BBC has been running fine for over a year using Shell Rotella oil and standard Wix filters. I was going on a 500 mile round trip last weekend so I decided to change the oil. Typically I have oil and filters here that is ordered from Summit but let my supply run out. While oil was draining, I drove over to Advance Auto to pick up oil and filter. They only had one 5 gallon jug of Shell ( I need 7 qts because of the pan)and no qt's so I used Royal Purple 15-40 which I thought was a good substitute. No Wix filters so I substituted it for a K&N. 100 miles into the trip I lost a lobe on number 4 cylinder and partial on number 7. I'm confused on what could have caused this. Never a problem out of this engine. The non roller cam is part of the Edelbrock top end kit that has been on this car for well over a year and well into 5000 miles.
BBC has been running fine for over a year using Shell Rotella oil and standard Wix filters. I was going on a 500 mile round trip last weekend so I decided to change the oil. Typically I have oil and filters here that is ordered from Summit but let my supply run out. While oil was draining, I drove over to Advance Auto to pick up oil and filter. They only had one 5 gallon jug of Shell ( I need 7 qts because of the pan)and no qt's so I used Royal Purple 15-40 which I thought was a good substitute. No Wix filters so I substituted it for a K&N. 100 miles into the trip I lost a lobe on number 4 cylinder and partial on number 7. I'm confused on what could have caused this. Never a problem out of this engine. The non roller cam is part of the Edelbrock top end kit that has been on this car for well over a year and well into 5000 miles.
Hmmm I've been running royal purple for decades in cars, pickups, hot rods and bikes. Not one single issue ever. I guessing pure coincidence, probably another issue is my guess.
Ken
Question for you are you running a BBC? Reasoin I ask they are a different beast than a SBC due o canted valves load the valve train differently than the linear loads of the SBC.
Craig the answer to your question is written on the side of the oil "can".
It is all about the PPM's of Zinc dialkyldithiophosphates (often referred to as ZDDP).
This a compound that is a family of coordination compounds developed in the 1940s that feature zinc bound to the anion of a dialkyldithiophosphoric acid (e.g., ammonium diethyl dithiophosphate). These uncharged compounds are not salts. They are soluble in nonpolar solvents, and the longer-chain derivatives easily dissolve in mineral and synthetic oils used as lubricants.
Add to this Rotela has changed it's formulation. The old Rotella that used to be found in truck stops in the days before particulate filters is long gone. Shell claims that they still pass the CK-4 wear tests, though they offer only half the former protection due to lower levels of ZDDP.
If you want ZDDP because you still have a flat tappet cam then buy it separate and add it to your favorite oil.
You will now find out how much money you saved running a flat tappet cam as you have to pull the motor and rebuild it after cleaning it out of all of the metal filings your cam lobe poured into the motor. My advise is to buy a roller cam to replace your dead one.
Wonder if it was the filter. You had been doing good with the Wix. Did not know K&N made oil filters. That would be my guess. Remove it and cut it in half. See how it is made. I will surely only use Wix now.
Yeah it sucks. I'm gonna pull it down I guess and see where the metal went. Taking the K&N filter to a friend with a diamond saw and get it sectioned. Royal Purple will analyze the oil in I send them a sample. Nothing to lose by doing that....I'd like to know what all they find it in. You best bet there will be a roller in it when it goes back together!
I know it doesn't sound sexy and there are no product endorsement decals involved, but nearly every town has a Caterpillar repair facility. In that facility is an engine oil lab. They will disassemble filters and do a chemical analysis on the oil for $12.50.
I am sure Detroit Diesel, Cummings, or any of the other big rig motor maintenance shops offer a similar service.
Sorry about your cam. My brother who is a tech part time at NE Dragway turned me on to Brad Penn oil. I love the stuff for my BBC, but I did go roller to begin with. I personally would never go with Royal Purple. Waste of money IMO.
Sorry for your difficulty, thats a lot of work to do over again.here again there was no mention of what brand of cam and what lifters were used.that being said there arethree brands of cams i no longer usebecause of past problems with lobe failure. Mind you in the past i have used all three with never a problem and that includes some of the quick ramp stuff. Here again i only use either genuine g / m lifters or johnson and that it regardless of what brand cam. This is my process washeverthing with brake clean and dry .lube up lobes with i y rev lube and lifter bottoms install mark lifters with a marker and rotate cam by hand to see that they all rotate. Finnish installation. Valvoline vr-1 oil silver bottle plenty of zddp and a wix gold o f . Fire it up bring to 2000 rpm for ten minutes then vary from 2000 to 3000 for another ten and back to 2000 for five mre minutes. Shut it off let cool a bit drain new fiter and rfill with same never a problem . I know there are many that will disagre and want to go roller especially big dave a very knowledgable man. My contention is this they left the factory with f t cams . If you use well made american stuff goodcam cores and lifters good oil and check everthing there should be no problems. Of course there are always situations that happen but they ar far and few if everything was done right. I like f/t cams and only use them however there are certain parameters that i follow as far as too much lift or duration. Every design has its limits ,but thats another topic for discusion good luck on your job . Alex
My engine builder told me to use Brad Penn and I've been using it for about the last 10 years. So far no problems with my Lunati flat tappet cam. But at approx. 50.00 bucks a oil change times 10 years = 500.00. That roller cam doesn't seem too outlandish after all.
I buy it by the case off Amazon. It's $85.99/12 right now or $7.17/qt. Not too far off others. My big block takes 7 quarts so $50 is about right on for me too. Mine is a Lunati also, but a roller. I still run it. After all the work I did myself, I think she's earned it.
Being a member of the wiped lobe club, SBC roller though, I can say bearing damage from a wiped lobe is about instantaneous which meant a complete rebuild. Ideally the crank is salvageable with a .xxx grind. Re-bearing the entire motor and get a roller with new lifters. I would use Joe Gibbs or Valvoline VR1 on initial start up/break-in then a quality dino oil of choice and weight based on how your bearing clearances are set up
Just curious . . . are you sure it is a wiped lobe on the cam or just guessing ? Plus I have never heard of a "partial" wiped lobe. Usually once they go they go all the way I have to agree with the others that it is pretty unusual for a cam to give it up like that after 5000 miles of running well.
VR1- Valvoline, (silver bottle) called racing oil, even though it isnt the real race oil (black bottle).
14-1500ppm's of the zddp, I wont substitute anything else in its place. Complete package and no extras additives.
Allot of folks laughed at 540 Rat and his testing methods. At least he did it. I believed it. So far so good. Flat tappet guy here. Nuff said.
And yes I am living in the 20 century as well. It was better back then eh?
Best.
Had a similar misfortune with my flat tappet BBC. Did an oil change & without thinking used some Mobil 1 Synthetic. In 5 miles it was tapping & showed a wiped cam.
Proceeded to order a solid roller, which although it had slightly less duration, did not have enough piston to valve clearance.
Then pulled engine, fly cut all pistons & put it all back together. Runs great now, but was an expensive lesson.
I will never build another non-roller engine.... you can have more power & less grief. The auto manufacturers did it for a reason.
I guess I'm lucky. I have never ran a roller cam in my vehicles. Always assembled them with speed pro red and tacky lube and use Valvoline 30 weight. I use speed pro cams most of the time, but have installed comp, crane, and summit branded crane cams. Never had a cam problem.
Just so you know, and to save you a few dollars, when running a 7qt deep oil pan, it doesnt mean to run 7 qts in it. Just run the normal 4 or 5 that the big block calls for. The idea of the deep pan is to move the oil farther away from the crankshaft to prevent oil whip around the crank and aeration of the oil in the pan. I run a Moroso deep pan and shift my 440 BBC at 7200rpm running 4 qts in the oil pan. Never had a problem with lack of oil or heat in the oil.
A friend of mine runs a SBC in a sprint car with 45 races this past summer. He built up a new engine at the start of the season, used the AMSOIL break in oil 30w and then used AMSOIL Dominator Racing oil 15w-50 in it all season with just one oil change about half way through the summer. Its got plenty of ZDDP in it and he won 12 events and placed 2nd or 3rd in 10 more, never any issues with the motor at all, so he was super happy with that. Now a new sponsor just wrote them a big check for the next 2020 race season and gave them a new SBC crate engine built up for a new chassis and they will run what ever that sponsor recommends of course. Just an FYI that there are great oils out there for those expensive engines, dont go cheap on the oil, its nothing compared to that tear down cost.
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