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non-detergent oil

H

H. J. Childress

New User
just got a 1928 model A FORD doodlebug tractor from a estate sale that no one knew any details.oil looks &feels like it has little run time & am asuming it is 30 wt. non-detergent ,am going to drain it & not sure what to go back with.any thoughts on this will be appreciated.Thank, H.J. Childress
 
Go with a modern 10W30 detergent oil. If it cleans up passage ways it will improve the lubrication of the engine. Otherwise insisting on nondetergent oil I consider to be abuse of the engine. Until detergent oils came out, engines in cars lasted 30,000 miles between rebuilds. Don't abuse that old engine, treat it with a modern oil that has better lubrication, cleanliness, and corrosion prevention.

Gerald J.
 
Assuming it has non-roller, or slipper valve camshaft followers (lifters) I would use a diesel oil. Although would agree that vintage engine probably had to cope with oils that were worse than anything offered today.
 
The choice of detergent versus non-degergent isn't going to matter unless the engine is heavily sludged up inside and has never been run with degergent oil. I'd be more concerned about viscosity and would NOT use any mulit-visc oils like 10W-30 or 10W-30. The engine is not going to have tight tolerances like newer engines and won't have great sealing either. In fact, some parts of the Model A have NO seals at all. That's why the trans calls for what Ford referred to as "700 W" oil.

If you're unsure, stick with straight 30W. Get an off-road and/or diesel type oil since on-the-road oils don't have the ZDDP lube protection anymore for older engines.

If you really want degergent, try a mix of 50-50 and see how fast it gets black. If it gets bad looking real fast, I'd remove it and stick with the ND oil.
 
I always ran Delo 400 15-40 that we had at the railroad for various vehicles in my 1929 Model A. I put around 20k miles on the car before I sold it. With no oil filter, oil changes need to be frequent, so a cheaper oil might be OK since it will get changed out often. I use oil from NAPA auto parts in my Dodge and DeSoto, and it seems to be fine, but I put in zinc additive. The Model A doesn"t have real strong valve springs, so tappet and cam wear will be less that a more modern engines. Be sure to use the proper, thick oil in the trans and rear end. That stuff is good for leaky steering gears, too.

I ran the Delo 400 in my 1943 Ford jeep that was well worn and neglected. Never had problems with it dislodging sludge, and that motor was pretty dirty inside when I did the valves.

Also, watch the quality of replacement parts. Some are really poor quality, and they are not always import parts.

Josh
 
Agreed , i missed the Last horse beating and found all this Info helpful . OK ,,,.... Incidently to the guy with 43 Ford Jeep , Yesterday at consignment sale , similar Jeep UNRESTORED with Flinstone Floor , RUSTED THRU,,, brought $4400 ,,It had been sheedded for many years but had spent equal NEGLECTED time in all weather before that ...B-I-L has a 45 Willys ,,..
 
Posts have a subject title ,it is easy to skip over anything a person is not intrested in reading. People come here for good advice, most of the time that is what they get. Then there are a few___.
 
IF IT HAS POURED BABBET BEARINGS then you MUST run a non-detergent oil..

if it has newer bearings, then you can run any modern motor oil you want. The diesel oils are pretty high on the list of good oils
Untitled URL Link
 
(quoted from post at 22:33:49 03/28/10) This topic rates up there with religion,politics,leaded/unleaded fuel and healthcare.
Click to expand...
in't that the truth!

Just so as not to be criticized as adding nothing, I say use any straight weight 30 + weight oil.........they will all be better than in 1929. Personally, it probably will make not one iota of difference, but if I didn't have history on it, I would use non-detergent as a cautionary measure, based on a one time bad experience, which is not scientific at all & if wrong, still won't hurt anything. I still run non-detergent in some of my old machines, because I have it & might as well use it as to dump it back where it came from....mother earth.
 
Not really, depending on what you call "vintage." The antiwear additive ZDDP became an industry standard in 1942 and was doubled by 1952. 1952 oil had more ZDDP then most on-the-road motor oils sold in 2009 and 2010.
Some are using boron as a replacement to meet emissions regs.

Oil companies don't put their focus on formulating oils for flat tappet engines. For those that want extra protection, it's not very difficult to buy off-road oils with more ZDDP protection (like the older on-the-road oils had).
 
I bought my Model A in 1959, from my grandfather,
and have always used 10-30. I put on about 1000
miles a year, and change oil once a year, in the
fall, before storing it.
 
Don't disagree with anything you wrote, but the 1928 Ford he mentioned is much older which likely means it was built to tolerate lower quality oil.
 
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