I have always stuck with straight 30 weight non-detergent oil for break-in. The non-detergent oil is suppose to help the rings seat faster, but change it after about the first hour of break-in. I have never had a problem with this method. Perhaps it is old-hat, but it seems to work good for me.
The story I've been getting about diesel oil (such as Rotella 15-40) is that there is still sulfer in it, which they've eliminated in "gas engine oil" for emissions reasons. But the sulfer content is really supposed to be beneficial to the cam surface. If anyone else has heard this or can give support to the theory, I've been curious myself.
Where do you get nondetergent oil? I looked when I was getting my cam ready for break in, but reading the bottles at the autoparts store, none of them mentioned detergent free.
I've seen the non detergent at Home Depot and at Wal Mart. It will usually be an SA rated oil that may say "suitable for cars produced prior to 1930" or "not for extended oil change intervals." I've seen it around 80 cents or so a quart.
You might want to ask for more information on this high-detergent vs non-detergent thing during breakin. Some shops will void your warranty if they know that you break it in with non-detergent oil. Rotella T probably is a high detergent oil - many or most diesel oils are.
I don't know much about the theory behind this and wonder what those who design oils would say about it.
Zinc, sulpher and some other "nasty" things still appear in diesel "fleet" oil.I run a solid flat tappet cam, so I've run the motor on Pennzoil 15-40 fleet. Used to be ableto buy at WalMart in 5qt bottles,but no more. Rotella and Delo are two other brands of the same good stuff.)
If you have a Tractor Supply store near you, they have their own brand of diesel oil in larger containers (5 or 6 quart jugs, I think).
I don't know much about oil, but usually the cam manufacturer will recommend that oil with certain SAE designations eb used with their cams. The SAE designations are listed on the oil containers and the cam manufacturer's recommendation should always be followed to the letter.
I used the Rotella oil in that weight when I broke in my 454. No problems, BUT I still used a liberal amount of EOS in the crankcase and during assembly.
I am for sure going to use it with EOS and a moly lube.
I think it should be okay.
Thanks for all the replys.
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