I had an individual call me and ask me a question regarding break in engine oil.
I was not sure of the answer.
He initially asked me if sulfer had been taken out of engine oil,by the government, a year or so ago ?????
I honestly do not know.
I typically have been running straight weight 40 Pennzoil for 13 years and not had a problem.
He then asked me if ever used break in oil on a freshly rebuilt engine.
Typically I would run the motor on the ground for 30 minutes, view everything, inspect for leaks, typically you will find something. Set timing vary rpms up and down and basically make sure everything is good, PRIOR TO THE INSTALL
Then do the install, take the boat out and run it for a few hours, then change the oil and filter.
This has always worked well for me, your a lot better fixing it on the ground rather than doing it in the boat.
Then the individual says he just had his engines freshened up.
I am not sure of the details but I believe it was new camshafts, valve job, new lifters.
No ring work or crank work.
He said both engines failed during break in , due to the fact the mechanic did not use sulferized, break in oil.
He said the camshafts were flattened out.
Really does not make any sense to me ??????
Like the rest of us, he is trying to improve his ride and not break the bank but now he is basically done for the season.
Any Idea's ????

I had a similar experience many years ago. I had done some upgrades to my BBC's, aluminum intake & exhaust, SS risers, holley 850's, cams, lifters & springs, roller rockers, all the typical that I had done on other engines many times before. I had 1 of the engines fail, initially making noise like failed lifters. When I tore it back down, I found that the camshaft had failed. All the lobes were flattened, and pieces of metal had gone through the engine. I contacted the manufacturer, who asked me a barrrage of questions similar to those asked of you. When I requested the hardness specs, they were not very forthcoming with the specs. I had the cam tested and found that it was not within the hardness specs they provided. When I sent them the test reports, they would not accept them and wanted me to send the cam to them so they could test it. I was very hesitant to send them the cam, since they were basically trying to deny any responsiblity. Long story short, I sent the cam, they claimed they never recieved it, even though UPS provided a signature on the delivery. I wound up buying a new crank & lifters, for the engine that had metal go through it, and replace both of the cams with Crane cams. I assembled and degreed same as before, and NEVER had another problem. I used the same assembly lube in both installs, and was running Valvoline SAE 40 for both. I suspect this person may have had the same issue that I experienced.

The break in oil has zinc in it which is recommended for cam bearings....most modern oils have lower levels of zinc but there is some out there still

I personally run rotella 25w40 in my engines

Rotella with break in oil from Jegs.

Hey Offshore 312, I appreciate the input, I will have to find out where the fellow bought his camshafts?
Hardnes in the camshaft is critical, if it is not to specification it for sure will fail.
It is too bad you could not have just cut the camshaft, in half and sent the guy one half and you would have a piece as evidence.
It is bad enough you have a hard time finding a qualified engine machine shop that stands behind its work.
But to worry additionally about the components they are installing is another major issue.
On my personal boat I installed two 502 GM Truck motors. Added ten quart oil pans, never changed the cams because I would void the warranty. REASON I HAD NO CONFIDENCE IN THE ENGINE GUYS IN MY AREA!

Sulfur is not added to engine oil. The main reason being is when condensate from combustion is mixed with the sulfur in oil you get sulfuric acid which absolutely raises hell on bearings and such. Remember you engine is a chemistry set. Sulfur has also been reduced in fuel, both gas and diese

Sulfur is however used in differential oil where there is no condensate from combustion.

Most engine oils today have reduced levels of zinc, even diesel. If you are lucky, the levels of zinc are in the 800-1000 PPM range. The reason being, claims made of zinc having a negative effect on emission control components if you should consume oil.

The cam lobes were wiped not from hardness, but from lack of anti-wear.

Ken

my 2cents.use rotella 10-40 with comp cams break in addative..lots of zinc in that stuff.my motor guy that did all the machine work on the two 496s I did tried his best to talk me out of hyd.,flat tapplet cams.wanted me to do hyd. rollers.i wanted to but that $$$ thing.he ,along with other builders said that the biggest problem is the spring pressure at idle is the killer of cam lobes.i put a good hour of break in time on the new motors on the stand at 3000 rpm or better.take in mind this was on a hose and not the easiest thing to do without overheating the motor.but its doable.low rpm+heavy spring pressure on a new cam will kill them lobes.