HEY DR.
TRY THE PCV IT WILL USUALY KEEP THE CONDINSATION OUT OF THE MOTOR . AND DID YOU PRESSURE TEST THE WHOLE MOTOR ?

KAMMA ,AMSOIL MAKES A MARINE AND DIESEL 10W40 THAT IS KILLER AND THEIR 20/ 50 RACE OIL SERIES 2000 IS GREAT ALSO

HAVE A GOOD ONE GUYS

Dr. I also run Kendal GT1 with bell housing coolers and KE 215 degree thermos. I never had any condensation problems during normal weather but when I was running in November in 60 degree air temps, probably 50 + degree water, I did notice some condensation in oil. I figured I did not get oli hot enough? In summer months all looks fine.

Just a thought for all this "too slippery for roller cams" stuff. If ANYTHING makes metal to metal contact it's bad. When the roller contacts the beginning of the up ramp it's possible that the oil film may be squeezed out and the roller is nothing more than a safety net. If the roller never touched the cam lobe and never rolled, it would be no worse than a flat tappet cam. The only time abnormal wear would occur was if the roller did squeeze the oil film out and the roller actually contacted the cam and the surface area would be smaller than a flat tappet so some wierd wear could occur. Not Likely!! Use the syn, it's better by far. Just an opinion.

Spoke to another guy at Crower. They don't recommend synthetics but it has nothing to do with rollers slipping on cams.
I'm no metalurgist but he was talking about the lack of Zinc in synthetics and that is the problem. It was something to do with wear in the lifter bores.
He highly recommended Valvoline since that is one of the last mineral oils that still has Zinc in it.

A friend of mine used to work at Katech (an engine development shop) and I remember him talking about ash in an oil and it either causing detonation or not causing . And either the synthetic having it or not. I just don't remember exactly how it went.

Yep you don't want ash it causes detonation ,,

Aircraft oils main differenxe is it 100% ash less for piston engine planes
As far as zinc I can't say it just hard to understand why only one company would use it if its so good and syn can 't really be compared to conv. oil on a chemical comparison
I'd just go with syn as I truly feel there better than any conv ,we need all the insurance we can get

there are a lot of oils using zinc...valvoline race (.20) just uses more of it..kendal (.16) also uses a hi zinc content as well...

% sulfated ash is how much solid material is left when the oil burns. A high ash content will tend to form more sludge and deposits in the engine. Low ash content also seems to promote long valve life. Look for oils with a low ash content.

you know the new merc 525's come with syn oil from the factory for break-in....as well as many other hi-perf auto do...hummm

oil is like religion to most,,,,they really "feel" it's better....and there is SO MUCH data out there you can make it seem like each one is the best one that has ever been invented!

i have been involved in engine oil analysis over some 10 years working at two different companies...so i'll just say there is a good reason why we use ROYAL PURPLE in everything....i'll leave it at that.

I run in warm water(Florida), which weight of Synthetic should I buy? I am presently running Valvoline Racing 40wt. I have just fired up this HP 500 20 minutes of engine time. Can I change to synthetic now?
Any input is appreaciated
John

If your going to use syn, go with 15w50 mobile one or 20w50 oil it works year round as it starts as a thin weight and basicly thickens as needed yes its a gret time to switch if you need AMSOIL go online and order it it will come in quick ,,,I like it the best for engines series 2000 race or 15w40 marine and deisel

Okay,
I was planning on running the Amsoil after my 1st or 2nd hour, but my motor took a serious **** at 1.3 hours. Theres a bad knock deep inside like a Gremlin stuck in there with a big hammer. I guess for some reason I spun a Rod bearing. Oil pressure was good at start with 60psi at 3000rpm & started dropping gradually to 10/20 psi at 1000rpm with the knock. It sucks as I have spared no exspense as I wanted to run it troble free.
Back to my question...can I use the synthetic oil for the intial break in period? I am pulling the motor Sat. Hopefully we'll find what caused the failure.

Yes sir I run it all the time as does G.M.