I have a question for you Zach

Those were the old PDR springs that had quite a bit more spring rate than the springs we sell. The funny thing is that back in the day you never heard anybody say anything bad about them. They worked well. They had more pressure than was necessary to do the job, but they worked. Now with the low zinc/phosphorus oils issues start to creep up, on things that have run for years without issue.

There have been two designs we have used for our 110# springs. When we originally designed them the oil was not an issue. As lower zinc oil started coming out we changed the design a bit. We kept the seat pressure but we lowered the spring rate so that over the nose of the cam, the place where you see the most wear, there would be no issues. Lowering the lash .005" will equate to approximately .0067" lift on the exhaust valve, which might make 1lb more pressure that the cam sees. This is very minimal in terms of stress. This is a good reason to make sure you have the best oil for your flat tappet cam. Think about your thrust bearing in your turbo and other parts that are seeing accelerated wear due to low zinc oils. What is most important is if you have a high lift high duration camshaft such as .375" lift that is almost a
.100" more lift. That is when you will start to have to worry about wear, especially if you are high rpms.

If your cam is stock, setting the lash at.015 might help a little bit but not much. I will try to go back to my notes tommorow to see how much duration that adds, but either way is fine.

Zach
 
Hamilton Cams said:
Those were the old PDR springs that had quite a bit more spring rate than the springs we sell. The funny thing is that back in the day you never heard anybody say anything bad about them. They worked well. They had more pressure than was necessary to do the job, but they worked. Now with the low zinc/phosphorus oils issues start to creep up, on things that have run for years without issue.

There have been two designs we have used for our 110# springs. When we originally designed them the oil was not an issue. As lower zinc oil started coming out we changed the design a bit. We kept the seat pressure but we lowered the spring rate so that over the nose of the cam, the place where you see the most wear, there would be no issues. Lowering the lash .005" will equate to approximately .0067" lift on the exhaust valve, which might make 1lb more pressure that the cam sees. This is very minimal in terms of stress. This is a good reason to make sure you have the best oil for your flat tappet cam. Think about your thrust bearing in your turbo and other parts that are seeing accelerated wear due to low zinc oils. What is most important is if you have a high lift high duration camshaft such as .375" lift that is almost a
.100" more lift. That is when you will start to have to worry about wear, especially if you are high rpms.

If your cam is stock, setting the lash at.015 might help a little bit but not much. I will try to go back to my notes tommorow to see how much duration that adds, but either way is fine.

Zach
Click to expand...

Thanks Zach. I trust you, just wanted to make sure that my valve lash wasn't gonna cause excessive wear on my stock cam as a precaution. Better to be safe. Thanks for the quick reply.:Cheer:
 
Jamie, are you using any zinc additives in your oil?

I am running ZDDP+ all the time now.
 
I know it is a pain in the wallet to use zinc additive every oil change. But I can promise you with the stresses of a high performance engine and the fact that we have inadequate oils, it really is worth the investment. When film strength becomes less in engine oils, surface area of the parts in contact with each other must increase for the same level of protection. This is why cummins has changed the lobe width 3 times since the 12v. Each time it gets wider. This is also why bearing suface area in turbos should be looked at. I have seen more turbo failures lately than I have seen in a long time. Almost like the HX40 days.

I know some people say that the aftermarket is trying to gouge consumers. I can promise you that is not the case. Zinc is a must in a high performance engine(except DPF trucks). If you don't buy zinc from me buy it from F1, GM EOS, Lucas Zinc additive, or at least STP oil additive with ZDDP. IT IS AN ISSUE. At 10-15 bucks a bottle, you are money ahead, if you delay or stop turbo bearing failure, rocker wear, or cam wear.

Zach
 
getblown5.9 said:
Jamie, are you using any zinc additives in your oil?

I am running ZDDP+ all the time now.
Click to expand...

Nope, but I am gonna start today. I thought the zinc additive was only needed if running a aftermarket cam. When my 53 block cracked, the engine was pulled apart at the Cummins shop & the tech asked me what oil I've been running. I used Valvoline premium blue since I bought the truck. The inside of the engine looked like brand new. I also use Marvel mystery oil every second oil change. I will start running the zinc today though. Which brand is best?
 
Hamilton Cams said:
I know it is a pain in the wallet to use zinc additive every oil change. But I can promise you with the stresses of a high performance engine and the fact that we have inadequate oils, it really is worth the investment. When film strength becomes less in engine oils, surface area of the parts in contact with each other must increase for the same level of protection. This is why cummins has changed the lobe width 3 times since the 12v. Each time it gets wider. This is also why bearing suface area in turbos should be looked at. I have seen more turbo failures lately than I have seen in a long time. Almost like the HX40 days.

I know some people say that the aftermarket is trying to gouge consumers. I can promise you that is not the case. Zinc is a must in a high performance engine(except DPF trucks). If you don't buy zinc from me buy it from F1, GM EOS, Lucas Zinc additive, or at least STP oil additive with ZDDP. IT IS AN ISSUE. At 10-15 bucks a bottle, you are money ahead, if you delay or stop turbo bearing failure, rocker wear, or cam wear.

Zach
Click to expand...

Maybe that explains why my last S300 turbo had excessive endplay after 10k miles. Thanks Zach.
 
I know the most and am partial to the Hamilton Cams version, but there are other good products out there.

Zach
 
Ive been running the lucas breakin. in addition to CI+ 4 DELO
I see your recomending it also.
The question is, how much to add. 3oz / 6 oz/ 9 oz / 12 oz ?
 
Not to take away from your sales at all, Zach...but for someone like myself that's on the road working all the time it's really hard to order the additive from someone like you...the STP stuff is available everywhere. Any thoughts on how many oz to use per oil change of that stuff ?
Sooner or later I'll be in Texas and just order a case of the good stuff but right now I gotta use whatever I can find. It's better than nothing I suppose.
 
Lucas Oil has a engine break-in additive that is 12oz per bottle and contains Zinc. I bought a few at Advanced Auto but then returned them since you can get it on E-bay a bunch cheaper.

Zach is the oil that does not meet the newer CJ-4 specifications (I think) better when it comes to Zinc content and over all lube or does it not make a difference?
 
Doug 60- I am not sure on the final levels for the amount added. I would send in a sampl of your oil after adding some and alter accordingly.

unbroken-Stp does have Zddp in it, and it does add extra protection although it is marginal. It protects by adding some extreme pressure additive (zddp) and also by increasing the cushioning effect of the oil by increasing the viscosity. All in all, I would use it in a pinch seeing as how ALL engines I have torn down lately have shown premature wear in the rockers and more than normal on the cam. The zddp I sell does not have a major effect on the viscosity, and it provides many times the protection of other additives. Here is a partial list of some additive comparisons I found. Like I said before, our additive is not the only one on the block, but I can say we looked long and hard and are confident we have on of the leading zinc and phosphorous additives.


Muddindude- As far as regular engine oils, I would personally run amsoil 15-40 marine oil. It still has large amounts of Zinc in it. Sledpuller is an amsoil dealer
he could probably get you some at a decent price. And yes the older oils have more zinc in them, and provide better protection and superior film strength.


Zach
 

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next best choice is Heavy Duty Diesel / Marine AMSOIL for sure though...easy to get.

Old Delo 400 can be bought from most distributors by the barrel still.
 
Zach, How about the AmsOil synthetic 15W-40? does it have enuff zinc in it? Im just wondering. Ill make sure to get a zinc additive in my new engine that I am building & BTW the new engine will have your HD Big Stick cam, valve springs, & Push rods in it. & what oil should I run to break in the new engine with your cam in it, & How long would you say the break in should be? thanks
 
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