Oil Additives - Jake?

[insite]

i recently completed a 3.4L conversion. everything is running great, but on occasion, i'm hearing a single sticky lifter at idle. the motor sat for eight years prior to being installed in my car, so i figure a little bit of wear & oil circulation would start to clean everything out.

i'm at about 700 miles now, & it still happens. i'm wondering if there's a remedy that could help clean out any gunk. should i just rely on time & normal oil detergents? years ago, i remember various solvent oil additives one could use in these types of situations (i.e. sea foam, etc). these solvents could be run in the crankcase for a little while & really worked pretty well. i am, for obvious reasons, hesitant to go this route w/ a modern porsche motor.....

right now i'm running castrol syntec 10w-30 with an OEM filter. i plan on an oil / filter chantge w/ another oil analysis 300 miles from now. FYI, the analysis of the oil that sat in the motor for eight years was excellent.

anyone have thoughts on this situation?

[Jake Raby]

I recently attended a lubrication seminar...

It included dialogue from an API Certified Lubrication Specialist. He was posed with this same question concerning additives.

He referenced a question and answer that was found on his CLS test administered by the API. The question was "When is it suitable to use an aftermarket oil additive?".The correct answer to the question: NEVER

I concur, additives disrupt the critical balance that must be maintained between the detergency and anti-wear packages of the oil. This imbalance isn't a positive occurrence.

I prefer a proper oil, designed for the engine I am working with. I learned over time that oil really didn't exist for the M96 completely, so I teamed up with Joe Gibbs racing and we simply had it formulated. I continue to develop it now, but we are using it in all our engines with excellent success.

There are some others that work well enough, just do your homework... oh, never flush the lubrication system of an M96 engine, its the fastest way to send all the gunk in the engine to the lifters and variocam assemblies and that gets expensive quick.

BTW- If that engine sat for 8 years, expect a broken valve spring... several valve springs sat partially or fully compressed within that engine for 8 years and thats not healthy..

[Gilles]

Originally Posted by Jake Raby

BTW- If that engine sat for 8 years, expect a broken valve spring... several valve springs sat partially or fully compressed within that engine for 8 years and thats not healthy..

Jake out of curiosity, can you replace a valve spring without removing the head, by using compressed air to keep the valves closed?

On the V6 Alfa engines there is a tool that you install on the plug thread and locks the valve in the closed position, allowing you to use an external spring compressor (to replace springs or valve seals)

Thanks, Gilles

[tonycarreon]

Originally Posted by insite

right now i'm running castrol syntec 10w-30...

well i'd certainly start with that being a thing to change!

[insite]

jake - good puts. i kind of figured that tribological knowledge had evolved past any additives that might interfere w/ viscosity curves.

as for the valve springs? i hadn't really thought of that! i guess maybe next year's project will be a valve job. we shall see.....

Originally Posted by tonycarreon

well i'd certainly start with that being a thing to change!

uhhhhh.....why? syntec is good stuff.

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by insite

uhhhhh.....why? syntec is good stuff.

the Syntec is fine, the 10W-30 weight is a bit thin..........

[insite]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

the Syntec is fine, the 10W-30 weight is a bit thin..........

oh, i agree. i loaded it w/ the 10w-30 as a sort of break-in weight for the first 1000 miles i'm driving it post-install. it's been really cold out & the car isn't being driven very hard (continuously) yet.

when i replace the oil in 300mi, it will get 10w-40

[goldsc_78258]

Just curious, why are you braking in a used engine? How many miles where on it before you got it?

[insite]

Originally Posted by goldsc_78258

Just curious, why are you braking in a used engine? How many miles where on it before you got it?

about 38k on the motor before i got it. not really 'breaking it in' per-se, as the wear surfaces were all broken in prior to receiving the motor. however, since it sat for so long, fuel & other contaminents will have entered the crankcase. also, i'd cleaned the motor, replaced a bunch of seals, etc.....

really, it's just an accelerated oil change interval with a new oil analysis done to make sure everything's a-okay.

[Jake Raby]

You did carry out the IMSR before you installed this engine, didn't you?

33-35K has been the magic number for 996 IMS bearing failures as of late..

[insite]

yes sir! new LN bearing, new LN oil pump drive, lots of new o-rings & seals.....

she'll also be getting an LN accusump kit before she goes back to the track.

[2TrunkSteve]

insite

I've been lurking around in your project posts for awhile. I like what you did and I'm a little jealous....all that power. It looks like you've really spent a lot of time planning and it looks like you've made some great decisions.

Very cool and thanks for the great posts. I'm thinking about a similiar conversion in my car and I really appreciate you paving the way publicly!

[insite]

Glad it's been helpful!