Arco Graphite Oil

[y_p_w]

Anyone remember this one?

I know there's an old thread on this, but I just thought about this little disaster that was Arco Graphite.

 

[Stelth]

I'm pretty sure no one here has ever heard of that.

 

[compaddict]

I remember it. I used it on a fresh built 250CI hot rod six cyl. I had to go back in and everything was black. YUCK!

 

[Donald]

I remember using it in a 1980 diesel Rabbit, if I remember correctly.

 

[Errtt]

Oh yeah... I remember it, never bought/used it.
I see on the can "Reduced piston ring and cam wear". I'd say that's accurate compared to no oil at all.

 

[GreeCguy]

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/posts/12827/

 

[GreeCguy]

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/posts/12827/

 

[GreeCguy]

and finally

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/what-happened-to-arco-graphite-motor-oil.131066/

 

[WTJackalope]

I used it in the late 70's in a 67 Mustang.....IIRC I bought it on sale for a few cents per quart.....as a starving college student, every penny counted.

 

[Chris142]

Don't spill it on your driveway It wil never come clean!

 

[JimPghPA]

Originally Posted By: Stelth
I'm pretty sure no one here has ever heard of that.


I did a fill with that stuff in my new 1976 Plymouth Volare with the straight 6 225, I had about a years driving back and forth from going to school in Harrisburg (a three hour drive) before I tried that oil.

I also remember using on that same vehicle a special oil filter that was advertised as having a special wax plug on the bottom of the filter that was shown in the commercial as a yellow disk about 3/4 of an inch thick taking up the entire bottom of the oil filter. The commercial said that the wax disc melts during the life of the oil change, and keeps the quality of the oil better during the life of the oil use.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

I remember it. My dad had big old Buick 450 something cu in motor, Put that in an after a while started having problems with the sparkplugs. Turns out the motor burned some oil and the oil residue was shorting out the plugs.

At the time i had my still fresh from California 65 GTO. No way I was going to put that stuff in my car.

Stuff worked good for door locks and hinges.

Wayne

 

[NHHEMI]

JUNK! That stuff was just horrid.

 

[demarpaint]

I remember it, I was told not to use it, so I didn't use it.

 

[Turk]

I used it back in the late 70's in my 1968 GTO 400CI engine.

Needless to say, the engine was black all around any seepage. Out it went!

 

[46Harry]

I remember Arco Graphite oil. Several friends of mine used it in their cars and I also remember some engine failures attributed to the oil too. I friend of mine still has a few cases of the stuff that someone gave him. The cans may be a collector item, but I sure wouldn't use the oil.

 

[ArBee]

I used it briefly in the late '70s on a 1975 VW Dasher. Filthy stuff. It was hard to scrub off your hands and stains could not be removed from clothing.

 

[Bud]

Used this stuff once in my Vette back in the 70's. It was such a mess if you got it on anything I never used it again.

 

[y_p_w]

I remember back when Arco was considered a premium brand. Now (even though it's owned by BP) it's one step removed from an off-price brand. I think it all went back to when they decided to eliminate accepting credit cards (although a few franchises chose to take credit) starting with a commercial showing them blowing up an Arco branded credit card.

Not that there's anything wrong with their product, but there's a whole lot of perception that if it's cheap it can't be good.

 

[Bamaro]

I used it for a couple of changes back then. Still have one of the cars and as far as I know there was no damage from using it.