Quote:
Originally Posted by SS Shaun
no it will not be driven daily it will be a weekend warrior kind of a car get home from work friday afternoon and drive that for the rest of the weekend. hell even drive it to work on fridays. I am not planning on ripping the motor out yet but if i have to do it again i will do roller. but it was just funny about the fight. but i can tell you they do have worried about the cam. they told me o you will wipe it out it will go bad on you. you will have to tear your whole motor apart to fix it and so on. i thought once you get a good break in for 15 mins at about 2000 rpms it can last a long time. correct?
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You can wipe a cam after break in. But if you use a good oil, something with a high level of ZDDP it should be fine. Some of these engines have been running since they left the factory with flat tappet cams. I sure wouldn't tear down an engine to install a roller if the flat tappet is working good.
ZDDP has zinc in it. It's a softer metal and provides a cushion between the steel cam and steel lifters. ZDDP will also plug up a catalytic converter used on all newer cars. So the oil manufacturers had to reduce the level of ZDDP in motor oil to protect the catalytic converters. Car manufacturers had to do something to protect the camshafts and started using roller lifters.
You can spend a little more at each oil change to get a good quality oil with a higher ZDDP level, I believe 1,300 ppm is minimum for a flat tappet cam. If it's an aggressive cam even more would be good. Or you spend a lot to replace your flat tappet cam with a roller setup. There are a number of oils out there with sufficient ZDDP for a flat tappet cam. Some diesel engine oils and quite a few 'racing' oils.