Low Ash Engine Oil

[farmallcubkid]

I was wondering why people say that if you don't use low ash engine oil that you will develop valve problems? How does it affect the valves by using a different engine oil? Can I get by by using a zinc additive? I have used HK engine oil in all my tractors with a zinc additive. Also I looked up what low ash engine oil means and didn't get a very clear answer. Could someone explain that to me too? If I am supposed to be using low ash engine oil, where can I get it from and what problems can be developed by not using low ash oil?

[Eugene]

Wow?

Opinion. The folks advertising a products benefits are the ones selling it.

No low ash oil or zinc additive needed. I use a multiple weight engine oil. If the engine oil is good enough for my cars, it's great for my 70 year old tractors.

[ajhbike]

Rotella T4 used in all 7 of mine

[farmallcubkid]

So is there any "bad oils" that people have run in there tractors and made mistakes with?

[tmays]

What tractors are we talking? Diesel? Far as I can tell it may be useful in heavy duty diesel engines.

[farmallcubkid]

Regular Farmall gas engines in the letter series, some diesel letter series engines, and the early number series diesel (450 and down).

[tst]

if you use modern detergent oil make sure the sludge is cleaned out of the engine 1st if it ran non detergent oil, or the detergent will break all the old sludge loose causing problems

[farmallcubkid]

To clean sludge do you just drop the oil pan or can you clean it out without doing that? Is sludge just built up dirt and other contaminants that work there way into the engine?

[Eugene]

To clean sludge do you just drop the oil pan or can you clean it out without doing that? Is sludge just built up dirt and other contaminants that work there way into the engine?

Sludge is primarily combustion residue.

Without starting the engine. Drain engine oil. Add one or two quarts of diesel fuel to crank case. Shake heck out of tractor, let set for 1/2 hour, shake more. Drain diesel. New oil filter and engine oil.

Another alternative is a rapid oil change. Change oil, operate engine for two or three hours, another oil change.

Opinion. If tractor has been maintained, service on regular intervals, I wouldn't worry about potential sludge. Just change the oil and filter.

[Jim Becker]

Ash is the unburnable residue that remains after oil burns. This is primarily NOT from the lubricating oil itself, but from the metallic additives in the oil. For a simple example, ZDDP additive leaves zinc behind in the accumulated ash when it is burned. (This detail by itself should be enough to illustrate the insanity of buying low ash oil then dumping in a zinc additive.) The need for low ash oil in IH tractors, from everything I have see, comes into play with the larger 6-cylinder gas engines in the 460/560 and some later tractors. These engines migrated from the truck line. The problems come from ash deposits on the valve stems.

ZDDP is a friction modifier, added to oil to reduce wear on sliding surfaces, mainly needed for flat tappets in the lobes of camshafts. The need for high ZDDP was mainly driven by some of the high-strung GM V-8s that came along in the late 1950s. They had stiffer valve springs that kept the valves from floating but also started wearing the lobes off the camshafts. None of this is a problem for older low-speed engines, or even many of the newer engines that were not designed for extreme high-performance. As you can see, a zinc additive is not an alternative to using low ash oil. In fact, it makes the ash situation worse.

Now, to the general subject of putting do-it-yourself additives into motor oil, it is generally a bad idea. The additives the oil companies use are PACKAGES of different additives. They are chosen to work together to get the desired performance. If you dump something else in, you will upset the balance. For a made-up example, adding a detergent may interfere with the viscosity index improvers and reduce the viscosity. So I generally say to buy a "good" oil and don't add any snake oil. Special situations may call for adding something, but only if you can clearly state the exact reason for doing so. For example, on old tractor that has been parked for a decade or two may have stuck piston rings. In that case, you may dump in a cleaning additive (like Seafoam) and run it that way short term.

[ricky racer]

As far as a Cub goes, my opinion is run any decent engine oil and don't worry about it. If you live down south where temperatures are generally warm, you can run a straight 30w oil and if you're up north you may want to run a multi-weight oil like a 10w-30 or 10w-40.

[Urbish]

As far as a Cub goes, my opinion is run any decent engine oil and don't worry about it. If you live down south where temperatures are generally warm, you can run a straight 30w oil and if you're up north you may want to run a multi-weight oil like a 10w-30 or 10w-40.

We're talking about a low compression/RPM/power machine that has probably had all sorts of terrible substances in the crankcase throughout its life. As long as you're running the right weight for your climate and changing the oil regularly, it probably doesn't matter which special additives or lack thereof are present in the oil.

[Super A]

As far as a Cub goes, my opinion is run any decent engine oil and don't worry about it. If you live down south where temperatures are generally warm, you can run a straight 30w oil and if you're up north you may want to run a multi-weight oil like a 10w-30 or 10w-40.

And all the people said "AMEN."

I saw a meme on some tractor page one time that went like this:

How to choose an engine oil for your tractor:
1. Verify that it is in fact oil
2. Pour it in.

Just about any oil on the shelf today is better than what they were using 75 years ago.

My $.02
Al