[DeTomaso] Lucas oil additive?

JDeRyke at aol.com JDeRyke at aol.com
Sun May 8 15:56:00 EDT 2011


There are several types of "synthetic" oil depending on what the mfgr 
started with. Some will swell some kinds of seals- make them softer and slightly 
tighter-fitting, while other kinds shrink some seals making them looser. A 
couple of brands of synthetic are designed to do both in a sort of 'balancing 
act'.   The shrinking action produces leaks, which is why synthetic "works" 
in some installations and not in others. Both the 351-C engine and the ZF 
transaxle predate current synthetics. You gotta try your favorite synthetic 
in your engine or ZF to find out which way it goes for you.

If you do get leaks, obviously you have 3 remaining choices: you can either 
change type of synthetic and hope the new brand does not shrink your curent 
seals, or change the weeping seal to a different type (teflon one-piece 
rear main seals are available for 351-Cs but need machine work to fit), or 
switch back to non-synthetic lube if it sounds like the adaption required is not 
worth the gain from synthetic. Also obviously, recommendations for one 
synthetic over another from this list depend heavily on what's installed in 
those who say synthetic works for them. Good luck sorting it all out- J DeRyke



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