What is the best oil ingredient to protect against cold start wear?

[demarpaint]

I have taken apart engines that sat for 20 years, there was still plenty of oil up in them.

I've seen them that way too, and engines that had a bad carburetor and oil drained from the sump that was like water. We tore one down [Chevy 350] that was given to my brother, the engine sat for a few years before we rebuilt it and had very little residual oil on parts.

 

[MolaKule]

I wonder what the results of this test would be if it were re-run today with a modern oil instead of a mineral oil based on a 22 year old standard and also use a modern all-aluminum engine.

I think those cold temp anti-wear additives I mentioned in post #131 were coming on the scene right after 2006. I believe it was the phosphorylated Boron esters that were first introduced.

 

[MolaKule]

I have taken apart engines that sat for 20 years, there was still plenty of oil up in them.

Me too, and with oil films still on the cam lobes.

However, I think the emphasis here was on daily drivers.

 

[Tom NJ]

70% of nothing is nothing. I estimate I "started up" the engine on my last car some 10,000 times. Golly, that engine should have been dust, but alas it was smooth as silk when I sold it, and is still on the road four year later.