Castrol 0w40 has disappeared, suitable replacement?

Castrol 0w40 euro has been my go to for many years (after GC exited). Do we think it will come back soon, ever get the LL-01 certification, pr is it now more expensice for Castrol to make (because of PAOs in it) and it is now gone forever ?
The reason why LL01 was dropped from Castrol 0W30/40 are BMW requirements that eliminated 0WXX oils in LL01 and LL04.
 
The reason why LL01 was dropped from Castrol 0W30/40 are BMW requirements that eliminated 0WXX oils in LL01 and LL04.
So I'm wondering should I stay with Castrol euro (5w30 was what my 2002 325IT called for) or maybe try out Pennzoil euro or even Pentosine ?
 
How important is it to have an oil that has a good bit of PAOs in it like Castrol 0W40 is said to have had ?
 
Yep, this is my easy to find choice. It's why I've been running it even before I needed an oil with VW502 approval. It's never not been on the shelf here. Castrol is hit and miss no matter where I've lived for Euro spec. I used to run the GC 0w30 in my LS1 GTO when I lived in Vegas, but I couldn't always get that either. That's when I first started running the M1 0w40. I've now also used it in my Jaguars and even in Fords calling for 5w20. Obviously none of those cars specc'd these oils, but to be honest I didn't trust the conventional 5w30 for extended drains on the Jags. One obviously was a bit dirty inside when I got it as the oil darkened very fast for the first couple of changes before it went to normal. Not very scientific I'm sure, but the oil must have been picking up something. I only started with euro oils after doing some reading when I got the GTO because at least in the LSX world most thought standard 5w30 was a bit weak for these engines and tended to sound much more metallic/mechanical with a standard 5w30.
I’m running M1 0W40 in my 2017 Accord Sport that specs 0W20
 
Why did you up the viscosity
Originally I ran 5 and 0w20 and did a uoa of super tech 5w20 and it was a 16 grade after 6K something miles and took others recommendations to go to 5W30.
Did a uoa of Chevron 5w30 and just decided to stick with 30. I’ve seen lots of people talk about the 0w40 and knowing it’s just a thick 30 I decided to run it. I will do a uoa on it around 7500 miles.

I’ve got 5 jugs of shell RGT 5w30 and 10 jugs of Chevron 5w30 I need to use up. Will run those for around 5K miles and maybe the M1 0w40 after all that is gone.
 
Originally I ran 5 and 0w20 and did a uoa of super tech 5w20 and it was a 16 grade after 6K something miles and took others recommendations to go to 5W30.
Did a uoa of Chevron 5w30 and just decided to stick with 30. I’ve seen lots of people talk about the 0w40 and knowing it’s just a thick 30 I decided to run it. I will do a uoa on it around 7500 miles.

I’ve got 5 jugs of shell RGT 5w30 and 10 jugs of Chevron 5w30 I need to use up. Will run those for around 5K miles and maybe the M1 0w40 after all that is gone.
Do you think Honda recommended a thin viscosity that could potentially not protect very well in order to hit targeted fuel economy numbers?
 
Do you think Honda recommended a thin viscosity that could potentially not protect very well in order to hit targeted fuel economy?
I highly doubt it. There has been numerous uoa’s posted that shows the w20 and now w16 are doing their jobs.

I just want to run a little thicker because I can
 
Do you think Honda recommended a thin viscosity that could potentially not protect very well in order to hit targeted fuel economy numbers?
I do not want to start another thin/thick debate here but has there ever been a single UOA on Bitog that showed any relationship between viscosity and wear metals? Serious question because I can't remember a single instance where someone posted a UOA and 0W20 showed excessive wear but 0W40 showed normal wear. Matter-of-fact, I can't remember a single instance where wear metals for thick or thin was even statistically different.
 
So I'm wondering should I stay with Castrol euro (5w30 was what my 2002 325IT called for) or maybe try out Pennzoil euro or even Pentosine ?
In you or my BMW it is irrelevant. New update to LL01 is more related to B generation of engines and N20/26.
You can definitely go with those oils.
 
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Since this thread has been meandering a bit, FWIW....

I just ordered 3 six packs of Castrol 0W-30 Euro from Amazon. $50 per six pack. I've been using it for the last 15 or 20 years, but with zero hesitation use Castrol 0W-40 as a trusted alternative.

And here are some VOAs I did of 0W-30 (2020 to verify authenticity of latest batch), 0W-40 (2016), and 5W-30 (2017). Plenty of time for formulations to change, but they're better than nothing. I remember the 5W-30 was made in Canada, the 0W-xx in Belgium.

On paper the 0W-30 and 5W-30 look virtually identical. You'll have to trust me own this, but the 0W-30 was 50% or 60% POA and the 5W-30 had no POA at all. This was from the SDS at the time.

Scott

0W-30
VOA Castrol 0W-30 2020.jpg


0W-40
VOA Castrol 0W-40 2016.jpg


5W-30
VOA Castrol 5W-30 2017.jpg
 
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I do not want to start another thin/thick debate here but has there ever been a single UOA on Bitog that showed any relationship between viscosity and wear metals? Serious question because I can't remember a single instance where someone posted a UOA and 0W20 showed excessive wear but 0W40 showed normal wear. Matter-of-fact, I can't remember a single instance where wear metals for thick or thin was even statistically different.
$30 spectrographic analyses aren’t the tool to measure comparative wear between oils. Not even close.
 
$30 spectrographic analyses aren’t the tool to measure comparative wear between oils. Not even close.
I understand but that’s all that’s floating around here as (not so good) “proof” that one oil is “better” than another. My point was these $30 spectrographic analyses never show any real differences between one viscosity and another and I can’t remember a single instance where a 30 or a 40 weight looked any different (other than viscosity) than than a 20 weight in the same engine.
 
I understand but that’s all that’s floating around here as (not so good) “proof” that one oil is “better” than another. My point was these $30 spectrographic analyses never show any real differences between one viscosity and another and I can’t remember a single instance where a 30 or a 40 weight looked any different (other than viscosity) than than a 20 weight in the same engine.
That's what happens when you try and use the wrong tool for the job, which is unfortunately extremely common because so many want there to be meaningful information on this subject discerned from this cheap test. Obviously tear-down testing isn't in the budget, or practical, for most people, lol.

It's akin to trying to determine long distance 30-cal cartridge performance by looking at which puts the nicest looking hole in a piece of paper at 25 yards.
 
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