Can you even buy a "bad" oil anymore? Even cheap syn is great!

S

smonska

Joined
Feb 19, 2010
Messages
100
Location
Western Massachusetts
After reading many UOAs, watching video tests of, and trying the cheapest of oils you can get now, SuperTech (Walmart), Kirkland (Costco), and Amazon Basics, they all seem to be really great performing synthetics. The Kirkland 5w-30 syn at Costco today was $15/5qt jug!

We these being the bargain basement, I was thinking what oils would I actually avoid these days? Other than intentionally using the WRONG oil for an application, it seems you really can't go wrong. In the past there were known oils with waxes that sludged up engines (old Quaker State) or caused seal problems, but today are we living in a golden era of motor oils?
 
I know I can’t distinguish a difference between any majority group 3 synthetic oils with the same approvals. Splitting hairs really.
 
How’s that Kirkland 5w-30 compared to say M1 or M1 EP? 20qt for $64 is really enticing but practically speaking it saves $8 per oil change, so if it’s any “worse” it seems not worth the savings doing 5 oil changes on our cars per year
 
A few older threads on this topic.

And for what it's worth, UOA and YouTube videos aren't the way to judge comparative oil quality unless we are talking Bullseye oil.

Is there any bad oil?

I read on BITOG pretty often, people recommend nearly any oil, from every type of Pennzoil, Mobil, Quaker State, Castrol, Chevron, Valvoline, Motorcraft, and Super Tech. Since they're all nearly equally recommended, is there any oil that isn't very good? Why? Any oil you would never put in your...
bobistheoilguy.com

What's a BAD oil?

Hi Guys, I've lurked on these forums for a long time, and done a fair bit of research on oils over the years. In my struggle to understand how these oils are engineered and how to decide what is best for me, most of the time I have come full circle. I know the viscosity I want, and most of the...
bobistheoilguy.com

Is their such thing as a bad oil???

I am thinking LUCAS or RP would be the most controverscial engine oils, but seriously if someone is using ANY dino that is rated for their car & changing at 5k or less, or ANY blend and changing at 7500k or less, or ANY full-syn and changing at 10k or less, then is their an brand or type of oil...
bobistheoilguy.com

So... is there any bad oils??

For us uneducated types... I've been on this board for quite some time, and I think I have probobly seen every type of motor oil mentioned as someone's favorite, or at least mentioned positively at some time or another. Are there no poor quality motor oils? I did see something called 'Wolf's...
bobistheoilguy.com

All This Talk About Good Oils What Is A Bad Oil ??

all this talk about great oils but i dont hear too much about bad oils here... Lets hear some opinions..
bobistheoilguy.com

Is there really a terrible oil?

Let's say you were in the parts store and threw a dart at the "great wall of oil", assuming the proper type (ie:5W-20 etc) and assuming you use a OIC of 5k miles at most along with a decent filter, is it truly possible to pick a bad product? I'm just wondering because I see all kinds of *stuff*...
bobistheoilguy.com

Can somebody show me a low quality, bad engine oil

Hi, I often hear the comment: "Just pick a good quality engine oil and you will be fine". But what is a good and a bad engine oil? Can somebody please link me to some website or photos showing engines oils that are of low quality and should not be used? All the engine oils I have seen in my...
bobistheoilguy.com

Worst oil you ever tried or used?

Hello folks and what would you guys say was the worst, cheapest, barely meets API spec oil that you guys ever used? I can honestly say that the old neighbor that lived beside me out near OHIO, used to use a blend of SHELL ND 30 and some PEAK 5w30 conventional, and why, I dont know. let me hear...
bobistheoilguy.com

Worst oil?

Just for grins what do you think is the worst oil? Brand, weight, etc? Chime in all you experts!!
bobistheoilguy.com

Besides SuperTech, is there even a bad oil.......

.....out there anymore? Oil tech seems to have gone crazy over the last decade. Can you really go wrong with anything off the shelf now (besides SuperTech)? Of course, new cars require super-thin oils, etc., but in general, oils are pretty dang'd good now. Right?
bobistheoilguy.com

So what, if anything, makes an oil “bad” for a normal 5k OCI?

I was in our local True Value hardware store recently and passed the small automotive related aisle on the way to the register. I noticed two variations of Castrol GTX and then a brand called Super S for about half the price. According to the bottle it was API SP rated so according to that, it’s...
bobistheoilguy.com

Worst lube oils?

With all of the hype on the forum about who makes the best motor oil, which base oil is best, etc, etc are there actually some companies who for whatever reason make really bad lube oils which although they have an API designation SL, SM or whatever, and are the correct grade for the vehicle...
bobistheoilguy.com

Can you even buy a "bad" oil anymore? Even cheap syn is great!

After reading many UOAs, watching video tests of, and trying the cheapest of oils you can get now, SuperTech (Walmart), Kirkland (Costco), and Amazon Basics, they all seem to be really great performing synthetics. The Kirkland 5w-30 syn at Costco today was $15/5qt jug! We these being the...
bobistheoilguy.com
 
Unless it's line wash or used oil that's been filtered in the container you're buying, it's hard to but bad oil anymore. Additive technology consolidation and the glut of high quality base oils on the market have made that largely impossible.
 
You pretty much have to go out of your way to make a wrong choice these days.

If you go to any auto part store and ask the associate to look up what is “recommended” or use pretty much any online selection tool then you’ll probably be just fine.

And if you are a complete lazy idiot then just use M1 in the recommended viscosity shown under the hood and grab an OEM filter from the dealership. I think that is quite literally impossible to screw up.
 
The manner in-which you drive.....
Do you keep your dipstick oil mark at full level........
How often you change the oil...........
How long are you keeping that vehicle......

..... matters more than the name of the oil.
There are situations when the more pricey brands are necessary. The additives and base oils in motor oil all have different price / quality ranges.
 
hemioiler said:
You really think an oil that costs $15/5qt is going to equal the performance of something like HPL, Amsoil, Redline and friends? All that increased price is pure profit for the expensive brands?
Click to expand...

I think that for regular cars, driven in a normal manner, changed at the specified cycle, it doesn't matter. Those oils you mention will be less prone to break down, so they can go longer mileage, and they will hold up better to high heat of a track day. Most people don't explore those limits, though.
 
Invisible said:
Unless it's line wash or used oil that's been filtered in the container you're buying, it's hard to but bad oil anymore. Additive technology consolidation and the glut of high quality base oils on the market have made that largely impossible.
Click to expand...
Adding to what I said: some dealer bulk and some shady independent shops also sell customers the low quality stuff I mentioned.

Then again, some dealerships don't change your oil at all, they just make you wait for an hour or two to do your "Express" oil change and send you on your way with your old oil in the sump. How about that?
 
hemioiler said:
You really think an oil that costs $15/5qt is going to equal the performance of something like HPL, Amsoil, Redline and friends? All that increased price is pure profit for the expensive brands?
Click to expand...
In my G35, daughter's Civic, and my wife's Highlander, those boutique oils will provide no discernible benefit to us. If people want to use those, feel free, but don't pretend or insinuate that Supertech is a bad oil.
 
JoelB said:
There are shady uncertified oils out there you don't want in your engine. Generally sold at dollar stores and gas stations.
Click to expand...
Where, when ? If you are referring to the engine oil that Dollar General got scolded for selling, that situation was 100% user error, as I recall.
 
I keep seeing pictures of the original cross hatching on cylinder walls of engines that had their pistons pulled for other reasons. Before the days of synthetics, it was common for an engine to require the use of the “ridge reamer” to get pistons out of the engine. The cylinder walls were worn so much, it left a ridge at the top of the cylinder where the original cylinder diameter was. Using ridge readers was common all the way into the 1990’s on engines that were using conventional oil in the 70’s & 80’s. I wonder what UOA’s would have indicated back then.

F9EA0F41-B6DD-4F2F-A7E8-AD94A77162EC.jpeg
 
Last edited:
hemioiler said:
You really think an oil that costs $15/5qt is going to equal the performance of something like HPL, Amsoil, Redline and friends? All that increased price is pure profit for the expensive brands?
Click to expand...
Their oils are better on paper but not in a way the average consumer will ever notice. It’s like using contruction grade trash bags for collecting used tissues (I don’t know why I thought of this analogy). For a track car or something high performance I’d be looking into them for sure, but them being very good doesn’t make others bad
 
Its hard to buy bad motor oil. Its easy to buy the wrong oil for the application. I recall a recent UOA that looked like someone put PCEO in a diesel engine. It didnt look terrible from a UOA perspective, but long term could have been .. interesting.
 
cptbarkey said:
Its hard to buy bad motor oil. Its easy to buy the wrong oil for the application. I recall a recent UOA that looked like someone put PCEO in a diesel engine. It didnt look terrible from a UOA perspective, but long term could have been .. interesting.
Click to expand...
That might have been me. I posted a UOA of Petrocan 10w40 PCMO in a 2011 LML around 2017.
Everything looked ok after 8,000 miles (13k kms), except the oil had sheared down to 11.8 @ 100C from 15.5.
I might try that again now that PCMOs are SP and 10w40 is likely a synthetic blend with less VM.
The engine has since been deleted and Bully Dog'd, the oil stays clear and clean to drain time.
Jumping all over the map with different oil chemistry causes copper in the UOAs from the oil cooler.
I did one run after that with Delo 400 5w40, then PC Duron for the last 6 years.
The jugs and pails have a tear-off pamphlet with the additive package listed in 10 different languages.
It appears to be a Lubrizol product with P1200 & Zn 1300 give or take.
 
First we got what oil is best in all flavors, then it went to thick v. thin (threads seem to be better disguised than the usual tussles - "...will 0W-1 ruin my engine..." etc) to OIL IS OIL. Those seem to be unmasked, neckid.
 
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