Lucas oils

[LDMartin]

Joel wrote:
> have any opinions about it? Heard anything good or bad about
> Lucas in general? It might take away some of our valve clatter
>  if it's legit! What do you think?  Joel

Seeing as how other list members have lives and I (obviously) don't, I have
posted enough tonight to proclaim myself "List Slut" for the evening.

After years of looking at (and listening to) valve clatter and posts about
same I conclude that no additive or type of oil will *solve* it.  Unless the
problem is the chain tensioner (which is a different sound) the hydraulic
valve adjusters are the culprit.  They are leaking down over time while the
engine is off and require *pumping up* when the engine is started.  Will a
thinner 0W or 5W oil get in there sooner?  Maybe but frankly I doubt it.  To
minimize the impact of the valvetrain parts banging on each other briefly at
startup you need a decent oil film clinging on there to protect the metal
for that brief amount of time.  That's the main reason I finally changed to
Motul oil with its ester base (and no I don't want to start an oil thread).
There is still a film (containing lotso EP additives) hanging on to the
metal even if months have passed since its last running due to the
properties of the ester.  Does it stop clatter?  No.  Do I care?  No.  Want
to fix it?  The hydraulic pieces are about $30 each and a terrific pain in
the ass to do.  Want to stop worrying about such stuff?  Buy a used SR20DE
for cheap and keep it in the garage toward the day that your engine fails
because of valve clatter.  You'll probably be retired before it happens.

Larry Martin
'92 SE-R