ZZP Oil Volume kit...where the heck does it go?

[GTP Version 2.0]

I saw the oil volume kit on ZZP and purchase one for $10 during black friday sales. Now I need help installing it as it didn't come with any instructions. Anybody done this before?

[BNaylor]

You install the ZZP Oil volume kit at the oil filter adapter assembly located at the passenger side of the engine.

[CrazyHorst]

That's interesting (increasing the overall oil pressure) but it is also going to keep the filter bypass open a lot more...

The gerotor gearset in the front cover is already a light year ahead of traditional spur-gear oil pumps in the "world according to CrazyHorst", in terms of pressure stability from idle to redline.

I also see ZZP recommends going to 5W30...wonder if they're going to provide a warranty

The pressure regulating piston is located behind the oil filter adapter (cast aluminum adapter between front cover and the oil filter itself). Once that is removed you should be looking at the flat end of the piston with the spring behind. My personal advice is to use extreme caution as you scrape the old gasket off as there's a lot of risk of introducing foreign particle into the "clean" side of the oil gallery, that could get lodged in a journal bearing.

[GTP Version 2.0]

All in all should I even bother installing this mod? My initial worry was the filter bypass concept. Technically wouldn't I have to change the oil sooner and since I have over 160K miles and live in AZ, that possibly 5w30 wouldn't provide enough protection?

[BNaylor]

ZZP recommends going to the 2004 and up standard which is using 5W-30 motor oil when using this kit versus 10W-30. All the kit does is increase preload on the oil pressure spring to change the opening point of the oil bypass valve. Just a speculation mod with no real basis in fact. Allegedly helps increase life of the engine when increasing HP ouput.

BTW - Nothing wrong with using 5W-30 oil in hot climates. I use it all year around in the GM 3400 V6 and 5.3L LS4 engines. Plenty of protection.

[CrazyHorst]

Personal bias again: my feeling is you get a lot more "boundary lube" (i.e. before oil pressure builds, in splash-lube locations like cylinder walls) with a higher viscosity.

Also as rings and moving parts wear, the extra viscosity helps combat that somewhat.

Bottom line is it wastes an incremental amount of fuel. But I feel like I'm buying durability for that.

It's one thing if the engine was validated on 5W30 like all the new engine programs are. However your "Buick V6" is a high-order evolution of the classic iron block iron head pushrod formula. It ran on 10W30 for ages until in the last 4 years an engineer decided 5W30 would be used.

Also personal bias: Many people buy into the logic that synthetic oils allow a longer drain interval therefore offsetting their higher cost per unit volume. However: the simple fact is that the engine is introducing the same number of contaminants into the oil per revolution...which the synthetic does nothing to combat. I don't feel good about driving around with a runaway TAN (total acid number) no matter if the molecules are identical or a sized-distribution. My thoughts are get that "junk" out of there and put in some fresh. Dino oils accomplish that objective at a lower cost in my book.

Bottom line: there are as many personal biases surrounding oils and filters as there are combinations of brands. Best make your own decision but you now have my logic.

[BNaylor]

Crazyhorst,

Interesting logic but flawed on the use of 5W-30. Technically that SAE viscosity grade (5W-30) of motor oil is a recommended oil to use on the Series II 3800 engine per the owners manual if the temperature ranges where you live stay below 60 degree F before your next oil change therefore it makes sense to use it during the winter months and then switch back to 10W-30 when the weather warms up.

[CrazyHorst]

That's cool and all but regarding -40F cold-start development...

....consider the possibility that a brand-new car equipped with the L36 or L67, and filled with Factory 36's Texaco 10W30, went to Canada in the dead of winter.

Customer and manufacturer both want it to start reliably...which it will and without scuffing any internal components due to gelatinous lube.

So if it works "up there" it oughtta work "down here" too . Like I pointed out earlier, oils involve a lot of personal biases which I think the oil companies love as there's sort of a segmented market nobody really dominates.