Oil threads here are confusing

The old Rotella T is now T1, ZDDP has been lowered to 800 ppm.

Rotella T Triple in 10/30 and 15/40 have ZDDP at 1200 ppm

Rotella T5[blended] in 10/30 and 10/40 have ZDDP at 1200 ppm

Rotella T6 [synthetic] in 5/40 have ZDDP at 1200 ppm

They have lowered the ratio in some and raised it in some.The guy at Shell I spoke with says all the above will meet the needs of the older flat tappet engines.There is a window on the ratio's. 1000 ppm too little and 1400 ppm and above will cause damage.
His recommendation for our motors was the T6 in 5/40 full sythetic. Hope this confuses every one else, sure has ME...........Billy

i´m about to do my oil change..and was quoting the vr-1..used to pay around $13 a quart at the local autolube..
found a dealer that sells the 12 1 quarts bottles at $7.5 each...nice saving...     I don´t care over stocking them as I use it also on my vette!!!

I'm pretty certain I posted a link on CCF with the new formula Vr1 info on it.   That link from 08 I think was right before they changed their formula.

I can see if I have a chance to find it again, but I was shocked when I read it. A lot of flat tappet GM, ford and Mopar fans were shocked as well.

I guess the easier to answer question is "what VR1 oil weights are SM rated?"





David, that rotella might have too much ZDDP.

David,   I wasn't realizing that was only the Zinc level you posted, and not the levels of ZDDP.

Billy points out earlier that the oil you are using has 1200 ppm of ZDDP.

It's been pointed out on here,and many other places that more than 1400 ppm of ZDDP is not good either.



I guess the real answer to whether VR1 is safe for our flat tappet motors is an analysis of ZDDP levels from a third party. I'm sure that can be coordinated.

All but 10w-30 VR1 is SM rated. I don't think anyone here has recommended the 10w-30 VR1.

[QUOTE=8122pbrainard] I ended up with a Rotella straight 30 T1 but I have at least a pint of Joe Gibbs break in grease in the thing!!!!

Yea that Toyota break in grease would be good enough for that thing

Read the whole thread.

"Here's how a blend of VR1 20W50 (2 qts) and VR1 60W (1 qt) looked when I ran it in my motorcycle. It did a great job. I think Blackstone needs to sample that oil again."

"I think it's very possible--and even likely--that the add pack had settled to the bottom of the container as the oil sat on the shelf. A sample was poured out for testing by Blackstone, but a lot of the add pack carrier was left in the bottom of the oil bottle. Other elements are showing up in lower than typical numbers in this VOA--not just zinc and phos. So it is my assertion that the add pack was not fully sampled here, due to inadequate mixing before filling the sample cannister."

"I just had a UOA done on VR1 (with only 1800 miles on it) and it came out having 1201 Phos and 1560 Zinc. Used Blackstone."

"valvoline has all the ZDDP that is advertised... BlackStone labs have been remiss reporting due to calibration errors. that they acknowledged over @ team chevelle... THEY GOOFED... this was done in 2008... I have had Valvoline VR1 30weight and Valvoline 20W50 tested by two different labs.. the samples were taken from the same bottle and sent to Polaris labs http://www.polarislabs1.com/oil-analysis.htm and to analysts inc http://www.analystsinc.com/index.html...
the results were with in 10% of each other.. Zinc was well over 1400ppm and phosphorus was 1300ppm..."

I will send some new and well used VR1 20w-50 to Waterdog when I change it next month.

I hope the stuff is good as I bought 5 cases of it on Hollywood's recommendation.

Davidg and I have been talking about oil. This is some of what I wrote.

The chemistry of oil additives is a science on its own. The additives are the salt & pepper. As long as the zinc and phosphorus is solubilized I'd think its OK. At some point the oil will become saturated with an additive and that additive will fall out of solution. The "recipe" will no longer be homogenous, it could form a gel and fall to the bottom, rise to the top or float in suspension in the solution. There is a safety factor in the chemistry. This is just a guess but say if 1500 ppm zinc is high, the zinc saturation point would be on the order of 2500-3000 ppm. Just incase someone adds 2 cans of STP to there car.

Those guys over at BITOG take the oil debate to the next level!

so we decided on?
I look at it this way, some trucks, many trucks rack up a million miles before a rebuild, much tighter clearances on a diesel, 500 lbs compression, and they use nothing but Rotella..i dont see any of these guys dumping in 8.00 a qt oil in. personally i go by statistics. plus that VR1 is blue.