The difficulty in making flat tappet camshaft live a long life with today’s API approved motor oils is well documented. Most of these problems have been blamed on the reduction in zinc dialkyldithiophosphate (ZDDP) in API-SM rated motor oils. The amount of ZDDP in these oils has changed throughout the years in response to government mandates, most recently the US government mandate in 2004 requiring 120,000 mile lifetimes for catalytic converters.

The problem stems from the phosphorous constituent in ZDDP which contaminates catalytic converters. The natural response from the API was to reduce the levels of phosphorous in the ZDDP. While zinc is still the standard of measurement in ZDDP, phosphorous is the critical element in the additive.

Knowing that the wear protection in API oils has been dramatically reduced, engine builders and camshaft manufacturers have sought other ways to ensure the long life of flat tappet camshafts and other valvetrain related components. Proper camshaft break-in has been identified as one of the areas where engine builders can ensure that a new camshaft will perform well and live a long life in the harsher ZDDP reduced environment.

The latest addition to the COMP Cams quick tech video series demonstrates the techniques for properly breaking in a flat tappet camshaft and we wanted to present the step-by-step video to our racers and engine builders for a greater understanding of flat tappet camshafts.

COMP Cams how-to instructional video demonstrating proper flat tappet camshaft break-in procedures: