Question about ZDDP

[Mark72]

I read an article which many of you are already aware of about lowered levels of ZDDP and how it can be detrimental to our engines, and how the governement doesn't care as it's about environmental issues, and on and on and on.

Does High Mileage oil contain higher levels? If not, what do they use in place of ZDDP so that our engines can last longer than the governement would prefer?

 

[bepperb]

The government didn't care. The API change the maximum level in response to car manufacturers who have to pay to replace warranted O2's and Cats made the change.

Some HM do, some don't.

Government. Often used as leverage when creating a conspiracy theory. If they cared, you couldn't go buy Rotella or any other SL oil off the shelf of WalMart, right???

 

[Rumble]

I freaked out about the zddp thing when I got a car with an older engine a few years back ('79 Cadillac). I've come to realize, the whole zddp issue is not as big a deal as some make it out to be. I certainly don't think it's some government plot about engine longevity. Maybe it's nothing more than wanting us to have cleaner air.

Yes, some of the High Mileage oils have slightly higher amounts of zddp, and HDEO's even more. There's plenty of them out there to choose from.

 

[DieselTech]

Others additives work in place of ZDDP just fine.

 

[heypete]

If I understand things correctly (and that's always a big "if"

), ZDDP is a last-resort anti-wear additive that should, under normal conditions in most modern engines, never need to be used.

With modern gas engines, I wouldn't worry about using API SM-rated oils in the slightest. Indeed, I have been using such oils for the entire life of my 2006 Camry, and the used oil analysis always come back quite positive with very low wear levels.