MBCA The Theology of Motor Oil

Join us for a great Tech Talk video-teleconference (VTC) from Saturday, June 26, 2021. Certified Tribologist Lake Speed Jr. will discuss motor oils in detail to help you determine what motor oil you should be using in your older Mercedes engine. There are a lot of myths about motor oils and Lake will provide the facts and the science upon which it's based. He was forced to learn about oils when he was working for Joe Gibbs Racing, and after losing an oil sponsor they went to an off the shelf oil. Immediately, they started having cam failures when running newly rebuilt engines on the dyno. This prompted them to "design" their own oil, and it provides lessons that Mercedes owners need to know to properly maintain older Mercedes. Of note, Lake's daily driver is a 1983 Mercedes 240D, so he also has a special interest in diesel engine oils. Lake is currently the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Total Seal Piston Rings.

00:10 - Overview
00:11 - Introduction
09:00 - Presentation
09:10 - What Does Oil Do?
14:57 - Proper Lubrication
17:47 - Stages of Lubrication
22:52 - How Does Zinc Work?
25:20 - Confusion about Oil
32:35 - Motor Oil Changes
38:00 - Classic Car Oils
39:00 - Synthetic Oil in Older Engines
47:00 - Q&A
47:20 - Oil for 10 SLs Question
48:40 - Oil Viscosity From Bearing Clearance
56:54 - Oil Analysis
1:00:00 - Why did Oil Companies Change Formulations in early 2000s?
1:02:00 - Turbo Diesel Change Interval for low miles (under 3000miles/year)
1:05:05 - Oil Analysis
1:06:00 - Type of Oil for Time of Year and Season changes
1:09:24 - Should I have my dealer flush my engine?
1:10:50 - Switching back to conventional from synthetic
1:11:55 - Contact information for Oil Diagnostics Company
1:12:52 - pre 2000s MBs and Oil Additives
1:16:20 - Minimum recommended Zinc level in ppm
1:17:39 - Is lower viscosity better for low use cars?
1:22:10 - Conventional Oil in Diesel Engines for cars from the 1970s and 1980s
1:31:53 - Measure of a short trip vs. a long trip
1:34:30 - Start/Stop technology, should we disable?

We'd like to thank Lake for spending the time explaining the ins and outs of motor oil.