old 2.2 still have the "flat Tappets" and they need those additives to keep from ruining the cam/lifters. The good old EPA, auto company's and oil company's got together to meet the newer emissions standards and one way the oil company's helped was reducing or eliminating these older additives. On newer cars, that's not a problem as they were designed to not need it anyway. On older cars, it's a real problem. If your car is older and still has flat tappet valve lifters, there's a couple of things you can do to return to what your motor needs. (1) is to buy/use oil made for Diesel engines. (2) use something like the GM oil additive for severe conditions.
What happens is that the Zinc & other additives creates a film over the camshaft, and that protects the older flat tappet lifters. If it's not present, a cam failure / lifter failure will occur and flat camshaft lobes will result. It's become a BIG issue with the people restoring older cars, and lots of racers that build 350's..etc the "old" way. Comp Cams, Crane Cams and GMPP cams have all had lots of problems in this area in the past 3 years. Mainly due to the oil's reduced additive pack."
I know that the 2.2 in my car is an 'older' design of motor, but should I be concerned about using newer, SM-ratd oils with reduced levels of zinc in them? Or is this advice really only for 'much older', high performance engines?
I'm really not trying to be paranoid about this, I know that my engine will probably last just fine on a diet of modern SM oil. I'm just wondering if a bit of 'extra' protection will help with engine life....
"Good info. Along those lines, there's something else about oil these days. Until about 3 years ago, all oils contained Zinc Phosphates and Magnesium alloys. Those additons to oils made the older cams & lifters live longer. With lots of engines these days using roller valve train parts, that older combo of additions isn't nearly as critical. Older motors such as the old 2.2 still have the "flat Tappets" and they need those additives to keep from ruining the cam/lifters. The good old EPA, auto company's and oil company's got together to meet the newer emissions standards and one way the oil company's helped was reducing or eliminating these older additives. On newer cars, that's not a problem as they were designed to not need it anyway. On older cars, it's a real problem. If your car is older and still has flat tappet valve lifters, there's a couple of things you can do to return to what your motor needs. (1) is to buy/use oil made for Diesel engines. (2) use something like the GM oil additive for severe conditions.
What happens is that the Zinc & other additives creates a film over the camshaft, and that protects the older flat tappet lifters. If it's not present, a cam failure / lifter failure will occur and flat camshaft lobes will result. It's become a BIG issue with the people restoring older cars, and lots of racers that build 350's..etc the "old" way. Comp Cams, Crane Cams and GMPP cams have all had lots of problems in this area in the past 3 years. Mainly due to the oil's reduced additive pack."
I know that the 2.2 in my car is an 'older' design of motor, but should I be concerned about using newer, SM-ratd oils with reduced levels of zinc in them? Or is this advice really only for 'much older', high performance engines?
I'm really not trying to be paranoid about this, I know that my engine will probably last just fine on a diet of modern SM oil. I'm just wondering if a bit of 'extra' protection will help with engine life....
