Jeep Strokers

What kind of additive are people running and how much of a spike ?

A ZDDP concentrate additive.

I use Comps, but pretty much they're all the same. I buy several cases at a time.

Local auto parts stores like O'Reily and Autozone carry Lucas Break in oil Additive, or Rislone engine oil supplement. I think that it's recommended to use a cam assembly grease instead of a regular break in lube when installing a new cam and lifters, I went with the Lucas extreme pressure valve train grease that worked pretty good. Instead of buying regular oil that will need a zinc additive, you can buy break in oil that has all of the break in additives mixed in. Lucas and Comp makes them also, but you might only be able to find them online like on Summit racing.

After coating your cam lobes and bottom of lifters with a Molly based lube, you still want to dump a bottle of a ZDDP additive to your oil unless of course you're running the purpose made break in oil.

Brad Penn, all the work is done for you.

jsawduste wrote:Brad Penn, all the work is done for you.

Brad Penn, Joe Gibbs , Comp, all good choices

I am kind of shocked with the zinc thing or special break in oils out there. Fifteen years ago when my mustang went in I didn't use anything but 10w30 and it never had an issue. Well maybe that time oils had more zinc. Btw I think I got lucky with my camshaft. I took it to a local shop and he said the cam was barely broken in and that the one lobe wasn't having good contact with lifter. He thinks I caught it early enough. The one lobe had just the edges worn but the middle wasn't making contact and that the new lifter would start to level the lobe out. All the other ones were looking good. I told him the what was going on symptom wise and he said he didn't think the cam was shot. Would of been though. From his experience he also said it takes around 300 miles for a cam to really break in. Not sure if its true or not lol but that's where I'm at now.

amceaglesx4 wrote:I am kind of shocked with the zinc thing or special break in oils out there. Fifteen years ago when my mustang went in I didn't use anything but 10w30 and it never had an issue. Well maybe that time oils had more zinc.

Oils at that time did indeed have more zinc but the problem was specific to flat tappet camshafts and your Mustang would have had a roller camshaft if it was an '87-'95 pushrod 5.0.

1983 flat tappet. You know your mustangs well.

Maybe the cam IS shot. After talking to a local guy it seems the guy was wrong after all. Everything is back together with all new lifters and running again. One arm short still... and it is still ticking. I just want to drive it.

amceaglesx4 wrote:1983 flat tappet. You know your mustangs well.

Yup. I owned a '95 GT (auto) from Feb 2007 till Oct 2013, and my '06 GT (manual) ever since.

Now's your chance to post a video. If the ticking was on start up without priming the oil pump, then that's probably normal. However, post a video because for all you know that noise is normal for those cams like someone pointed out? It could be something else making the noise, but if one lobe had some wear than that should have been looked at a little closer.

Well this isn't the first start up. First fifty miles was fine. I'm pulling the cam and just replacing it. $140 shipped is cheap. I going to attempt it by holding the lifters up by the dowel rod trick I saw. I just got done replacing new lifters and that's a job with a broken wrist.

Haha, I saw that video too, seemed to work. Well, if you can, take some pics of that cam once it's out and post them.

You are going to put used lifters on a new cam again?