ARCO Graphite

[MatchboxCar]

Anybody remember ARCO Graphite??

Black as tar, but I remember my father and I got better fuel mileage by an MPG or two using it. There's a concept that died after synthetics adn better additives appeared! I sometimes wonder what the wear metal would have looked like in a UOA.

 

[ekpolk]

I do, but that was definitely during my youth, before I was worrying about caring for a car myself. It gets occasional mention here on BITOG; I've seen it pop up maybe 4-5 times. I do remember thinking at some point if the stuff was as good as the ads claimed, why is it suddenly gone?

 

[obbop]

Eeegads!!! Thou art correct!!!!

My decrepit mind had forgotten about that fiendish stuff.

It stained the heck out of anything it touched on my 1975 Honda Civic.

In a delusional haze I once opened the add-the-oil cap while the Civic was running. A multitude of very fine droplets spewed out, hitting me, the underside of the yellow-colored hood and other various locations.

That stuff was either: very hard to remove or, on some surfaces, impossible to remove. Instant staining.

Tarnation, that was a long time ago and a different era. Sure was skinnier then and much better looking. Sigh.... the gals didn't scream and flee as much back then.

Sniff.

 

[Spector]

I believe they finally determined that the graphite did nothing to help lubricate the engine and customers liked to see amber oikl on the dipstick as they still do

 

[LAGA]

I used it in my 77 Ford E150 van with a 351 Winsor for about 2 years. I had no problems with the motor and it was running great when my cousins husband totalled itin 82, JERK

 

[ScottB]

I used it until my father told me why I shouldn't:

Graphite xtals are nice and flat and lube well - sort of.
The Graphite xtals have smooth, plate-like structures, but the edges are relatively sharp or abrasive.
Since one can't make the plates align in a specific manner, the xtals could actually scratch the surface.
Molybdenum doesn't have the same problem, although the lubricating properties are somewhat similar.
Moly lives, graphite died.

It was da*n difficult to clean too - made one **** of a mess, but I only put one change in my 69 Z/28 before my dad enlightened me.

In case someone wants to know what my Pop knows about crystal structure, he was a professor of Geochemistry/Geophysics at Penn State and UCLA for years. That was his gig

Scott

 

[427Z06]

I put at least one OCI of the stuff in a built SBC. Didn't seem to do better than anything else. Moved on to testing M1 5w20.

 

[dwendt44]

Didn't use that oil, but used a graphite additive for a while back in the 70's.

As I recall, the better oil filters of the day would catch a lot of the graphite ad hold it, so any benefit would be soon lost.
My 2¢

 

[MatchboxCar]

Yes, I stopped using it as soon as Mobil 1 came out. Have not looked back since.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I was told as a young man that they went out of business due to law suits. I was told that the graphite would get hot and turn from a solid to a liguid dureing operation. When you would shut the engine off it would go back to a solid as it cooled. Supposedly with prolonged use layers of graphite would build up in the oil galleys eventualy pluging up the system. The guy that told me about this was an old engineer that I worked with for a while. He was in charge of signing off on AC/Delco prints going out to suppliers. THe gentleman was very smart and knew more then most about oil and oil additives but was not a tribologists so I do not know how true his information was.

ARCO The Black Oil. He also told me that it came in clear glass bottles so you could see how black is was.

 

[ScottB]

As far as I know and recall, it came in the standard oil CANS, period.
That was before the fancy new plastic bottles.

Scott

 

[ctrcbob]

Yep, I remember that stuff. At the same time, ARCO was selling their Gasoline with %5 Methanol and 5% Co-Solvents (to keep the methanol from eating up the gaskets in the fuel system.

This was back in the mid/late 70's.

 

[bruce381]

""I was told as a young man that they went out of business due to law suits. I was told that the graphite would get hot and turn from a solid to a liguid dureing operation. When you would shut the engine off it would go back to a solid as it cooled. Supposedly with prolonged use layers of graphite would build up in the oil galleys eventualy pluging up the system. The guy that told me about this was an old engineer that I worked with for a while. He was in charge of signing off on AC/Delco prints going out to suppliers. THe gentleman was very smart and knew more then most about oil and oil additives but was not a tribologists so I do not know how true his information was.""

Everything he told you posted here is WRONG.
Without refuting each individual point just Delete from your memory.
bruce

 

[Old Mustang Guy]

I remember it but never used it. I heard horror stories about it causing problems in cars.

 

[CharBaby]

I remember the TV advertisements back then that showed an animated cut away of a piston moving up and down and the cylinder walls being grooved. The ARCO Graphite was supposed to fill in the cylinder wall grooves and help to return compression and slow down blow by.

 

[rapid47]

There was nothing wrong with ARCOGRAPHITE except its color. This lubricant did not cause engines to blow up or clog up, it passed all the car makers tests at that time. What was the problem ?? the color , it was not accepted buy the consumer, and Arco just stopped making it do to low sales.

 

[ScottB]

quote:

---

Originally posted by rapid47:
There was nothing wrong with ARCOGRAPHITE except its color. This lubricant did not cause engines to blow up or clog up, it passed all the car makers tests at that time. What was the problem ?? the color , it was not accepted buy the consumer, and Arco just stopped making it do to low sales.

---

Re-read the thread.
That's not true.
Graphite is NOT a good additive for motor oil.

Scott

 

[rapid47]

Sorry SCOTTB but what you posted is incorrect,i will refer to BRUCE381 and he will tell you that what i posted is correct.

 

[badnews]

Sorry Scott

this is the internet, but do you have any proof other than

" my father said" ?

 

[bruce381]

quote:

---

Originally posted by rapid47:
Sorry SCOTTB but what you posted is incorrect,i will refer to BRUCE381 and he will tell you that what i posted is correct.

---

I agree and since I did run arco in my truck back then and pulled heads for valve job at about 125K or so ALL miles other than first 2-3K on graphite and chambers were clean cross hatch still there if anything wrong with it I'd say lack of break in wear since cylinders and rod bearing showed NO wear.

I had good performance till I sold it camshaft also was a Hi Po unit and zero wear or at least NO scoring I could see.

That said MOLY is a better lube as in FM properties but the OLD style dispersed Graphite or Moly additives did/could clog filters in sludgey engines in that the solids aggrivated clogging if OCI were not watched.

That and the USED oil BLACK color made the product NOT a very commercial product with low sales and it was dropped from the Arco line.


bruce