Sulfurized Ester and Motor Oil Choice

[Davison]

I have a 72 Road Runner GTX 440-4bbl that I am "waking up" after about 10 years of non-use. Going through the owners manual and the service manual it says to add a pint of sulfurized ester to the motor oil. I never heard of this product. It was sold by Mopar as a high performance additive at the time. So my question is, what are you all using for motor oil in your high performance Mopars? Do any of them contain this product? I am sure motor oils have gotten a lot better since 1972, so maybe it is not a worry. Also the manual recommends 20w-40 or 20w-50 for high performance driving. Any recommendations on brand of oil. (10w-30 or 10w-40 would be ok for winter driving but I am never going to have this car out in below freezing temperatures.) Thanks!

 

[PP1RT]

Regular motor oils have had the zinc removed from them for several years now. You should use one of the few high zinc oils on the market or a diesel oil like Shell Rotella or Mobil Delvac.
You are gonna have a lot of opinions on this subject....

 

[moparnation74]

I use Brad Penn...but every person will post something that is adequate.....

 

[Crider]

I use rotella in flat tapper street engines and brad penn in the drag car

 

[JoeyD1968runner]

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2012/10/18/tech-101-zinc-in-oil-and-its-effects-on-older-engines/

a good read

 

[Davison]

I have heard a lot of good things about the Rotella. Any thoughts about the T6 synthetic , T5 blend or the T4 conventional? Or just in general the synthetic or conventional decision. I have heard that synthetics will leak. I guess if they go I just can go back to conventional or the blend.

 

[moparedtn]

I wiped a cam by going to what I've used for a looooong time in my "modern" cars, namely synthetic oil. Thinking that was the best I could do for the engine, turns out not so much for flat tappet cams - the specific Mobil1 I use on my modern hemi's and such have very low concentrations of zinc, come to find out.

Zinc kills cat convertors, so we get the modern oils we have now. One has to make the effort and do some homework to find sufficient oil for older, flat tappet engines.
There's plenty of good brands out there that do, you just need to verify same.

I saw someone mention Rotella - a word of caution there:
Some formulations of modern Rotella (there are many) do NOT contain sufficient ZDDP (zinc), so verify, verify, verify.

I currently have two favorites - the DRIVEN brand by Joe Gibbs Racing (they have done some serious research into the whole ZDDP thing and have some engineers on staff who write technical papers on the subject) and Brad Penn (which is now PennGrade1) - the famous "green oil" recommended to me by several knowledgeable folks on this very forum.
Both have significant levels of the "old school" additives in them.

There are many others out there who do have the additives our old school engines require and there's tons of research available online to support them, so I'm not saying my two preferences are the best or only choices, not at all.
I also don't subscribe to the "you can have too much zinc in oil, too" philosophy.
No such thing as far as I'm concerned.
Lessons learned the hard way....

 

[Ski 61701]

Moparedtn is correct on the oil aspect, and yes it can be confusing. The new formula of shell rotella does not have enough of the zinc and phosphorus in it as the old stuff. A decent read is 540ratblog. Just google it, its crazy long but a boatload of info in it. Me personally I use valvoline vr1 10w30 my spring pressure is 388 over the nose, knock on wood no problems using this oil for me anyway. Spend some time doing research on this, it might save you from having to rebuild a motor

 

[Dennis H]

Amsoil Signature Synthetic. 10-40. High Zinc. Amsoil and Mobil 1 are the only true synthetics. ALL others start with Dino. Amsoil has an additive to massage seals. 0-30 Amsoil in the modern Hemis.

 

[PP1RT]

I believe on the rotella you need to be sure it is for diesels. No converters like a car in a diesel.

 

[Cranky]

I believe on the rotella you need to be sure it is for diesels. No converters like a car in a diesel.

Not so true. My 97 Dodge 2500 diesel 'had' a cat on it. It surprised the crap out of me for sure when I bought it in 2001. People need to research the oils they use before using it. The info in post #5 is 5 years old and is probably older by the time it was placed on that site. Today's Rotella isn't CI-4 anymore and hasen't been for over 10 years but is now CJ-4 which is reduced zinc but says it meets CI-4 and CI-4+ but it's still reduced ZDDP. Someone tried to tell me that many years ago but I kinda refused to believe it.....until a buddy flattened a new cam with that oil....

 

[65Fury440]

After speaking to our oil distributor, I gave up on Rotella.

He stated there was some reformulation going on, and he wouldn't get a warning if zinc level was decreased.

The number I have always looked for is 1200 PPM. The level decreases in the oil as it is a sacrificial layer, so as the mileage on the oil goes up, the level of zinc goes down.

I use Amsoil synthetic with added zinc or VR1 now.

I also read all the rat540 stuff. It might be true, but I don't want to find out if it isn't.
Trashing a $10k motor over pride or stubbornness isn't in my cards.

 

[lewtot184]

use 30wt rotella . last I read it has over 1100ppm of zinc phosphorous stuff. I use a lot of it without issues but don't use stupid valve spring pressures. I think the old mopar stuff was lubzol, or something like that. just a bottle or two camshaft break-in lube with a fresh oil change.

 

[PRND21]

I believe on the rotella you need to be sure it is for diesels. No converters like a car in a diesel.

All newer on road diesels have catalytic converters. Oils like Rotella and Delvac do not have the zinc additive like they used to.

 

[Ski 61701]

I just looked at the 540rats web page, he's updated it with current oils etc. I remember when the vr1 oil was in the top 10, now its down in the low 30s, other oils have superseded it. VR1 still has a lot of what is needed. Hence one always needs to research to get the latest info out there, or at the very least make an educated guess.

 

[PP1RT]

Not so true. My 97 Dodge 2500 diesel 'had' a cat on it. It surprised the crap out of me for sure when I bought it in 2001. People need to research the oils they use before using it. The info in post #5 is 5 years old and is probably older by the time it was placed on that site. Today's Rotella isn't CI-4 anymore and hasen't been for over 10 years but is now CJ-4 which is reduced zinc but says it meets CI-4 and CI-4+ but it's still reduced ZDDP. Someone tried to tell me that many years ago but I kinda refused to believe it.....until a buddy flattened a new cam with that oil....

Yes you are right but they operate a little differently with the different fuel. Thanks for the info on the rotella change.

 

[mopar 3 B]

Regular motor oils have had the zinc removed from them for several years now. You should use one of the few high zinc oils on the market or a diesel oil like Shell Rotella or Mobil Delvac.
You are gonna have a lot of opinions on this subject....

Better check the label on the Shell Rotella as it no longer contains zink and has not for almost 2 years now.

 

[PP1RT]

Better check the label on the Shell Rotella as it no longer contains zink and has not for almost 2 years now.

Thats what i am learning. Thanks for the info. Didnt mean to lead anyone astray.

 

[mopar 3 B]

I will be switching to Brad Penn racing oil or once known as Kendall Oil in the HP engines.
Been using VR1 in the old yard equipment for 2 years now. That was when the stock of old formulation Rottella ran out.

 

[moparedtn]

Moparedtn is correct on the oil aspect, and yes it can be confusing. The new formula of shell rotella does not have enough of the zinc and phosphorus in it as the old stuff. A decent read is 540ratblog. Just google it, its crazy long but a boatload of info in it. Me personally I use valvoline vr1 10w30 my spring pressure is 388 over the nose, knock on wood no problems using this oil for me anyway. Spend some time doing research on this, it might save you from having to rebuild a motor

Yep, VR-1 is another one I'm eyeing, especially since it appears Wally World stocks it sometimes.