Is this a good oil and additive for my new engine?

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My son and I recently rebuild the engine is his '86 Buick Grand National. For those of you who don't know what it is, the powerplant in this car is a 3.8 liter intercooled/turbocharged flat tappet cammed OHV engine. The original factory oil recommendations were 10w30 or 5w30 for colder climates. We live in Florida, so 10w30 is a natural choice, but the oils are so much better than they used to be, I was thinking of using Pennzoil conventional 5w30 year round for the better flow at startup, along with 5-6oz of Lucas TB Zinc plus to protect the flat tappet cam. TB Zinc Plus is a pint that delivers 38,000 PPM Zinc, so I figured 1oz per quart should cover me. What do you guys think?
 
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1oz total (not per quart) would be 2375 PPM of Zinc + whatever is in the oil already. (approx 800). This would be over 3K PPM of Zinc which is more than ample for break-in. After break-in I would down it to .5oz total added to the oil.
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(According to the 38K PPM in the additive/Pint, and 1 pint is equal to 16oz = 2375 PPM of Zinc/oz)

Nice car BTW... Can we see pictures of it?
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P.s. You might want to use a Motor-Cycle oil that has a higher level of Zinc already in it.
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WHat stevie is recommending sounds good. Hopefully BuickGN will chime in as he has had the engine out of his car a few times.
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The Buick guys run anywhere from 0w20 to 20w50, and a lot of them have roller cams. It's hard to get hard data for a stockish engine because of so many variations in engine combos. Wouldn't you divide your 2375PPM by how many quarts of oil you put in the car? So if I divided that by 6 quarts, I'd get approx 396 PPM per quart if I added 1oz. I've seen the number of 1800ppm ZINC as the optimal amount for a flat tappet cam. Am I doing the math wrong?
 
Hobe Sound is just around the corner! Welcome.

By the way, I drive a 2003 land rover discovery. The engine is a flat tappet Buick 215 all aluminum, based off the 1961 Buick 215.
 
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I might have my math wrong... That's why I stated how I calculated it so that if I am wrong someone can point it out... I'm not an expert on how the Zinc is calculated but there are other on here who are or know more than me... They will be along soon.

High ZDDP (Zinc) is what you need if you have flat-tappet cams. you will also have to break them in with a higher ZDDP level in the beginning as far as I'm aware...

Sorry I can't be of more help...

Do check out the ZDDP content in the MotorCycle oils. Might take the guess work out of adding it yourself and will give you adequate protection. Also you won't have to worry about upsetting the oils chemistry with an additive because the Manufacturer has setup the oil with this level of Zinc from their factory. (Another thing to keep in mind)
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I grew up in Jupiter. Lived right off center street. I'll check out the 4cyle motorcycle oils and see what they've got to offer. What about using Pennzoil 5w30 if I go with the additive?
 
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Pennzoil is a darn good oil, but like most oils these days they have scaled back the ZDDP additive because modern engines don't need it as much due to updated engine technology which relies on ZDDP less. Also it was to protect Emission systems.

Motorcycles don't have these same restrictions and most of the bikes on the road use old engine technology design so the oil have been left with High ZDDP levels for the most part, making them suitable for your application.
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Since it is turbocharged, I would want more protection than any conventional oil would give. Without having to add anything to the oil, I would run either Mobil 1 0W-40 or the Mobil 1 5W-40 TDT oil. Just my opinion.
 
Redline oil is great for turbo applications and has all the zinc-poosphorus you'd ever need.

The additive w 38,000 ppm will boost about 230 ppm if you add 1 oz total for 5 qts, so looks like you should add 2 oz--no more than 3 oz--for PCMO.
 
Originally Posted By: Robk46
I grew up in Jupiter. Lived right off center street. I'll check out the 4cyle motorcycle oils and see what they've got to offer. What about using Pennzoil 5w30 if I go with the additive?


I live right next to center street in the neighbor hood whispering trails. Any ways, redline would be a good choice, so would the mobil oils johnny listed. Also, Rotella Synthetic 5w40 has 1100-1200 ZDDP. Mobil TDT 5w40 has 1100, 0w40 has 1000, M1 15w50 has 1200.

I would try to stick with a Xw40 weight oil since it Is a flat tappet. If you want to spend some money you can go to Murrays Speed shop off blue heron/military to get the redline oil. They carry all weights of redline and royal purple. Or just go to walmart and get the mobil oils.

goodluck.
 
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Not to hi-jack but it does fit in here. Who has more ZDDP in the break in add, pint size? Redline's or Lucas? I have a buddy doing a flat tappet cam engine build, and I couldn't find the info.

Thanks,
AD
 
The only concern I have with a 40 weight oil is flow. The car called for a 30 weight oil from the factory, and recommended 7500 mile change intervals, which I think is nuts on a turboed car. The bearing clearances are very tight on these engines. We changed out the break in oil, and went with Advance Auto house brand 5w30 and 4oz of the Lucas additive prior to posting this. At 500 miles we're going to change it out with whatever we decide on here. The oil pressure is very good with the 5w30. . . I was told a good rule of thumb is to go with the lightest oil that still gives you optimal oil pressure.
 
So do you recommend the 5w40 because of the ZDDP content, or the fact the turbo generates so much heat that the oil shears down to a 30 weight?
 
Wow, I learned something! So the 5w40 is a synthetic oil engineered for diesel engines. Is it lacking anything that a gas engine needs? Does it have too much of anything?
 
Most good synthetic diesel oils like the Mobil 1 TDT meet both diesel and gasoline specs. A very robust oil. If your car was a naturally aspirated 3.8 I would recommend the Pennzoil YB 5W-30 without any concern, but with the turbo and flat tappets you need something to take the heat and protect the flat tappets. A good synthetic 5W-40 will do both and you will not have to add anything to it.
 
So is it OK to switch to a synthetic oil at 500 miles, or should I do it after another few thousand mile to make sure the piston rings have seated?
 
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