Engine Oil in the '76

[Skin7421]

My auto parts guy tells me I need to run an oil that has more zinc than oils of today. Any truth to this? It's a 440 stock motor in original condition, never been rebuilt.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

You would probably be okay, cam is well broken in, valve spring pressures are light, cam is not agressive at all. I would still go find high zinc phosphate oil but a lot of people get freaked out about running heavy weight racing oils in a "normal" car you can order lighter weights online. A case is 2 oil changes plus 2 quarts makeup oil that will get you through 6000mi or 2 years. Whichever comes first.

 

[twostick]

15w40 Rotella or similar will do quite nicely. Available at any Walmart without the boutique oil price.

Kevin

 

[70bigblockdodge]

15w40 Rotella or similar will do quite nicely. Available at any Walmart without the boutique oil price.
Make sure you get the stuff for the older diesels they are changing the packaging and going to the European rating. The oil for the DEF engines does not have or does have stuff that may not be what you want, old packaging was rotella T
Kevin

Make sure to get the Rotella for older diesels and watch the packaging it's changing to the European rating system. The stuff for the DEF engines is not what you want

 

[jct]

i use this along with the oil

 

[twostick]

Just found a New Oil Analysis for Rotella T4 10/30 and T5 synthetic blend 10/30 on Bob is the Oilguy for those that don't like "heavier" grade oils.

Rotella t4 10w30 | Virgin Oil Analysis - PCMO/HDEO | Bob Is The Oil Guy

Shell Rotella T5 10W-30 ***API CK-4*** | Virgin Oil Analysis - PCMO/HDEO | Bob Is The Oil Guy

The synthetic blend has a little more phosphorus.

Both have enough for flat tappet cams IMHO.

Kevin

 

[Skin7421]

Ok sounds like I'll add a little zinc before I start driving it. Thanks

 

[75LandYacht]

Late to this party.. would the above apply to my 75 / 440? All stock with 92,000 never been touched. I've been using 10/30 with regular changes at 3,000 ish. The above sounds plausible since oils and gases have changed over the years due to the newer engines.. these old girl may need some additives.

 

[kmccabe56]

My auto parts guy tells me I need to run an oil that has more zinc than oils of today. Any truth to this? It's a 440 stock motor in original condition, never been rebuilt.

Completely true. Go find your nearest GM dealer, walk in to the parts counter and ask for a bottle of ACDelco Engine Oil Supplement. P/N 992869. The stuff is about $6-7 bucks a bottle and one bottle will be enough for about 3-4 oil changes. Modern engines all have roller tappets, if they have tappets at all. Good old GM still has a ton of pushrod V8s, thankfully although they likey have roller tappets in them by now. Flat tappet engines need additives to cut down on the wear between the cam lobes and the bottoms of the tappets. The cam lobes are tapered to induce the tappets to spin, which helps reduce the wear, but help is needed. The EOS has a high concentration of zinc and manganese which are the two additives that help with the wear issue.