I have been reading this morning about the need to use an oil rich in Zinc and minerals to properly break in a new engine with a high performance Cam and to properly seat the piston rings. There seems to be a concern about properly lubing and protecting the cam with traditional synthetic oils during the break in period. This was interesting to me, as I had never heard or read this before today.

I am not looking for Valvoline, vs Royal Purple vs Mobile One debate....I am more interested in getting some thoughts on the concept of using a non- synthetic oil for break in, and what oil some of you guys are using to properly break in a motor..thx

I was told to use diesel oil at 2500 rpms for one hour then change the oil.

you hear good and bad about all oils. I would just pick one and change it regularly. I think maxxis runs rotella in his motor.

If you are worried about it, put an additive in your favorite Brand X oil - they sell a product called Cam Shield at motor rebuild shops thats a ZDDP additive.

Note, the briggs engines ship with about 2 TBSP of oil in them and no assembly lube- just FYI.

I ended up going with the Brad Penn 30w break in oil....just FYI for anybody who is thinking about using a break in oil....Rotella, Amsoil, and Royal Purple were the others I found that looked good. You could also just add an additive such as zddp like DB recommended, but these oils have more than just Zinc....who knows if it will really help or not, but for $54 a case seems to be a worthwhile investment.

I just reset my valves and did an oil change on my Engine. Last fill was Rotella T 15W40 and this fill was Mobil Delvac 1300 15w40. I run whatever oil Is in the crankcase of my Duramax at the time. Im pretty sure i would refrain the use of synthetics for the first few hours of INITAL ring seating and bearing wear in, then switch to the lube of your choice.

Yeah, that is exactly what I have been reading...both of the oils you are using came up as well...

Mobile 1 since the first crank on mine. 10W30

Mobil 1 on the break in and picked up some Amsoil for the next few changes.

Mobil1 for me on the last engine as well...start to finish, and changed it at least every 25 hrs....

Going with the Brad Penn break in this time around.....I just don't see a downside....Plan is to switch to Mobile 1 after the first 5-10 hours....

I'm going with Lucus break in additive high in zink for my 20min break in for my cam and then plan to run a good off road oil after that for 25hours...

Mobil 1 synthetic changed every 50 hrs. = cam lobes worn flat at 256 hrs. for me.

we use a mineral oil based oil from mobil for all of our piston engine aircraft we have during break in, havnt seen it personally but was told that with normal engine oil these engines would flaten out a cam in no time.

I run Mobil 1 in everything and haven't had any issues. Had a race engine builder that said engine failure normally isn't contributed to the brand of oil, it's usually lack of or weak parts. A rod thru the block had nothing to do with oil, I'd say running the engine to it's max and breaking parts. Common sense.

If you want to know the best oil to run you have to play trial an error then run an analysis. I'm no oil guru but I have done my research.
Also for those of you buying mobil1 the only way you know you are getting fully synthetic is by buying the extended performance mobil 1. It is a true synthetic. The regular mobil 1 synthetic still uses a Dino base stock. Look it up.


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Anybody use Joe Gibbs Oil? It looks like a strong candidate.... Who knows what temperature the oil should run in these engines?

Two words for you SP, Sheldon Gecker.


I still haven't messed with the head or oil temp gauges yet. Been working on getting the garage put together and scouting. I will update it when I get some numbers.

my 2 cents on why!!! Diesel motor's normally is running a turbo so that means higher operating temp. so diesel oil has the ability not to break down at higher temps. so an air cooled motor runs at higher temps than a water cooled motor and with flat tappet it is recomended to run a high zink level so rotella T40 or mobil delvac is a very good choice !!!!