Any difference in these???

[tbmmbt]

Hi Guys,

Well I have been using the Trop-Artic 5w30 in my GMC 5.3 without any trouble whatsoever. I usually get the oil at Wally for $1.68 Qt but they haven't had any on the shelves. Yesterday we went by 3 different Wallys in our travels so we decided to check and only 1 had any and the others said they were no longer carrying that bottle anymore. The 3rd Wally had some 5w30 (10 Qts) and some 10w30 (9 Qts) so we bought what they had and that will get me 3 oil changes. My question is, are Trop-Artic, Motorcraft, Phillips 66 and Kendall all made by the same company? If they are then would they be essentially the same oil or are there distinct differences in the oil as well as the properties of these oils? I am a 3000 mile OCI guy (I'm sorry can't help it) so I am really not into the Syn oil because of price and such but the Trop-Artic and Motorcraft at Wally are synthetic blends and the cost is lower except the Motorcraft is to high to me and I can get a name brand syn close to that price anyway. Like I said I have 3 oil changes to find and make up my mind on oil to start using in the future. We don't have the Kragens, Murrays and such and no real deals to speak of without having to travel a distance and then when you figure in the $3.50 a gal gas and it ends up costing us $20 to retreive oil that sort of drives up the cost per Qt. We live in a "rural" setting so not much is close. Any info good or bad would be appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

 

[FZ1]

Be a man and get a 5 qt jug of the synthetic of your choice at Walmart the next time you are already shopping there so you don't make a special trip. Go 6k and change the oil and filter. Repeat.

 

[VK56VD]

Mike,

How many miles do you go between your changes and what filters do you use?

 

[tbmmbt]

Whats up with this be a man [censored]. Alls I know is that I have driven upwards of over a million miles with the conventional oil and a 3000-3500 mile OCI and haven't had a oil related problem yet. I believe that says good things about the cheaper oil and longevity. And I keep my vehicles until I feel its time for them to go. Somewhere around the 200000 mile mark. That is taking into account the "older" oils which wasn't as good as the newer oils are. Sure I can double my cost and double my OCI but what have I gained? The time it takes to change my oil. Yea the 15 minutes it takes to change the oil. Well when I change my oil I usually look at things under the truck or car and make mental notes on what I need to keep an eye on. I also grease my vehicles everytime. Sure I could wait for the 6-7000 miles to grease but I feel it neccessary to do it on a 3000 mile schedule. You don't know where I live and what my vehicles go through and I can change my oil in the time it takes to grease it. Maybe some here should do the "MAN" thing and take responsibility and take care of the vehicles. You brought it up. All I asked was about the difference if any in those oils and I get someone with a complex. If anyone has some knowledge of those oils I would appreciate it. If I decide to stretch my OCI out and go to a more expensive oil I believe thats my decision to make. I come here for the info I can get from the ones that have been there and done that. There is alot here who only use the conventional oils with excellent results and don't plan on ever using synthetic oils. But all of us have to decide personnally what to do. Sorry to rant but that just sort of rubbed me the wrong way and I apologize to any offense that might have been taken.

 

[tbmmbt]

Hey Spartuss,

I was brought up with the 3000-3500 mile OCI and to some that is just dumb but I go on the results I have had personnally. I feel what my vehicles go through with work and all that is a cheap insurance for me as well as the vehicles. I mean it cost me less that $11 for a oil change and filter. I usually use the SuperTech oil filters from Wally as some here say they are made by Champion and are a all around good filter. Thanks for the reply.

Mike

 

[hi-miler]

Spartuss
Gotta smile at your name considering what you wrote and the replies you've received. Talk about asking for it!
My best bud owns a auto shop and I can't get him to budge off of the 3k oci. He says the same thing, "Results speak for themselves". Question I keep on asking him is, "How do the engine internals look on a teardown that have used synthetic and had longer oci's?" The answer is we don't see many of those. Either people do the 3k oci with him or the lube shop, or they do the longer intervals themselves, or they don't pay attention and do it whenever they get scared or there's a problem and they have to bring it in. We normally have knowledge on either the faithful customer or the scatterbrain who has to be told that the engine oil isn't supposed to be original with the car. So even though I agree with you, I have to give Mr. Three Thousand his due. Oil is oil, and all the additives in the world cheap or not will work just fine at 3k oci.
Now, as far as recommendations go, I'm really interested in the recent article on the recycled oil that ends up being better than virgin oil. Because they have to purify it using a process that takes out all the Group 1 oils, it's left with nothing but Group 2 and above. Supposedly it's better than any virgin oil out there and it costs less to boot! If they had a local supplier, my buddy would stock it.
Steve (Ben Hur in my dreams

)

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: tbmmbt
Hi Guys,

Well I have been using the Trop-Artic 5w30 in my GMC 5.3 without any trouble whatsoever. I usually get the oil at Wally for $1.68 Qt but they haven't had any on the shelves. Yesterday we went by 3 different Wallys in our travels so we decided to check and only 1 had any and the others said they were no longer carrying that bottle anymore. The 3rd Wally had some 5w30 (10 Qts) and some 10w30 (9 Qts) so we bought what they had and that will get me 3 oil changes. My question is, are Trop-Artic, Motorcraft, Phillips 66 and Kendall all made by the same company? If they are then would they be essentially the same oil or are there distinct differences in the oil as well as the properties of these oils? I am a 3000 mile OCI guy (I'm sorry can't help it) so I am really not into the Syn oil because of price and such but the Trop-Artic and Motorcraft at Wally are synthetic blends and the cost is lower except the Motorcraft is to high to me and I can get a name brand syn close to that price anyway. Like I said I have 3 oil changes to find and make up my mind on oil to start using in the future. We don't have the Kragens, Murrays and such and no real deals to speak of without having to travel a distance and then when you figure in the $3.50 a gal gas and it ends up costing us $20 to retreive oil that sort of drives up the cost per Qt. We live in a "rural" setting so not much is close. Any info good or bad would be appreciated.

Thanks
Mike


They are all made by Conoco/Phillips. They are similar but not quite the same. All use basically the same base stock but a little different additive packages so they will each have their own identity. If you cannot find the Phillips 66 Trop-Artic that you like, feel good about using Conoco, Kendall, or Motorcraft.

Hope that helps.

 

[Greggy_D]

I agree with Johnny. Heck, if you are budget-minded go with Mobil's Drive Clean 5000 for 5qts/9 bucks or so. Great oil for 3-5k miles.

And it won't make you any less a man.

 

[tbmmbt]

Thanks Johnny,

Coming from you it must be the gospel. I know there are people on here that know a whole heck of alot more than me so I have to go with what I feel and have seen throughout all my driving experiences. But like in one of my earlier post, I have never had to have a motor tore down and rebuilt that I have started owning and did the 3000 OCI. Only one I had to have rebuilt but I got it give to me and it was using oil at about a quart per 100 miles. Now that truck wasn't taken care of and after it was rebuilt I did the usual 3000 mile OCI and as long as I owned that truck it never used any oil and to this day it is still going on a friends farm and its a 1970 Chevy straight 6. Thats why I have to go with what has worked for me. Thanks again for the info.

Mike

 

[mechtech2]

tbmmbt - What the guys are saying is that a synthetic is viable nowadays. You can have your excellent results and not have to change it as often, and not have to drive to the store as much.

Either way, you seem like you take care of your machinery, and you'll do just fine.

 

[VK56VD]

Originally Posted By: hi-miler
Spartuss
Gotta smile at your name considering what you wrote and the replies you've received. Talk about asking for it!
My best bud owns a auto shop and I can't get him to budge off of the 3k oci. He says the same thing, "Results speak for themselves". Question I keep on asking him is, "How do the engine internals look on a teardown that have used synthetic and had longer oci's?" The answer is we don't see many of those. Either people do the 3k oci with him or the lube shop, or they do the longer intervals themselves, or they don't pay attention and do it whenever they get scared or there's a problem and they have to bring it in. We normally have knowledge on either the faithful customer or the scatterbrain who has to be told that the engine oil isn't supposed to be original with the car. So even though I agree with you, I have to give Mr. Three Thousand his due. Oil is oil, and all the additives in the world cheap or not will work just fine at 3k oci.
Now, as far as recommendations go, I'm really interested in the recent article on the recycled oil that ends up being better than virgin oil. Because they have to purify it using a process that takes out all the Group 1 oils, it's left with nothing but Group 2 and above. Supposedly it's better than any virgin oil out there and it costs less to boot! If they had a local supplier, my buddy would stock it.
Steve (Ben Hur in my dreams

)


I think the response was intended for FZ1.


Back to the OP, I think Top Arctic is fine for what you're doing with it. It is not cost effective for you to drive out far to find a deal. The deal you received on TopArctic is good considering it's a synthetic blend and should service your vehicle for your OCI quite well. Continue with your OCI's and sleep well at night. $11 is cheap insurance and I would do the same if I lived far from any deals.

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: tbmmbt
Thanks Johnny,

Coming from you it must be the gospel. I know there are people on here that know a whole heck of alot more than me so I have to go with what I feel and have seen throughout all my driving experiences. But like in one of my earlier post, I have never had to have a motor tore down and rebuilt that I have started owning and did the 3000 OCI. Only one I had to have rebuilt but I got it give to me and it was using oil at about a quart per 100 miles. Now that truck wasn't taken care of and after it was rebuilt I did the usual 3000 mile OCI and as long as I owned that truck it never used any oil and to this day it is still going on a friends farm and its a 1970 Chevy straight 6. Thats why I have to go with what has worked for me. Thanks again for the info.

Mike


Not gospel, just my opinion. If I was preaching the gospel to you I would have said use Pennzoil.

 

[tbmmbt]

Johnny,

To be honest with you, my wife and I went by a Advanced Auto Parts yesterday and they was running a sale for the 5 Qt jug of Pennzoil Conventional 5w30 for almost $8. They also had the Havoline DS in the 10w30 and the 10w-40 for the same price I believe. There might have been a couple pennies difference in the price of those 2 brands. I looked at it and I use to use only the old style Havoline before the DS came along. I haven't used the Pennzoil before because of all the wax hype they talk about which I believe is a farce. You would know more about that. I didn't think that was to bad a price but I had 19 qts of the Trop-Artic so I let it slide for now. Something like that shows up here every now and then but not very often. Thanks again.

Mike