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Zinc additive really necessary ?

Posted: April 5th, 2016, 7:34 am
by amceaglesx4
Shaking the tree of knowledge here I know ! For years with my 5.0 and 4.0's ive always used regular 10w30 and never really have had what i call engine noises. My 96 had 370 on it and it was running strong. All my other xj's well over 100 on them as well. Why is the zinc really that necessary? I can see from a break in point of view due to higher heat and parts initially wearing in. Please no smart ass remarks. Im just curious. Is it better just because its a modified engine maybe ?

Re: Zinc additive really necessary ?

Posted: April 5th, 2016, 8:33 am
by johnj92131
Google is your very good friend for questions like this.

http://lucasoil.com/products/engine-oil ... -zinc-plus

Search was: Zinc as a oil additive

Lots of reading there for you to learn from. Enjoy!

Try this one next: http://www.drivenracingoil.com/news/dro ... motor-oil/

Re: Zinc additive really necessary ?

Posted: April 5th, 2016, 9:11 am
by amceaglesx4
From my experience with hundreds of thousands of miles on a 4.0 ive never had a reason to use zinc. If you get easily over 200,000 miles without it whats the REAL advantage ? Just saying

Re: Zinc additive really necessary ?

Posted: April 6th, 2016, 8:51 am
by amceaglesx4
High heat, high rpm , high compression and big cam engines is basically what I got. I dont really consider a 250-300 hp engine revving to 5500 or so a race engine. Am I wrong here ?

Re: Zinc additive really necessary ?

Posted: April 6th, 2016, 8:55 am
by amceaglesx4
Just like high volume oil pumps. Its happened where a high volume pump pulls so much oil out of the pan that main bairings heat up and get trashed. My engine builder had that experience when he built a motor for one of his customers. His customer put a high volume in and it sucked his pan dry.

Re: Zinc additive really necessary ?

Posted: April 7th, 2016, 1:53 am
by Cheromaniac
amceaglesx4 wrote:Shaking the tree of knowledge here I know ! For years with my 5.0 and 4.0's ive always used regular 10w30 and never really have had what i call engine noises. My 96 had 370 on it and it was running strong. All my other xj's well over 100 on them as well. Why is the zinc really that necessary? I can see from a break in point of view due to higher heat and parts initially wearing in. Please no smart ass remarks. Im just curious. Is it better just because its a modified engine maybe ?
Engine oil manufacturers have reduced the amount of ZDDP additives in the oil over the years and since these are required to protect the lobes/lifters of flat tappet cams, the choice is either use oil with a higher ZDDP content or add a ZDDP-containing additive. Modern engines have roller camshafts so low ZDDP oils aren't an issue for them.
amceaglesx4 wrote:Just like high volume oil pumps. Its happened where a high volume pump pulls so much oil out of the pan that main bearings heat up and get trashed. My engine builder had that experience when he built a motor for one of his customers. His customer put a high volume in and it sucked his pan dry.
Your engine builder should have known better! If the oil pan wasn't big enough to provide enough oil for a high volume pump, he should have recommended to his customer to add a larger capacity oil pan at the same time.

Re: Zinc additive really necessary ?

Posted: April 7th, 2016, 5:24 am
by amceaglesx4
I have read what you commented on in your post. And like I was saying before ive gone hundreds and thousands without zinc additives before so... There is no aftermarket oil pan for the eagle. Actually there isnt shit aftermarket for an Eagle.

Re: Zinc additive really necessary ?

Posted: April 7th, 2016, 5:45 am
by Cheromaniac
amceaglesx4 wrote:There is no aftermarket oil pan for the eagle.
But you could modify the existing oil pan to add more capacity, and add baffles to prevent oil surging out of the sump when you're on a steep slope.
amceaglesx4 wrote:And like I was saying before ive gone hundreds and thousands without zinc additives before so...
Count yourself lucky.

Re: Zinc additive really necessary ?

Posted: April 8th, 2016, 9:29 am
by amceaglesx4
Ive been far from lucky lol. Still trying to pinpoint this noise. Ive tightened the rockers one by one with no luck.