Where do I buy break-in oil?

Begle1

Begle1

Active member
I'm rebuilding my 12 valve engine in a couple weeks.

What should I use for break-in oil/ additive?

Stock bottom end and pistons, new camshaft, aftermarket valve train stuff.
 
Looks like you have a Napa parts store there in Kihei. Our local Napa is where I usually score Lucas engine break in additive, and the Lucas oil stabilizer as well. Typically they have at least a bottle or two on the shelves. So 2 bottles Lucas break-in additive, a quart or two of Lucas oil stabilizer, and the remainder oil of your choice for break in...(We have Chevron Delo in the oil bar at the shop so that what we use.) So far so good. ��
 
The internet is where I bought mine. I used Driven 15w40 break-in oil with 2 bottles of Hamilton cam break in additive and a bottle of Lucas zinc zddp. Also the Lucas zinc additive only treats 4-5qts per bottle.
 
We break-in all of the engines we build/sell with our Power Driven 15w-40 Conventional Oil, this includes the big power solid 6.7 block UCC engine(s), all the way down to stock rebuilds. It's formulated with 2200 PPM ZDDP and we've never had an issue using it as the sole break-in oil. With the amount of guys using our oil, I'll bet it has been used to successfully break-in several hundred engines at this point in addition to the 25 or 30 we've done in-house.

I personally used to use the Lucas Break-in additive to spike my cheap Walmart oil for a "poor man's" race oil and while it did work better than the plain 15w-40 oil alone, the new PDD 15w-40 oil has returned better lab results/lower wear metals vs. the Lucas additive spiked store brand, even when the Lucas was dosed heavy enough to surpass 2000 PPM on the zinc.

eDSC_08892-510x600.jpg


https://powerdrivendiesel.com/product-category/power-driven-fluids/convetional-oil/
 
Cflanery88 said:
The internet is where I bought mine. I used Driven 15w40 break-in oil with 2 bottles of Hamilton cam break in additive and a bottle of Lucas zinc zddp. Also the Lucas zinc additive only treats 4-5qts per bottle.
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I can't find the 15w40 from Driven, only 15w50?


What makes a "break-in oil" a "break-in" oil? The theory is that it's actually a crappy oil that doesn't have certain wear inhibitors, logic being you want certain things to wear faster during break in?

Is there a difference between "break in" additive and just ZDDP additive?


I'll be building the engine back home in California over Christmas, the truck hasn't swam over yet.
 
Begle1 said:
I'm rebuilding my 12 valve engine in a couple weeks.

What should I use for break-in oil/ additive?

Stock bottom end and pistons, new camshaft, aftermarket valve train stuff.
Click to expand...

You ever come to Oahu? I'd be down to split a few cases of PDD oil and save on shipping. Maybe they'd cut us a deal if we'd be a hub for out here.
 
Begle1 said:
I can't find the 15w40 from Driven, only 15w50?


What makes a "break-in oil" a "break-in" oil? The theory is that it's actually a crappy oil that doesn't have certain wear inhibitors, logic being you want certain things to wear faster during break in?

Is there a difference between "break in" additive and just ZDDP additive?


I'll be building the engine back home in California over Christmas, the truck hasn't swam over yet.
Click to expand...


Jegs or summit racing sells it. Not saying it’s the best because I’ve used it. I’m sure power drivens oil and many other brands work just as well. Whatever you do wether you buy a break in oil or run a conventional oil with an additive, do not use synthetic as it will have the opposite effect of what your trying to accomplish. And if it’s a new cam the initial start to 5 minutes are the most critical.
 
Valvaline vr1 racing oil, not in the diesel specific 15/40 But sold in the more common weights. Has high zinc being it's "not for street use".
 
We never use break in oil, just our regular AGCO branded 15w40 and change it after 50 hours. We've rebuilt a couple hundred engines over the years without incident.

IMHO, and experience,
Chris
 
regular 15w40 with lucas zinc additive. Change it after a few heat cycles and move on.
 
Begle1 said:
Guys using cheap regular oil, do you use any "break-in additive" along with it?
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We do not. Generous application of assembly lube (Royal Purple or Red Line) on everything as we're building, then fire them up, check for leaks, and to the dyno for 2 hours give or take at various loads and RPM ranges.


Explain the need for break in oil for me? Looks like it has more zinc and phosphorous to make it extra sticky during initial startup...with assembly lube, what's not protected? Also, we always make them have oil pressure before the engine is allowed to start.

Not saying there is anything wrong with using break in oil, but don't exactly see the "requirement" here?
Chris
 
Only thing I use “break in oil” in, is gas stuff. Which consists of a lesser weight oil, and plenty of additive. In those cases, we always ran vr1 valvoline as someone stated before. In our old race car engines we used vr1 all the time, in my engine I have left it’s too high. I actually use rotella 15-40 in my last gasser we built for daily usage.

Same as Chris, when assembled we always use liberal amounts of good assembly lube on everything.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
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only reason I know of for break-in oil, is if you're breaking in a new flat tappet cam. other than than, you're pissin' in the wind. any standard oil will work.
 
Signature600 said:
We never use break in oil, just our regular AGCO branded 15w40 and change it after 50 hours. We've rebuilt a couple hundred engines over the years without incident.

IMHO, and experience,
Chris
Click to expand...


Signature600 said:
We do not. Generous application of assembly lube (Royal Purple or Red Line) on everything as we're building, then fire them up, check for leaks, and to the dyno for 2 hours give or take at various loads and RPM ranges.


Explain the need for break in oil for me? Looks like it has more zinc and phosphorous to make it extra sticky during initial startup...with assembly lube, what's not protected? Also, we always make them have oil pressure before the engine is allowed to start.

Not saying there is anything wrong with using break in oil, but don't exactly see the "requirement" here?
Chris
Click to expand...


The additive package in breakin-oil helps seat fresh rings better than regular oil. Regular oil has a higher chance of scuffing the cylinder walls during break-in. I don't want to start a war but "without incident" doesn't say much. You couldn't possibly know that without pulling the head after break-in of each engine and inspecting cylinder walls and rings. An engine can run seemingly healthy for thousands of hours before some types of wear really become noticeable, and by that time it can be pretty near impossible to trace it back to break-in.

I know very well you can break in an engine on regular oil, I've done it too, but I do believe break-in oil does a better job of setting up rings and cylinder walls for the long haul. An engine broken in on regular oil might go 10,000hrs before blow-by or oil consumption is diagnosed as "excessive" or some other noticeable failure, whereas an engine broken in with break-in oil might go 15,000hrs. By that time, you'll probably never hear of the failure anyway. It's up to you if the probable extra life deems break-in oil a "requirement". To me, it does.

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk
 
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