camshaft lobes - Moly Grease - USA recomendation

aSTerix

aSTerix

Joined
Dec 18, 2014
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691
Location
Oman
Bike
ST1100AY
I was just looking at the procedure for re-shimming the tappets and the service manual states that an oil-moly grease mix should be applied to the lobes.

Can anyone recommend a make of moly grease that I can order in USA that would mix nicely with engine oil and do the job

As an aside, could I use the Rocol Dry Moly Paste 10040 that i've ordered for the driveshaft splines ?
 
being that oil will leave a thin film behind and you don't need to remove your valve covers and coat the cam if it sat for a few months of winter, a coat of engine oil, a light coat white lithium grease would do just fine. Builders have used STP oil treatment, thick as honey. Some people just use oil, its not new so it's already worn in.
 
You will adjust the valves on your ST once in it's life. Just use a small amount of regular wheel bearing grease if you must use grease at all.
 
I'm with Al st1100. The engine sits overnight or even for many days or weeks with a thin coat of regular motor oil on the cams, and has no problems the next time it starts. I think the manual mentions lubricating the lobes in the case that you are re-assembling the engine after major engine work and the cams are no longer pre-lubricated with motor oil (or anything else). If you just pull them out and set them on the bench with the existing oil coating while you change the shims, that's no different than turning the engine off and restarting it later. But if you would feel more safe by lubricating them, knock yourself out with any of the previous suggestions.
 
I've used Red Line Assembly Lube (RED80312) between the bucket and cam lobe, but that's overkill. Good enough to just dab some engine oil onto the bucket and lobe.

The Red Line lube is compatible with the engine oil and no harm in leaving it in until next oil change.
 
Isn't this what Assembly Lube (with moly) is used for? The ones that I have seen say they dissolve in oil leaving no residue....
 
Asterysk said:
I was just looking at the procedure for re-shimming the tappets and the service manual states that an oil-moly grease mix should be applied to the lobes.

Can anyone recommend a make of moly grease that I can order in USA that would mix nicely with engine oil and do the job

As an aside, could I use the Rocol Dry Moly Paste 10040 that i've ordered for the driveshaft splines ?
Click to expand...

Moly Grease (not Paste) | Cleaning, Oil, Maint.

So I was in need of some moly grease as defined by the Honda Service Manual: I thought how hard could that be? I'll just cruise on down to the local auto parts store and get some. Turns out that there are a lot of greases that call themselves moly grease, but nowhere on the can does it...
www.st-owners.com www.st-owners.com
 
I talked to the local Honda Service Manager and he says they always use a moly based grease on the camshaft journals and lobes because it stays in place and protects during the engine start before the oil pressure gets up
 
I talked to the local Honda Service Manager and he says they always use a moly based grease on the camshaft journals and lobes because it stays in place and protects during the engine start before the oil pressure gets up
Click to expand...
Which is absolutely true and critical on a new engine or a rebuilt engine being started for the first time as the moving internals would otherwise be free of any lubricant until the oil pump gets oil distributed everywhere. An engine that has already been running and has only been stopped for a short amount of time for maintenance remains lubricated to the same extent as it does during any other time that it has been shut off and then restarted. No special lubrication procedure is required prior to every routine start up and this is no different. The only exception is the parts that you removed and the new parts that you have installed.

Parts that you have removed and handled presumably were wiped clean so that you could inspect them. They therefore no longer have any residual lubricant on them. They should at minimum be coated with engine oil before reinstalling them. This is so that they are not dry at start up. This puts them in the same state of lubrication as every other moving part in the engine at start up.

New parts also have no lubricant on them. They also have no wear pattern on them as they have not been subjected to a break-in period. An assembly lubricant is recommended for all new parts that are subjected to movement. Assembly lubricants prevent damage and the development of undesirable wear patterns due to a lack of lubrication during the critical start up period until the oil pump can get oil everywhere and coat them with that oil.

Presumably you are putting the same lifter back in with the same valve at the same cam lobe position all orientated the same way as it was removed. The cam lobe and the lifter have already worn in to each other. Coating them with engine oil puts them in the same state of lubrication as any other engine part would be during a routine start up. Honda has specified the Moly/oil combination for this application. It was most likely specified as a standardized routine practice because that is what would be required during assembly of an engine after rebuild or if parts, such as lifters or cam shafts, were replaced. Going to this extra effort on an engine that has already been running while only changing valve shims may not add any tangible benefit but it certainly will not be detrimental either. It is not much added effort so if it puts your mind at ease go ahead.
 
Asterysk said:
I talked to the local Honda Service Manager and he says they always use a moly based grease on the camshaft journals and lobes because it stays in place and protects during the engine start before the oil pressure gets up
Click to expand...
Please don't tell us which Honda Lube, please :please1:.
When I was a slip of a lad I was gamefully employed rebuilding engines and other HGV related mechanicing at a UK manufacturers service centre. Those engines never saw assembly lube just oil in an oil can. They started, they ran for probably another 500,000 miles and life was good.
Upt'North.
 
Back when I was a pup, the magic elixir for new engine work was a 50/50 mix of STP and engine oil, with the rest of the STP put in the engine with the oil for break-in.
 
Larry Fine said:
Back when I was a pup, the magic elixir for new engine work was a 50/50 mix of STP and engine oil, with the rest of the STP put in the engine with the oil for break-in.
Click to expand...
And Andy Granatelli laughed at us all the way to the bank. I think I bought him a house or two.

 
Agree with the prev comments on assembly lube on new/fully cleaned engine parts (i.e. after major overhaul/rebuild)...

Here is what I use/been advised to use after mentioned work:
www.burtonpower.com

Graphogen moly compound 125g tube GRAP

Graphogen Assembly Compound is a colloidal graphite paste in....
www.burtonpower.com www.burtonpower.com
dedicated to be used on new big/small end bearings, cylinder bores, cranks, camshafts...

not required for a regular valve check/adjust, since the parts are already oiled/receive a drop of engine oil by the person putting the new shims in ;)
 
Andrew Shadow said:
Presumably you are putting the same lifter back in with the same valve at the same cam lobe position all orientated the same way as it was removed.
Click to expand...
I hadn't thought of marking the lifter to use same orientation, I'll do that. I did think the lifter would rotate under use but I can also see how it would tend to wear into a static alignment
 
Asterysk said:
I hadn't thought of marking the lifter to use same orientation, I'll do that. I did think the lifter would rotate under use but I can also see how it would tend to wear into a static alignment
Click to expand...
they rotate and if there is a wear pattern it's no good and the rocker too.
 
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