Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

The people building the LS3 based 427 short block for my car have recommended this oil for break in. I found it interesting. Any thoughts? Anyways it is being shipped with the short block.

Schaeffer Diesel Supreme 7000 10W30 para-synthetic.

I always use Rotella Diesel oil to 'break in' my new-build 4 & 8-cylinders. Works for me! Gotta lot of that zinc stuff in it. -Dave-

diesel oils are always a good choice to break in, like Rotella Shell the most as it is cheap and easy to get

the "new" diesel oils have reduced zinc also because the new diesel engines have cat convertors. read the label carefully. also diesel engine oil do not have a lot of high pressure additives. I had a customer put diesel engine oil in a BBC short track engine back in the day and the engine was worn out in 2 nights of racing

it should be used to break in engine the first few miles and not to run races ...

I would not be using a current day diesel oil to break in any type of engine. Diesel oil is zinc rich but it's loaded up big time with detergents due to todays diesel engines are running emission equipment. Take a look a the attached links from Driven Racing Oil.

http://www.drivenracingoil.com/news/dro ... detergent/

http://www.drivenracingoil.com/news/dro ... -bulletin/

#84Dave wrote:I always use Rotella Diesel oil to 'break in' my new-build 4 & 8-cylinders. Works for me! Gotta lot of that zinc stuff in it. -Dave-

Where do you buy the old Rotella with zinc in it as the newer Rotella that is formulated for the newer engines only has 970 PPM of zinc compared to the pre 2007 which had 1400 PPM of zinc.

I have been using the CENPECO 15/40 S-3 oil which has 1582 PPM of zinc.

LAT for me.

There has to be a dozen or more manufacturers of oil specially formulated for the gas engine/break-in. I am amazed at the guys that want to use a oil designed for something else. Oh well, guess they know more then the guys that are oil Engineers.

interesting tech bulletins at that site

I do use diesel API CG-4 / SJ e ACEA E2-96 / B2-96 engine oil to break-in FT cams and also for drag race with success, because here in Brazil there are no performance oils available. Just snake oils additives.

This oil being a old formulation,I figured it should have good Zddp content and more important, this same oil support the massive bearing loads 18 wheeler trucks engines are subjected to when loaded, accelerating uphill at low rpm; it might have enough film strenght to protect healthy V8.

Import lubricants is prohibited overhere, then only if a miracle happen I can buy a can of USA made Zddp to add.

If there offering you a warranty, I'd run it if something goes wrong it's
one less thing for them to say you screwed up, and better chance it
gets fixed. Why would they say to run something knowing it will
ruin their engine.

A lot of shops just don't know. I had no idea until I attended a seminar by Lake Speed from JGR.

I do not use the JGR oil, but it made me do my research on oils.

I am going to run the oil initially. When the short block arrives I will see if there are anymore instructions with it. If need be I will call the shop up. I am thinking of something like Joe Gibbs 5W-30 break-in oil after the first oil change.

I am amazed at the guys that want to use a oil designed for something else.

Not amazed one bit. It's a monkey see monkey do type of situation, and so are many of the old wives tales that that they follow as well. The last oil I would ever use in an application pertaining to a street, street strip or race application, would be an oil intended for a diesel.