Bad oil...

[glennc]

Good point, z. You have helped me realize that my growing preference for Havoline is an outgrowth of my deep-seated sense of personal inferiority! I am not good enough for synthetics, and no car I ever drive can be good enough for synthetics either! Thankyou, z, for helping me reach this breakthrough! Now I can begin the healing process, and maybe someday I can aspire to... a blend?

- Glenn

 

[Matt89]

You guys crack me up!

I use synthetics because I have to either 'start from scratch' or 'reinvent the wheel' with every other d*** thing I try to do lately, might as well with my oil.

Just get it out of the ground...now that's crazy talk!

 

[bkrell]

Well, except for smelling different when burning on the cat from the yet-to-be-found leak, Supertech 5W30 seems to be running just fine in my 01 Saab 9-5.

I've gotta find that leak.

 

[vad]

quote:

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You mean... I don't need to be putting Redline in my Geo Metro? [Eek!]

---

Why not?
My hard working 3-cylinder Chevy Sprint (metro predecessor) has had tons of dry sludge under the valve cover.(at 250K miles mark)
An occasional oil change with RedLine would help to keep it sludge free.

 

[toocrazy2yoo]

Regarding Frams, I have to admit I didn't pay it much attention. I'm sure I must have bought them at different places. Sometimes it was a little bitty filter spec'd for my car out of their book, and other times, it was a fairly large-diameter filter, nearly the size of an FL-1. I just never gave it much thought, but I know that every time I ever tried dino, I always had several seconds of cam-tap at startup, even in the warm weather that I tried it. Mobil 1 never did that.

Was it the filter that was crappy, and the Mobil 1 overcame the problem? Or is my car just desirous of synthetic no matter what filter I use? Unfortunatly, I just changed it just after I started reading here, but based on what I HAD read to that point, I used a PureOne filter instead of the offerings from Fram-Land. Come springtime, I'll change out to Havoline, or another Dino and a new PureOne, and see if the cam-tap comes back.

So? Can a synthetic overcome drainback better than dino?

 

[LarryL]

Most synthetic oils are better than conventional oils in just about everything except cost. The problem is figuring out if the difference in cost is worth it, or not. In severe use situations it is the difference is more obvious. In moderate use situations, there may be little if any difference. This fits the theme that there are not too many bad oils on the market. Most brands and grades of oils will work. The biggest differences are marketing hype and user preference. It might be more important to get the viscosity right.

 

[sgtgeek]

Yes there are horrible "oils" on the market today. Oils that will ruin your engine. No I am not speaking of any particular brand/viscosity or rating methodologies here....I am speaking of uninformed folks pouring the WRONG oil down the fill tube then wondering what in the heck happened...."I put 20-50 racing oil in my 4 cylinder" and the gas mileage went down and it is sluggish...or " I put 0-20 in my 502ci Chevy Big Block and lordy the noise is horrible"....
Well on second thought.....yes the only oil I consider bad is the oil in an uninformed users hands...that is some bad oil there!!!

 

[Eiron]

LarryL,

Here are the California Labeling Requirements for petroleum & automotive products. Click on the "motor oil" section & scroll down to the "statement of use" paragraph.

Also, here's a report on the impact of low quality oils in a modern engine.

 

[Audity]

This is severely off-topic, but I couldn't resist. It's regarding vad's Sprint with 250k miles.

Some folks just seem to have a feel for using and treating machines. It has to do with knowledge and diligence, but also seems to be almost instinctual, kind of a sympatico relationship with the mechanical system. Maybe the word is talent, I don't know.

 

[LarryL]

Eiron, thanks for the links. Good info. So the answer is, current spec, all good. Anything less than current specs, if it goes back one or two generations, maybe a slight risk, maybe not. Go back anywhere close to SA, equals big risk, damage for sure. The answer is, any current spec, correct viscosity oil should be ok, if spec'ed for your car. Once that's handled, the question becomes what filter, and how long. There's lots of filter info, which is needed because filters don't have something like an API rating stamped on them or a donut like a bottle of oil. And the, how long, question can be driven by warranty requirements and/or uoa's. The performance of your oil in your car may have more to do with weather, oci's, condition of the engine, driving conditions and habits than the brand of oil. It might be useful for those posting uoa's to give more of that kind of info to help us understand the results.

 

[Fastride95]

I'm not sure there have been ANY really bad oils in, at least, the last 10 years.

Case in point:
I just bought a 96 Aerostar to replace my demolished one. 198k on it and the nice woman who drove it used it to haul two horses + trailer around the U.S. as well as locally here in town. She had all the fluid changes done at a fast oil change place (Superlube [Pennzoil]) using the standard conventional fluids and coolant according to the fast lube joint's recommendations!

It has no sludge, original engine/transmission and no leaks. Starts right up, shifts smoothly and burns zero oil. What's important is that she stayed on top of maintainance. Not just fluid changes but EVERYTHING. The van has new or recent plugs, wires, distributor/cap, ball joints, struts, waterpump, alternator, exhaust, timing chain.. you name it. She didn't skimp on replacing bad hardware and that, I think, is the key along with timely fluid changes. Everything working smoothly. No single component overstressing other components.

So to keep in topic, nah.. no bad oil anymore when the proper oil is used for a given application. That said, I still run synthetic in my sports coupe. Old habits die hard.