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The Rotella Is Being Reformulated -Zinc

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Old 12-03-2016, 06:51 PM
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Default The Rotella Is Being Reformulated -Zinc
Originally Posted by CT090
I learned today from our oil rep that Rotella is now reformulated. For a long time, Rotella T was recommended by many for use in older engines, both because of its thicker viscosity rating but also for its high zinc content. This was the non-synthetic Rotella T. Rotella is now T4, T5 and T6. T4 is crude based, T5 is synth blend and T6 is the full synthetic. I was told that T4 will have no zinc content whatsoever.

Zinc was widely used in all motor oil up until recently. The EPA pressure to remove it from engine oils is what resulted in the widespread application of roller lifters throughout the automotive world. There really is no acceptable substitute for flat tappet cam applications.

Anyone with any engine using a flat tappet cam should investigate the various zinc additives available. The actual chemical is called zinc dialkyldithiophosphate or commonly reduced to the acronym ZDDP.

This is probably a better approach anyway- Rotella had alot of phosphorous in it which is bad for cats.
I am reposting this from LRO in an effort to get the message out to as many consumers of the Rotella as possible. I know that Oreillys Auto Parts sells a Zinc additive. How important it is to add a Zinc supplement, I couldn't tell say on a 1-10 scale but it could be cheap insurance.
 
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Old 12-03-2016, 11:25 PM
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Hmmmmm.... I posted about this new t4 version a few weeks ago and went as far as calling shell to ask about the zddp content. He said the zddp content is slightly higher than Rotella T!
 
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Old 12-04-2016, 04:15 AM
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Well if your seals are fine, royal purple HPS (high performance street) has a high level and their HMX (high mileage) has around 10 ppm (if I remember correctly from when I spoke to the rep so don't quote me). I know there is tremendous debate on the oils but all my seals are great (oil wise) and I run the 10w-30 hps in mine. I don't do a full 15k change interval, I personally do a 10k interval and it does fine for me but that again is personal preference. I run the 5w-20 hmx in my work car, 2006 focus. I'm not trying to get the debate started again, god forbid, just putting that info out there
 
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Old 12-04-2016, 01:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Jeff Blake
Hmmmmm.... I posted about this new t4 version a few weeks ago and went as far as calling shell to ask about the zddp content. He said the zddp content is slightly higher than Rotella T!
Talk about conflicting information. Unless Donald Trump is done with Carrier and already had talks with Shell and the EPA, it doesn't seem logical that anyone would be increasing zddp levels in anything at the moment. Maybe if they could get away with the same levels in their formulation is 1 thing, but increasing...doesn't make any sense.
 
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Old 12-04-2016, 01:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Luckyjayb
Well if your seals are fine, royal purple HPS (high performance street) has a high level and their HMX (high mileage) has around 10 ppm (if I remember correctly from when I spoke to the rep so don't quote me). I know there is tremendous debate on the oils but all my seals are great (oil wise) and I run the 10w-30 hps in mine. I don't do a full 15k change interval, I personally do a 10k interval and it does fine for me but that again is personal preference. I run the 5w-20 hmx in my work car, 2006 focus. I'm not trying to get the debate started again, god forbid, just putting that info out there
Getting 10K+ miles out of an oil change (Dino, at that) seems pure fantasy as the Rotella gives me about 3K; anything over 3,000 is pushing it. I have a leaky front seal that requires the Lucas additive to hold it at bay. From what all I have read the oil pump performs better, exponentially as the oil viscosity increases.
 
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Old 12-04-2016, 01:27 PM
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Well my understanding is that this rotella stuff is primarily marketed towards diesel trucks and they don't have as strict of emissions requirements. But what do I know. It would be great to have a concrete answer to this. I don't want to go adding additives to the oil... I'd be more inclined to seek out a different, properly specced oil. ZDDP is 100% crucial for our flat tappet motors. The target is 1000ppm +. Rotella T had 1200 ppm
 
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Old 12-04-2016, 03:10 PM
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https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...ulation-81615/

Link to earlier LRF thread.
 
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Old 12-04-2016, 09:46 PM
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Soon someone will post a Virgin Oil Analysis over at BITOG, and then we'll have actual numbers to compare to the old T.
 
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Old 12-04-2016, 10:17 PM
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Most experienced owners will use an oil greater than 10w.. anything. Use thin oil at your own risk.
 
Last edited by Dave03S; 12-04-2016 at 10:24 PM.
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Old 12-04-2016, 11:00 PM
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Originally Posted by dr. mordo
Soon someone will post a Virgin Oil Analysis over at BITOG, and then we'll have actual numbers to compare to the old T.
Here is a new T6, still has some Zinc

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ub...5w#Post4238740

I wouldn't mind finding out which other motor oils on the market are comparable to the Rotella formulation I was running for the past couple years.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ub...50#Post4086557

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ub...se#Post4068722

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ub...40#Post4005176
 
Last edited by chubbs878; 12-04-2016 at 11:32 PM.
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