Engine break in oil

DrAllis wrote: I toured the Harvey engine plant back in August of 1980. Engines were connected to a dyno (multiple dyno's and multiple engines in one room) and engine was fired up. Oil pressure was verified. Oil leaks were looked for. I suppose it was allowed to reach operating temps and THEN THEY POURED THE COALS TO IT!! engines were under full load minutes after fire up, and I doubt very much any special oil was used.

The oil that they used there was Shell Rotila and I believed it was straight 30w.

When we rebuild a motor we never put in antifreeze we always put in water . use Rotella either 30w if it's in the summer or 15w40 for winter . We always put the oil in with a hand pump would go into the block oil Sending unit . for oil to get in the bearings and oil passages before running . Crank it over without starting it till oil comes out the oil sending unit hole . Start it get to operating temperature make sure everything is OK hook it to the big brush hog and let it run ,about every hour change engine RPMs i've let them run for 10 hours I've let them run for five hours depends on what time of the day we get it up and running we don't use antifreeze because antifreeze has a little powder in it and if it leaks out around the head gasket it'll keep the head gasket from sealingl . water will evaporate .head gasket Will seal at operating temperature. Everything checked out OK we change the oil filter! and put antifreeze in it and put it back to work . yes we let it cool before we put in anti-freeze we also put the sending unit back in the block before we start the motor DAVE

Personally I don't think it will matter. I don't know the detergency of that oil, which would matter to me. You don't want an oil with low detergency sloshing around in an older cooler-running engine. Sludge matters. I don't think you mean 30W. The 'W' indicates it's a winter oil, which SAE 30 is not. My previous employer, in Oregon where the winters are not that cold, used 15W-40 in everything up until a few years ago and I thought that oil was like syrup when it was cold. Those vehicles had lifter noise and oil consumption already as early as 75,000 miles. Most of your wear happens during warmup - this is where you want your oil circulating as quickly as possible. The old adage of thicker is better isn't true anymore. Perhaps down in Western KY 15W-40 would be fine, but I wouldn't use it in the northern states. As for zinc, I don't think it will make a huge difference, especially if you only use your tractor a few 100 hours a year.