About Mobil full synthetic and Engine noise

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: virginoil
It is possible to measure mpg down to 0.2, I have done so for many weeks when I choose to measure the mpg.

If all things being equal and the only change was the switching of the oil brands for a season and the mpg went back to normal after the switch back to the usual oil brand then the OPs claims are valid, and you don't need a LAB to confirm the result.


That is not correct. In real-world driving it is impossible to isolate and measure any one variable, especially one as small as the impact of motor oil. There was a good article a while back about making real-world fuel economy measurements that detailed the legion of variables that have to be controlled, first off it can't be done on city streets it must be done on a test track. And you must use standardized test fuel with a consistent energy value since everyday gasoline varies far too much to get any useful numbers.

The isolation of variables becomes more difficult but more important as the variable effect gets smaller. The wide noise band (as Garak notes) of real-world driving masks a lot.

 

[Boss302fan]

I have seen threads like this before and people have said they noticed more engine noise with Mobil 1 then other motor oils.

 

[4WD]

Oil is oil ? But noise is not noise. Going against the grain here - 3 family members noticed PUP was noisier than M1 right after I changed it. This was under the metal roof in front of my shop. When I pulled up along a brick wall the engine sounded the same. I think there is a frequency individuals hear best - in fact, I just did a hearing test yesterday and mine varies ear to ear.
Having said that - I'm 3 decades of using M1 and don't really think I'm getting noise from the stuff.

The Db test I'll do (based on current OCI) will be M1 10w30 to 15w40 Delvac - I will do this out of curiosity - not a thread. I'm gonna start logging actual readings. Perhaps a comment in the next round of these. What it means is opinion.
So many of today's engines have DOHC, timing sets, cheap composite valve covers, etc. They get another slab of plastic on top - a liner under the hood. I'm not taking a position on this as a wear problem - these oils undergo Proof of Performance testing and tear downs. That is magnitudes better data than Bucky heard something.
There is only one really quiet one leaving my drive - Fusion on electricity ...

 

[edyvw]

I always noticed M1 0W40 being noisier then Castrol 0W30/40.
Same in BMW, noticeable difference between Valvoline 5W40 MST and M1 5W30 ESP. I still think M1 is better oil then Valvoline, especially since it generates less frequent DPF regenerations, but there is definiately more noise.

 

[kschachn]

I've never been able to remember exactly what my engine sounded like 8000-10,000 miles (and several months) ago in order to make a comparison with what oil I'm putting in new at a change. Old oil always sounds noisier to me than new oil, and that isn't what you should be comparing against.

 

[JoelB]

We aren't even sure if a quieter engine is a better running engine, it's just an assumption.

 

[Boomerang]

Thanks..

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
I've never been able to remember exactly what my engine sounded like 8000-10,000 miles (and several months) ago in order to make a comparison with what oil I'm putting in new at a change. Old oil always sounds noisier to me than new oil, and that isn't what you should be comparing against.

Wait what? So I take out old Valvoline 5W40 MST put new Mobil1 5W30 ESP which is noisier.
Same goes for Castrol etc.
One thing is for sure, my 2.0TSI engines in Tiguan and my previous car CC, really loved Castrol 0W30/40. M1 0W40 was noisier a bit (I do not see that as a problem) but for sure it was not noisy as Castrol 5W40 after 3-4k. I think Costco olive oil runs better after some time then Castrol 5W40.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted By: JoelB
We aren't even sure if a quieter engine is a better running engine, it's just an assumption.

That is true.
M1 as far as I can tell has consistent noise thru OCI.
Like I said in previous post, Castrol 5W40, after 3-4K turns into grinding machine. The lifter tick that oil was producing in my Passat 1.8T after 4K was, to put it this way, remarkable.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: virginoil
It is possible to measure mpg down to 0.2, I have done so for many weeks when I choose to measure the mpg.

How do you account for the pump's inherent accuracy not even being that good? I know up here, they're allowed to be out up to 5%, depending upon the direction, despite the fact that they tell us volume down to the nearest millilitre. By nominal significant figures, it's relatively easy to go to four significant figures, but that involves ignoring a lot of reality about the errors in our measurement.

 

[supton]

I have to wonder if some people's ears are different. Different range of hearing, and different coloring. Some may even be more sensitive to vibrations, "hearing" them perhaps even instead of just feeling them.

 

[Camprunner]

Back in 1994 I owned a 1992 Volvo 960 with a 2.9 strait 6 this motor had a rather large oil fill hole right on top of the motor I used M1 exclusively in this car 10w30 winter and 15w50 summer. I had noticed that after each M1 oil change that I could hear a slight tapping or ticking noise?? So I managed to lay across the motor while running and looked down the oil fill you could see three cam lobes pushing the bucket tappets up and down while running. I noticed with clean oil as the cam spun it would make an audible "snap" or "click" when the cam lobe came around and connected the bucket but when the oil was dirty it made no noise?? What did it mean?? Don't know but I did put 250,000 on that Volvo and when you looked at the cam lobe you could see no wear not one bit!

 

[ChrisD46]

I have found the 0WXX AFE synthetic series from Mobil to act / sound differently (no noise) in some of my engines than the standard M1 synthetic WXX series . Perhaps one of the reasons the Mobile 0WXX AFE series synthetic oils have a loyal and growing fan base .

 

[wtd]

I used to be a huge Mobil 1 fan and used it in my 98 chevy K1500 with the 5.7L for five years and about 41,000 miles. I ran it from the time the truck had 15,000 miles to almost 57,000 miles

I quit using it for a few different reasons. The first reason was because I had continued lifter noise in the truck and more overall engine noise. The second reason was increased oil consumption while using it. The last reason was because my oil analysis results continually showed high lead levels along with some others I don't remember right now.

I was doing 3,000 mile oil changes during this time. When my truck ran out of warranty which was about a year after I started using Mobil 1, I did a 5,000 mile oil run on the truck to see if I could start extending my oil changes. This was the beginning of having regular oil analysis done on the truck. My analysis came back as high in lead and some other things and they recommended staying at 3,000 miles oil changes.

I continued running Mobil 1 for the next two years and kept having oil analysis done and continued to have not so great results. I finally quit using Mobil 1 and went to conventional Havoline and Chevron. I continued to have oil analysis for about another couple of years and my wear results became normal and they recommended going to 4,000 mile changes. My lifter noise went away and the engine was quiet and my oil consumption decreased.

While I can't say that Mobil 1 wasn't protecting my engine, I didn't like the things I mentioned above for the price I was paying and decided it wasn't worth it to me.

I quit using Mobil 1 in 2003 and have never tried it since and have no desire to do so. I still have this truck and it runs quiet and smooth.

Wayne

 

[leemajors]

I used M1 for years in a series of Tacomas, Prius, 4Runner, etc.

Had a beautiful UOA on a 6-7k mi OCI with M1 HM 5w30 in my current high mileage 4Runner but decided to try out a few other oils. I haven't really noticed a difference in engine noise, honestly, so I'm going back to the M1HM in a 10w30 flavor (lots of hwy miles and its A3/B3). It's also pretty affordable here.

Seems like good oil overall.

Originally Posted By: wtd
I used to be a huge Mobil 1 fan and used it in my 98 chevy K1500 with the 5.7L for five years and about 41,000 miles. I ran it from the time the truck had 15,000 miles to almost 57,000 miles

I quit using it for a few different reasons. The first reason was because I had continued lifter noise in the truck and more overall engine noise. The second reason was increased oil consumption while using it. The last reason was because my oil analysis results continually showed high lead levels along with some others I don't remember right now.

I was doing 3,000 mile oil changes during this time. When my truck ran out of warranty which was about a year after I started using Mobil 1, I did a 5,000 mile oil run on the truck to see if I could start extending my oil changes. This was the beginning of having regular oil analysis done on the truck. My analysis came back as high in lead and some other things and they recommended staying at 3,000 miles oil changes.

I continued running Mobil 1 for the next two years and kept having oil analysis done and continued to have not so great results. I finally quit using Mobil 1 and went to conventional Havoline and Chevron. I continued to have oil analysis for about another couple of years and my wear results became normal and they recommended going to 4,000 mile changes. My lifter noise went away and the engine was quiet and my oil consumption decreased.

While I can't say that Mobil 1 wasn't protecting my engine, I didn't like the things I mentioned above for the price I was paying and decided it wasn't worth it to me.

I quit using Mobil 1 in 2003 and have never tried it since and have no desire to do so. I still have this truck and it runs quiet and smooth.

Wayne

 

[Triple_Se7en]

When Mobil-1 came out with EP, some think they lessened the group-4 from the regular Mobil-1 and increased the group-4 inside the new EP.

So did a downgrade occur with the regular Mobil-1 that eventually chased you away..... it's possible!

 

[hyperscion]

my 2009 scion had a ticking sound when I ran mobil-1 5w-20. I did early change to pp 5w-20 the ticking stopped. Afew yrs later got some mobil-1 ep 5w-20 on sale, ticking started up again.

I have mobil-1 ep in my 4x4 ford,works great quiet. But for some reason my little scion IS noisier with mobil-1. I feel that it still protected the motor just fine.

 

[hyperscion]

p.s. no change in mpg.

 

[4WD]

I liked the M1 10w30 specs enough - along with oil seepage to follow the MaxLife fans using it ahead of 75k (60k) ... engine is not under warranty anyway so Dexos who ?

 

[wtd]

I'm not saying that Mobil 1 or Mobil products are not good but my experience in the past was not that positive for the cost of the oil. Granted I could give it another chance but when I still read about it causing noises in certain circumstances, I don't have a desire to try it again.

Wayne