Oil question

[cmlease]

So...oil question for all you engine guru's out there. My friend recently purchased a cam from a vendor (don't want to go throwing them under the bus just yet) for his '10 camaro ss (LS3 motor). He's always used mobil1, so that's what he used after the cam installed. Well, about 3 weeks after the cam went in, pop goes the motor. He has shredded lifters, destroyed cam lobes, etc etc. all kinds of insane damage.

the cam company is claiming that this was caused by "new" motor oil having less zinc phosphours then it used to due to EPA concerns. My question is...if that was the case, wouldn't we all be having these problems? I just want to know if I need to worry about it, as I'm running a stage 1 cam from livernois, with mobil1 oil.

so yea, thoughts? is this a real problem, or is something else at fault here?

[rocket69GTP]

That's crap. If u rebuild a motor, u only need the higher zinc for the break in period.

[-Ray-]

What break in period? My engine got a couple starts then a 30 mile drive to the dyno. Yeah, I changed the oil to mobil 1 before going to the tuner.

[Eidolon]

Stock fill on the LS3 is Mobil 1. So they were speccing out a cam that... wouldn't run on the stock oil?

[G8-4-Speed]

So...oil question for all you engine guru's out there. My friend recently purchased a cam from a vendor (don't want to go throwing them under the bus just yet) for his '10 camaro ss (LS3 motor). He's always used mobil1, so that's what he used after the cam installed. Well, about 3 weeks after the cam went in, pop goes the motor. He has shredded lifters, destroyed cam lobes, etc etc. all kinds of insane damage.

the cam company is claiming that this was caused by "new" motor oil having less zinc phosphours then it used to due to EPA concerns. My question is...if that was the case, wouldn't we all be having these problems? I just want to know if I need to worry about it, as I'm running a stage 1 cam from livernois, with mobil1 oil.

so yea, thoughts? is this a real problem, or is something else at fault here?

I would throw the BS flag. Sounds like they messed up the pickup tube o-ring or something. You don't just shred a cam in 3 weeks and blame the oil. Too many guys running the same oil. It is possible the heat-treat in the cam wasn't right.

[chrisG]

Total BS. You could run the thinest oil on the market and not do that kind of damage inthree weeks. Zink? Come on! Yes oil does not have as much zink as engine builders may want, but the effects are minimal over time. The fact is there was a mistake with either the parts used or the install.

[cmlease]

here's the the quote from LG over on camaro5 - "When you add additional load to the valvetrain, like adding a cam, it needs this quality oil. Oil like Joe Gibbs LS30, Redline street or redline race oil, Valvoline VR20, Brad Penn, etc. These are not EPA certified, but our high performance engines NEED these oils."

so yea...thoughts?

[Eidolon]

Was this stated explicitly when the car was delivered post-modification? Changing/stating the requirements after the fact is a sure no-go.

[fixem2]

here's the the quote from LG over on camaro5 - "When you add additional load to the valvetrain, like adding a cam, it needs this quality oil. Oil like Joe Gibbs LS30, Redline street or redline race oil, Valvoline VR20, Brad Penn, etc. These are not EPA certified, but our high performance engines NEED these oils."

so yea...thoughts?

This is the same type of crap Forced Performance is telling their customers who buy upgraded turbos. What it is saying to me is that your product is defective and if someone doesn't use the oil you request, you will void warranty. AMSOIL Race, Joe Gibbs and Brad Penn are all good oils and recommended by many. I will not agree that you have to change to this oil because you add a turbo or cam. If this was a fully built engine then maybe I would agree. Secondly, these "race" oils do not recommend use in daily drivers, per the manufacturer!

[gr8lover]

so what went bad?... did the cam go bad and destroy things or was it not setup properly with the springs and all the things you need to do to set it up properly?..... I guess I am not sure how to blame a cam vendor???... or did the same cam vendor do the install for you??? hmmm.....

if the cam virtually went bad then I would get the hardness checked to see if the damn thing was hardened properly?... but I would guess the cam itself didnt do the damage... but just guessing...