oil question, weight/type for flat tappet cam
 

Ok, the engine should be back from the shop in a day or 2 so i'm getting everything ready to assemble and drop it in. I was wondering what weight oil you would recomend (not trying to start a brand war) or type that will work well with a 280H comp cam. The cam is broken In already as it was in another engine so the initial break in won't be a problem, I'm just going to carry the lifters over to follow the lobe it was on. The cam/lifter combo has less than 300 miles on it.

Just wondering what weight oil and what type? I was going to run rotella in it. Also what filter?

390 bored 30, HV oil pump. Its a "street" sled pull truck. So it will street use along with some higher R's for 20-30 seconds at a time.

I think the oil weight depends a lot on the bearing clearances (and intended usage).

My clearances are on the high side and in a semi-performance engine, so I use 15W50 Mobil 1 (although I used Castrol GTX 10W40 for break-in).

One advantage of trhe 15W50 Mobil 1 is that supposedly has sufficient ZDDP added for solid lifter engines. Other Mobil 1 oil weights, and most other oils (except diesal) don't. You may want to research that a bit as I'm going by memory from the last time I checked into it.

If your clearances are on in the middle of the spec, or tighter, and you think you might want to use 10W30, you might want to conisder one of ZDDP additives.

I did do some oil filter testing and found the Mobile 1 M301 filter has the least pressure drop across it. I feel safe recommending it.

Take all I've said with a grain of salt, but it's my understanding at this point, and it's what I am doing. Maybe someone else can chime in and confirm (or deny it).

Oh...for the record I did not use ZDDP with the Castrol oil during break-in, although perhaps I should have. I didn't worry too much about it as I used cam break-in lube and thought that would be enough.

Thanks, thats pretty much exactly what i was looking for. I wasn't really sure of what weight was used for these engines based on what clearances they were in. Atleast i'll have a basic idea of what i should be using.

Thats funny that you mention the M301 filter, thats the exact filter i run in my jeep liberty diesel.

I used some OLD 15w40 pennsoil diesel oil for the cam break in about 5 years ago when i did the cam. It was probably from the late 80's to early 90's from a 5 gallon jug. Too bad I'm out of that old stuff :(

I think what I will do is grab some 10w40 along with a motorcraft filter to use for the initial start up and "break in" even though the cam is already done. Then switch it out for whatever I decide to run along with the m301. I hate to drop alot of cash in that initial oil fill since it won't be in it very long at all.

That 15w50 is synthetic racing oil correct?

The engine is going to be 9.85 CR and should hit peak power around 5400 if i remember from the desktop dyno run i had done a while ago. Other than that it will be just driven around but probably not really pushed at all.

Thanks for the help.

Here's a recent thread. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ul-advice.html

Here is a link to the standard changes being made. Joe Gibbs Driven - Training Center
There are alot of good articles on the Joe Gibbs site as well.

There are a few oils MADE for flat tappet engines. Valvoline VR1, Brad Penn (I use and would recommend), Joe Gibbs, and Amsoil. I would steer clear of the diesel oils as standards are changing and they will no longer have the needed additives.

There are people on here all the time that wipe cams that didn't know they were to use these oils, so the threat is real.

Weight will depend on clearances and temp. I run 10w30 Brad Penn.

Ok, thanks i'll have to look around the area to find who has what. I just did a locater on brad penn and I have 2 dealers within 15-20 miles of me. I had a handicapped moment, brad PENN.... Shocking its made in Pennsylvania just happens to be my state :) lol I'll probably just go with

lol
It's not much more than standard oil. I had to get it shipped (no dealers had it for a 100mi in any direction) and it still wasn't too bad. Better than installing a new cam for sure.
Plus it looks Cool pouring in green oil. I know that's what sold me. j/k lol

Its green?? thats awesome I bet that explains "the green oil" on the page... lol i had thought they were trying to say its good for the enviroment. hahah i need some sleep lol

Do you remember the Union 76 Royal Purple from the 60's? Looked cool going in and it looked like it had 10,000 miles on it 5 minutes after you started the engine.

lol yeah. Thankfully the Brad Penn doesn't do the same. Personally I've been very impressed with how well it's held up. Everything's still sparkles under the valve covers and there's no trash in the filter so I know the cam is getting what it needs to live.

If i get time today I'm going to call the place that has the brad penn and get a price quote.