[DaveK]

"...reduce the amount of ZDDP (zinc dialkyl dithiophosphate) in
street-legal, gasoline-engine motor oils. After all, they weren't
needed with modern roller lifters and overhead-cam followers..."

The government can obviously mandate anything they can get away with, but I doubt that the oil companies (and their huge lobbying groups) would go along with it if they were opening themselves up to who know's what lawsuits by deliberately creating a product that will knowingly damage what is bound to be a large number of engines?

It just seems to me to have the hallmarks of internet hysteria - a couple of guys do engine builds, dont use the right assembly lube and screw their engines up. Of course they could never make a mistake so they find a convenient scapegoat. You know how it goes.

Has anyone any first hand experience or attributable data on damage caused by this? I have a completely open mind - but rumours posted on the internet aren't evidence.