[TR] Science of the "Oil Issue" Part 1

[Larry Griffin]

Randall,

Thank you for correcting the errors in the e-mail that I forwarded. I
suppose I was too trusting in passing on the information, and
certainly should not have retained that subject line based upon your
comments. :-(

Hope my posts do not lead anyone astray. I was most interested in the
idea of the possible interaction of the ZDDP and detergent levels. But
I guess that doesn't make much sense either, does it?

Thanks,
Larry


On Thu, Mar 7, 2013 at 11:16 AM, Randall <TR3driver at ca.rr.com> wrote:
>> a) It's the phosphorous in the Oil (NOT the Zinc) that forms
>> the barrier to abrasion on the surface of the lifters and camshaft.
>> However, the phosphorous is carried in ZDDP-- Zinc
>> dialkyldithiophosphate--and thus why it's sometimes just
>> abbreviated as "zinc".
>
> Sorry, but that's just silly.  Phosphorus by itself is a dangerous highly
> reactive mineral that will literally burn when exposed to air.  ZDDP is a
> complex organic compound with specific characteristics quite different than
> either zinc or phosphorous.  Or carbon, or hydrogen, or oxygen, or sulfur;
> all of which are also important parts of ZDDP.  So the important bit is the
> concentration of ZDDP, not either zinc or phosphorous by itself.
>
>> c) Boron and Molybdenum are the anti-friction additives.
>
> Wrong again.  Those elements are part of the anti-friction additives, just
> like zinc is part of ZDDP.  But it is the chemical that is important, not
> which atoms it is made of.  Pure molybdenum would only increase friction.
> The actual additive is again a complex organic molecule that includes
> molybdenum or boron as one of it's elements.
>
> Think about it, next time you sprinkle some salt on your food.  Salt is made
> of chlorine and sodium, both highly toxic and dangerous elements.  But in
> combination they are totally different (essential to life and so on).
>
>> Moly, though, is the best and most expensive, but is also
>> magnetic (boron is not) Therefore, using a magnetic pickup
>> (drain plug or magnet on oil
>> filter?) to trap metal particles is only rendering your oil
>> less effective!
>
> Silly again.  Yes, metallic molybdenum is slightly magnetic.  So is sodium.
> But neither salt nor the molybdenum compounds used as oil additives are
> magnetic.  The familiar "dry moly" (aka molybdenum disulphide) is actually
> slightly diamagnetic (meaning it gets repelled by a magnetic field).
>
> Magnetic drain plugs are standard equipment on practically all expensive and
> high-reliability engines; aircraft will typically even have a sensor that
> lights a big red light when the plug gets too much magnetic crud on it.
>
> Finally, keep in mind that this article was written by an employee of Joe
> Gibbs.  You could hardly expect him to tell you that his employer sold an
> inferior product ...
>
> -- Randall
>
> ** triumphs at autox.team.net **
>
> Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
> Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
> Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
> Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/triumphs/larrygriffin.nc@gmail.com