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Lucas Racing oil may have saved my block, crank and rods
My built motor/trans Gen 2 GTX 3576 Evo X SE track car was being dyno tuned on E85, and running at full boost 27-28 psi making 450+ WHP on a Dyno Dynamics, when the turbo oil feed somehow backed out and started gushing oil under the car. Nobody noticed until the oil ignited a small fire—it was put out quickly.
When everything settled down and the open oil feed hole was plugged, I started filling with oil and checking the dipstick until it reached full—it took 5 quarts. I run only Lucas Racing Full Synthetic in 10W40 for daily driving, 20W50 at the track, or some mix of the 2 depending on ambient temps.
I decided we had to take the motor apart and inspect everything, I wasn’t going back to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana where I hit 160 on the front straight and 145 through turn 1-2, without knowing if I was driving a ticking time bomb.
With the motor out, what we found was surprising—the crank spun like a top (see attached video). Once disassembled, the bearings which had run with almost no oil for some unspecified period of time, looked completely normal, they looked great. The crank journals were perfect and shined like a mirror, the small end bushings of the rods were perfect. Cylinder walls and rings were perfect.
I credit the Lucas Racing full synthetic oil, with 3000+ ppm ZDDP, for saving the block and rods, etc from serious damage. When I rebuilt I of course bored out my existing Darton sleeves for .5 mm larger pistons, and replaced bearings and many other undamaged parts. We reused the Cosworth H-beam rods, they were like new.
I will never use another oil, maybe other oils would get similar results but having experienced this firsthand I’ll stick to what worked. I highly recommend Lucas Racing Oil.
My built motor/trans Gen 2 GTX 3576 Evo X SE track car was being dyno tuned on E85, and running at full boost 27-28 psi making 450+ WHP on a Dyno Dynamics, when the turbo oil feed somehow backed out and started gushing oil under the car. Nobody noticed until the oil ignited a small fire—it was put out quickly.
When everything settled down and the open oil feed hole was plugged, I started filling with oil and checking the dipstick until it reached full—it took 5 quarts. I run only Lucas Racing Full Synthetic in 10W40 for daily driving, 20W50 at the track, or some mix of the 2 depending on ambient temps.
I decided we had to take the motor apart and inspect everything, I wasn’t going back to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana where I hit 160 on the front straight and 145 through turn 1-2, without knowing if I was driving a ticking time bomb.
With the motor out, what we found was surprising—the crank spun like a top (see attached video). Once disassembled, the bearings which had run with almost no oil for some unspecified period of time, looked completely normal, they looked great. The crank journals were perfect and shined like a mirror, the small end bushings of the rods were perfect. Cylinder walls and rings were perfect.
I credit the Lucas Racing full synthetic oil, with 3000+ ppm ZDDP, for saving the block and rods, etc from serious damage. When I rebuilt I of course bored out my existing Darton sleeves for .5 mm larger pistons, and replaced bearings and many other undamaged parts. We reused the Cosworth H-beam rods, they were like new.
I will never use another oil, maybe other oils would get similar results but having experienced this firsthand I’ll stick to what worked. I highly recommend Lucas Racing Oil.
cool story man! Glad it wasn’t catastrophic and you got peace of mind that everything was fine. Where do you buy your Lucas racing oil?
cool story man! Glad it wasn’t catastrophic and you got peace of mind that everything was fine. Where do you buy your Lucas racing oil?
I have bought it on Jegs and Summit, and Amazon. The 20w50 and 10w40 Racing Synthetic is about $12 quart if you buy in volume, which is much cheaper than Mobil 1 Racing. If you call Lucas they may be able to find a distributor in your area who can offer lower pricing.
Jul 14, 2018, 02:19 AM
