Break in oils, zinc and all that jazz

When I spoke with the rep, at Brad Penn, in April this year, he told me that as of 2011, they removed the phosphates and zinc as well as nickel, copper and other additives from conventional oils, but carried over their original formula, for the plant's Kendall GT1 oil. I may call him back to see if he was speaking on behalf of the company, or the industry, in general. I want to say it was the latter, but I'll pick his brain soon.

What I do know is that phosphate plays a bigger roll in anti shear and wear, than zinc, which has to do more with extending the usage. I also know that higher detergent levels of conventional oils, play the biggest role in murdering cams, even with additives that can be used in combination with conventional oils, that have added detergent percentages. It will just clean anything along with carbon, away from high pressure areas.

You want some detergent, or you will see sludge carbon buildup, but not to the levels that new conventional oils have. Race applications don't see enough extended use between changes and rebuilds to be concerned with the use of detergents, which is why the race formulated oils don't include detergents.