Check this out:

http://www.lnengineering.com/oil.html

NOTE:

Shops that used to run M1 in their race cars have either switched to Mobil's synthetic motorcycle oils or have resorted to using premium dino oills, such as Swepco 306 15w40 or Brad Penn Racing 20w50 oils, for their higher levels of protection. For most owners, the reduction in longevity of a catalytic convertor is a small price to pay considering the many thousands of dollars it costs to properly rebuild a Porsche engine.

In short, be leary of "StarBurst" labelled oils, even the CJ-4 15w-40 diesel/fleet oils (e.g., Delo 400; Delvac 1300) which now say they are "emissions friendly".

Excerpt:

The purpose of proper lubrication is to provide a physical barrier (oil film) that separates moving parts reducing wear and friction. Oil also supplies cooling to critical engine components, such as bearings. Detergent oils contain dispersants, friction modifiers, anti-foam, anti-corrosion, and anti-wear additives. These detergents carry away contaminants such as wear particulates and neutralize acids that are formed by combustion byproducts and the natural breakdown of oil. Not all motor oils are created equally when it comes to the levels of additives and detergents used. The focus of this study is on the levels of zinc and phosphorus found in motor oils, more exactly, the zinc (Zn) and phosphorus (P) that makes up the anti-wear additive ZDDP, zinc dialkyl dithiosphosphate.

Many Porsche repair shops have acknowledged that these newest SM and CJ-4 motor oils are not sufficient for protecting any Porsche engine. With longevity and the protection of vital engine components in mind, many shops are recommending the addition of GM's EOS Engine Oil Supplement at every oil change. Shops that used to run M1 in their race cars have either switched to Mobil's synthetic motorcycle oils or have resorted to using premium dino oills, such as Swepco 306 15w40 or Brad Penn Racing 20w50 oils, for their higher levels of protection. For most owners, the reduction in longevity of a catalytic convertor is a small price to pay considering the many thousands of dollars it costs to properly rebuild a Porsche engine.

Oil companies have been cutting back on the use of Zn and P as anti-wear additives, and turning to alternative zinc-free (ZF) additives and ashless dispersants since Zn, P, and sulpherated ash have been found to be bad for catalytic converters. One such ZF anti-wear additive is boron. Most of the SM and CJ-4 oils we tested contain significant concentrations of boron (B) to offset the reduction of Zn and P. The performance of these zinc-free anti-wear additives has only been proven with ultra-low sulphur fuels, not readily available in the United States with exception of new diesel fuels since 2007. Since we are discussing aircooled engines specifically, the highest levels of boron we found were in Harley Davidson’s SYN3 motor oil, which is specifically formulated for an aircooled engine, but at levels six to ten times that of what is present in any reformulated SM or CJ-4 motor oil. Additionally, Harley's SYN3 didn't reduce the Zn or P, just supplemented it with the added boron. Similarly, Swepco's 306 has high levels of boron in addition to high levels of Zn and P.

However, it is worth noting that these new API guidelines do not apply to “racing,” “severe duty,” or any motor oils that do not carry an API “starburst” seal or clearly state for off-road-use only. Motor oils meeting “Energy Conserving I or II” standards should be avoided as well as those with an API SM classfication, with it's lower Zn and P levels, which applies only to 0w20, 0w30, 5w20, 5w30, and 10w30 "ILSAC" grades. Although having been more sensitive to emissions and the environment than American standards, we find the European ACEA A3 and B3/B4 classifications, which place a cap on P levels at 0.10-0.12%, to be better in taking into consideration wear and engine longevity while limiting emissions and protecting emissions control devices. Additionally, ACEA A3 sequences require higher high-temperature high-shear (HTHS) viscosities, stay in grade sheer stability, and tighter limits on evaporative loss, high temperature oxidation, and piston varnish. This makes oils meeting these ACEA standards that much better for your Porsche, especially since wear limits are much more stringent for valve train wear, 1/6th to 1/4th the wear allowed in the sequences for API's SM standards. Porsche requires a minimum 3.5 cSt @ 150C HTHS viscosity, which is a good measure of the protection any given motor oil provides, and requires that all approved oils be of group III or better base stocks, which includes quality hydrocracked parrafinic petroleum bases like those used by Brad Penn and Swepco. In general, synthetics provide the best protection, but a good additive package and quality parrafinic base stock has been proven to work just as well.

Failure to use the right oil, use proper filtration, or observe proper changing intervals can affect the performance of even the best motor oil. This also includes changing the oil too often or not often enough. Against conventional wisdom, engine wear decreases as oil ages to a certain extent, which means that changing your oil more frequently actually causes engine wear; these findings were substantiated by studies conducted by the auto manufacturers and petroleum companies, leading to drain intervals increased from 3,000mi to 5,000-7,500mi in most domestic vehicles. It has been suggested that no more than six months or 7500mi should be observed between service intervals and vehicles driven in more demanding conditions should be serviced more frequently, rather than based off of extremely long drain intervals recommended by European manufacturers, some in excess of two years and 15,000 mi. Vehicles with track time or sustained high oil temperatures or RPMs should have their oil changed after every event. Vehicles subjected to very short drives or sustained operation in heavy traffic should indeed be serviced more often. Regular used oil analysis is the best way to determine ideal drain intervals for your driving habits. With this knowledge in hand, using a quality motor oil with proper filtration and regular service is the best thing to do for your engine and to protect your investment.

If I owned an air cooled Porsche I'd be worried.

__________________
2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I've done extensive research on the new CJ-4 oil and have absolutely no reservations about using it in my vintage cars or vintage 1100 cc air cooled Superbike.

In ALL API certification tests, CJ-4 meets or exceeds CI-4 Plus and CI-4. Though the CJ-4 spec limits phosphorous to 0.12%, which is a measure of ZDDP concentration, this was the typical level in CI-4.

SM is limited to 0.08% P in winter grades of 10W or less. This means that winter grades above 10W may have more, but you don't know unless you test it, which is why I won't use SM, even 20W-50, in my vintage cars or bikes.

If you want to LEARN about lubrication - get yourself to a level where you could actually have an intelligent conversation with a lubrication industry professional rather than just eating up Internet BS, visit the following web site and take the "Basic Lubrication" and "CJ-4" courses, both of which are free.

http://www.lubricantsuniversity.com/

If you want to go beyond this, go to:

http://www.api.org/certifications/engineoil/pubs/upload/1509_16thedition042007.pdf

and absorb this document.

Duke

I wouldn't be so smug about CJ-4 oils, let alone the API.

Empirical and oil-manufacture's own technical data shows a decrease of anti-wear additives.

Have you checked out the posts on the forum at www.bobistheoilguy.com ?

Just check both the VIRGIN and used oil sample analysis going on, and you'll see the lower anti-wear additives in the majority of the "Energy Starburst" / Emissions friendly oils. This is strong EMPIRICAL evidence.

Below are the scanned images of the article "When Good Cams Go Bad" with some empircal proof on the lack of good anti-wear additives on the newer oils.

And this isn't just for your air-cooled engines.

API is not infalliable, and their motive is royalty licensing and appeasing both the car manufacturers and any USA regulatory compliances.

Here's a link to another forum that had them:

http://www.compcams.com/Community/Articles/Details.asp?ID=945638917

Enjoy,

:-) neil

Attached Thumbnails

         

Thanks, but I'll stick with industry documents and industry professionals rather than wasting time on internet blogs with a bunch of amateurs.

As for Comp Cams, I wouldn't even ask them for the time of day. For the lastest Chevy Small Block camshaft I designed, they weren't on my list of vendors to request a manufacturing quote, and they never will be.

Duke

Yeah a member on this site had trouble on his power boat with his built big blocks. Seems that all the new on road oils lack enough zinc to prevent wear on the cams of high performance racing engines. So he wiped out like three sets of cams before figuring it out and switching to strictly off road use only racing oil. But you can't really use a racing oil in a street car, you will ruin the cat's and they are not ment to last that long.

So if you are running a pretty wicked cam in your Chevy or Ford based engine with some agressive springs don't use street oil.

As for MB AFAIK the latest Mobil 1 5w40 that they use from the factory meets all there latest and greatest specs.

__________________
2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

That's right - only off-road only oil for me. No more wiped cams.

__________________
Thank You!
Fred
2009 ML350
2004 SL600
2004 SL500
1996 SL600
2002 SLK32
2005 CLK320 cabrio
2003 ML350
1997 C280 Sport

Some have had some luck using normally available oils along with GM EOS engine oil supplement at 1 container per 6 quarts dino.

__________________
Thank You!
Fred
2009 ML350
2004 SL600
2004 SL500
1996 SL600
2002 SLK32
2005 CLK320 cabrio
2003 ML350
1997 C280 Sport

Remember that Porsche hasn't built an air-cooled engine in about ten years now... Those were the days -- still miss my 993.

Cheers, John

__________________
'98 E300TD (W210) | Sold 6/09 with 205k and counting
'04 VW Touareg V10TDI

Unfortunately, that still doesn't negate using an engine oil with high anti-wear additives.

The article is a fairly contemporary one, and is applicable, IMHO, to all high-performance engines.

+1 on the GM additive.

Lubromoly and Swepco also have a similar additive, but at least you can find the GM additive at almost any GM dealer.
:-) neil

BTW:
here's my latest oil analysis using Schaeffer's 15w-40 Supreme 7000 Semi-synthetic HDEO oil:

http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=231281&an=0&page=0#Post231281

I'd like to see almost any Mobil 1 beat it. . .

:-) neil

===========
1988 Mercedes C36-powered 300TE wagon
199K miles
65K miles on engine

Interval: 6,500 mostly city miles (6-months), with oil filter replaced after 3-months.

Head gasket & valve stem seals replaced about 3-years ago.

Looks like ONLY TWO oil-changes per year now!

=================
SCHAEFFER'S OIL ANALYSIS: 7-9-07

Wear Metals (PPM)
Copper: 3 (previous 7)
Iron: 13 (24)
Chromium: 1 (2)
Aluminum: 3 (7)
Lead: 4 (4)

Additives (PPM)
Moly: 242 (147)
Phosphorus: 1555 (1929)
Zinc: 1706 (2048)
Magnesium: 14 (39)
Calcium: 4153 (5380)
Sodium: 0 (0)
Postassium: 0 (0)

Contaminents:
0% anti-freeze
0% fuel-dilution
Silicon: (4) 11

Oil Properties:
Viscosity: 13.80 (15.22)
SAE: 40W (40W)
Sulfur: 10 (16)
Oxidation: 11 (4)
Nitration: 10 (7)
CONTAMINATION AND ADDITIVE DEPLETION LEVELS NORMAL.
MAINTAIN CURRENT OIL DRAIN INTERVAL