Clarification; Is Castrol Syntec 0W30 PAO/Ester

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by outrun: Patnam, After GST and MST up thier in Ontario how much does Castrol Syntec come up to per case/ or quart? I have family in Vancouver, Calgary, Sask, and Toronto so i get to travel thier quite a bit. Any chain store you would recommend?

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So far it only appears to be at Walmart, and it's sold for $6.66 per liter, plus GST of 7%, and whatever the PST is in those provinces (in Ontario it's 8%)

 

[outrun]

Does Castrol Syntec...at least the US grades contain an Ester package such as Max Life?

 

[outrun]

Okay a while ago Patnam posted something on the lines that a bottle of Castrol Syntec 0W30 he found in Canada said "made in germany" Here is what i found while oggling the oil section of the local K-Mart The OW30 Syntec bootle said the exact same thing as the 5w and 10w stuffs. However NO MENTION of Germany was mentioned on mine. Paraphrased it said: "Made in the United States from imported and domestic components." This is ambigous as any crude pertroleum from outside the US can be deemed an "imported" componet *LOL* More interestingly, the 0W30 does not have the GM 4781M certification on the back. However, is it true that GM is going to rescind Castrol Syntec since it is not a synthetic like Mobil 1 in the 1st place? Side note: K-Mart had the 0W30 on sale for 4.00$/qt while the 5w and 10w are 5.19$

 

[jason07-1zzfe]

No it's not the same stuff

 

[outrun]

Trox, No it's not the same stuff So your definitive answer is that Castrol Syntec 0W30 is indeed PAO/Ester based? Or are you saying that is just another reformulation of group III to have OW characteristics?

 

[Patman]

The 0w30 German stuff is definitely not group 3, not with the specs it has. Unfortunately, that stuff in not available for you guys in the US. You get the group 3 based 0w30, which is not even close to the quality of the German stuff.

 

[jason07-1zzfe]

Sorry, should have been more clear. It's not the same as the stuff Patman has. That is REAL synthetic. The stuff you are talking about is fake synthetic.

 

[outrun]

Patnam, After GST and MST up thier in Ontario how much does Castrol Syntec come up to per case/ or quart? I have family in Vancouver, Calgary, Sask, and Toronto so i get to travel thier quite a bit. Any chain store you would recommend?

 

[Quick_lude]

Ok in Canada we have the old "black bottle" 0w30 which is not the same stuff as the Made in Germany SLX. It should be the new silver bottle.. if all else fails, open the bottle and make sure the colour is green.

 

[vvk]

Canadian WalMarts (some) carry both American made Group III Syntec and German made Group IV/V Syntec. The bottles are exactly alike, both black in color (NOT silver!) and the only way to tell the diference is to read the back label. Price is the same. They could have two exactly the same bottles of 0W-30 on the shelf and one of them could be the German Syntec and the other could be the American Syntec. You have to check every bottle. So far, we have not seen German made "good" Syntec reported anywhere in the States.

 

[Bror Jace]

outrun: "More interestingly, the 0W30 does not have the GM 4781M certification on the back. However, is it true that GM is going to rescind Castrol Syntec since it is not a synthetic like Mobil 1 in the 1st place?" I seriously doubt this is the case ... but I would love to see somebody, ANYBODY outside of a petro-chemical company officially take a stand against the widespread Group III scam. --- Bror Jace

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by vvk: Canadian WalMarts (some) carry both American made Group III Syntec and German made Group IV/V Syntec. The bottles are exactly alike, both black in color (NOT silver!) and the only way to tell the diference is to read the back label. Price is the same. They could have two exactly the same bottles of 0W-30 on the shelf and one of them could be the German Syntec and the other could be the American Syntec. You have to check every bottle. So far, we have not seen German made "good" Syntec reported anywhere in the States.

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Actually the German 0w30 Syntec is easy to spot on the shelves compared to the old US stuff. For one, the German 0w30 is the new label, with the new font style for the word Syntec. Also, the 0w30 label on the bottle is in red, while the old stuff is in yellow with a snowflake on it. So before you even see the made in Germany part on the back of the bottle, you know right away if it's the right stuff.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Hey Patman! Sorry to be joining late on this discussion - I don't recall your earlier posts on this. So, the 0w-30 Castrol that you lucky guys get up there in Canada, is it the equivalent of European Castrol SLX or the newer Castrol SLX LongLife II? Thanks!

 

[vvk]

quote:

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Originally posted by Quattro Pete: Hey Patman! Sorry to be joining late on this discussion - I don't recall your earlier posts on this. So, the 0w-30 Castrol that you lucky guys get up there in Canada, is it the equivalent of European Castrol SLX or the newer Castrol SLX LongLife II? Thanks!

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Definitely NOT LongLife II. Which is a very good thing! The LongLife II version is a service product for some 2000+ VAG (VW/Audi/Seat/Skoda) vehicles. Much different from "regular" SLX. Very thin, no ACEA A3/B3, etc. It's purely VAG-specific service oil.

 

[Patman]

The stuff we have is definitely the Formula SLX, as the Longlife does not pass the same tests listed on the back of our bottles (such as BMW longlife, ACEA A3, etc.) Plus the Formula SLX is their only green colored oil, and when I poured this stuff into my sister's car on Sunday, it was definitely green (kind of a golden green actually, but definitely green)

 

[Quattro Pete]

Now I'm wondering why Audi would use the SLX LongLife II instead of the original SLX in its European cars which are on the variable service schedule (the computer measures the oil quality and suggests when to change oil). In some cases the "change oil" light doesn't come on for 20K miles in these cars. Seeing as the LongLife II is thinner and has a lower virgin TBN, why would they choose it, especially that it seems they have worked with Castrol directly on developing this oil so they must have specifically asked for such formulation?