[Healeys] Lifter and Cam Wear ZDDP Issue

[Michael Oritt]

There is a curious conflict in the psyche of mankind that on the one hand
seems to predispose us to believe the wild proclamations of messiahs,
seers, and savants, while at the same time we often burn heretics at the
stake.

Without trying to discredit Mr. 540 Rat *(He Really needs to get a better
name) *I am going to go with the empirical data I have collected:

When I first started racing an Elva Courier in 2007 I bought an MGA 1600
engine from a well-respected and experienced engine builder.  It came with
the best of internals including a new full-race cam from--I'll omit the
supplier's name--a top notch supplier.  We broke it in by running about one
hour using top notch (name excluded) diesel oil and I then drained the oil,
changed the filter and switched over to top notch (name excluded) 10/40
full synthetic oil.  By the end of the first or second race the engine ran
terribly and upon tearing things down we found that the cam lobes were worn
and the lifters did not have the proper wear pattern.

About this time is when the issue of ZDDP levels in flat tappet engines
began to get ink.  Rather suddenly lots of reports appeared from respected
sources about cams going away using the same trusted brands of oil.
Opinions abounded. To make a long story short I bought a new cam, replaced
the tappets and began to run ONLY Royal Purple race oil AND add a container
of ZDDP additive for good measure.  I have done the same thing with my two
other race cars and though I have had lots of problems for lots of reasons
I have not experienced anything other than normal cam/lifter wear.  In fact
I have been able to reuse that original replacement cam through several
rebuilds of that same engine.

I'm sure that more will be revealed.  Some of what Mr. 540 Rat says is
really not revolutionary and like most race folks I use a full-race
synthetic oil of a proper viscosity and change it and the filter after each
weekend. But a bottle of ZDDP additive is cheap peace of mind and I'm going
to stick with what has, at least thus far, worked for me.  BTW I do the
same for my street 100.

Best--Michael Oritt



On Mon, Jun 27, 2016 at 3:30 AM, Derek Job <derek.c.job at gmail.com> wrote:

> Michael,
>
> As you are probably aware this subject was beaten to death on the British
> Car Forum. The conclusion I came to at the time was that thinner, fully
> synthetic oil was the best way to go. However there was still some
> ambiguity regarding whether to look for a fully synthetic that had the 1200
> ZDDP or whether to ignore that. Fully synthetic oil with high ZDDP is hard
> to find and reduces the choice. I think I came across part of this chap's
> report when I was doing my research. This is a great report and seems to
> nail the ZDDP myth once and for all. I haven't read the whole report as yet
> but I notice that all the best performing oils are fully synthetic, which I
> guess is no surprise as the oil industry spends millions developing them.
>
> Derek
>
> On Sun, Jun 26, 2016 at 3:36 PM, Michael Salter <michaelsalter at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> For those of us who have been long term adherents to the theory that
>> premature cam and lifter failure is attributable to the elimination of Zinc
>> Dialkyl Dithio Phosphate (ZDDP) from modern oils the following link is to a
>> very long but thought provoking blog related to the subject.
>>
>> https://540ratblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/motor-oil-wear-test-ranking/
>>
>> ​M
>> ​ichael S
>> BN1 #174​
>>
>>
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