Engine oil for older cars.

[Roy Lewington]

An interesting article attached (copyright protected but I do have permission to reproduce it) re engine oil.   I run my Esprit on Mobile 1  10/60 which has been very good in terms of oil pressure, consumption, starting etc.  What I can't tell is if the engine is wearing due to the lack of zinc.   I do have a magnetic drain plug that remains pretty clean between oil changes but having read this article I am tempted to switch back to a good classic 20/50.  What do you think? 

Zinc in Engine Oil - Copyright Document 2017[328658].odt

[andydclements]

I normally use Millers 10w60 (although have used others), it has the higher level of zinc so would say I have both covered, but if not then I'd probably be a little concerned.

[CarBuff]

I would be using a synthetic oil in my Turbo...especially on the '88 and older, as they do NOT have water cooling.

 

The synth oil will not tend to 'coke up' on shutdown, as a mineral oil could.

 

If it is zinc (ZDDP) you are after, you can buy additives now such as Camguard

https://aslcamguard.com/products-2/automotive/

or ZDDPlus

https://zddplus.com/zddplus-oil-additive/

I'm sure there are other brands.

 

+++++++++

 

Another strategy is to use a 20W-50 synthetic motorcycle oil. Mobil 1 V-Twin has plenty of ZDDP and is made for flat-tappet engines.

Edited October 1, 2017 by CarBuff

[Roy Lewington]

Millers 10/60 with added zinc sounds good.  I think over the years my engine will have built up a reasonable protection before all the synthetic oils were introduced. Probably a 10/50 would be fine. Cheers Roy.

[Jacques]

So the author of said article more or less states that an engine oil such as Halfords Classic 20/50 is a better engine oil that say Castrol Edge Supercar Ti 10/60 on my Lotus Esprit Turbo SE from 1990? Sorry, I don't buy into that arguement. There is more to oil than the level of zddp and more to an engines wear than the level of zddp.

I have spent some time reading about the subject, calling various oil companies and asking them specific questions, and I've spent many hours taking apart standard, tuned and heavily tuned car engines (1978 to 2017 period cars plus a few american v8' s from 1960 and up) together with a friend in his workshop (servicing and tuning engines). Seen a lot of various broken engines (and not). Taken apart countless motorcycle engines and rebuilt those too and seen a lot of various errors (or not) on those as well. I've seen what modern long life engine oil does to an engine, and it ain't pretty. I've stuck my head in cheap and expensive engines as well.

I've taken apart a variety of old and newer Harley Davidson engines as well (working together with their owners) and seen those inside too.

What I have not done is taken apart old british car engines from 1940 to 1975 period, apart from a Healey 3000 and a single Minor. That article may relate more to those engines from that period; I don't know.

The product he is advocating for states, that it's good for Classic motorcycles as well. Well some I'd say. but not all. Last time I took say a Laverda engine apart, it couldn't run on car engine oil, as it's a shared engine/clutch/gearbox. But I am open to be educated on the matter   If there's a seperate engine and clutch/gearbox, then it's another story.

I am not after the most expensive or most famous or most advertised engine oil, and if they would run perfect, also over decades, on melted smurfs, that's fine by me for all I care. But sorry, I don't accept this articles arguement.

But bring it on, I remain humble and open to more info and new arguments.

Kind regards,

jacques

[Roy Lewington]

Interesting.   I think the conclusion I have come to is Fully Synthetic (to reduce Turbo carboning) with zinc (reduce wear).   That leads me to Valvoline ProV Racing 20/50,   Millars 10/60 or Classic Sport 20/50.   This stuff is not cheap but it's only once a year.

On a lighter note, one for the tech boffins out there.   What is synthetic oil made of?

[CarBuff]

On 1/25/2018 at 11:56, Roy Lewington said:

 

On a lighter note, one for the tech boffins out there.   What is synthetic oil made of?

Since you want to keep it on a light note:

 

It's made of oil.  

 

If you really want to get serious about the makeup, read some of the tech articles at

 

BobIsTheOilGuy.com

[Roy Lewington]

Thanks for that,  very well covered.

[GavinT]

I used the Mobil 1 V-Twin 20/50 synthetic motorcycle oil in my S1 for years with great success. Yearly oil drains revealed no metal particles in the drain pan. Granted my mileage was low. I switched from Valvoline VR1 20/50 due to reports of lowed  ZDDP content.  On the first start with the Mobil 1 there was a distinct and very noticeable reduction in top end noise. When my Stevens is back up and running it will get Mobil 1.