Dont know how to choose correct HPL oil

[JRHAWK9]

I have my reasons, may not be solid ones, but they are reasons none-the-less. LOL I'm currently doing 3K/3 month OCI's with Mobil 1 EP/Valvoline EP 0w20. Was going to switch to Mobil 1 ESP 5w30 keeping the same 3K/3 month interval. So by moving to 4k/4 month with HPL, it will actually cost me a bit less $$$ vs ESP 5w30 at 3K/3 months.

My main thing is with GDI and carbon deposits on the intake valves. My hope is that with keeping the oil fresh it may help limit IVD's over the long term. Will it? I have no idea, but seeing it's oil vapor that's being deposited, my thought is it may help. If it doesn't, well. it won't hurt anything besides wasting a little bit of $$. I'm also hoping switching to HPL will also help in addition to a 5w30.

 

[Bill7]

I just placed my first order of the "lowly" PCMO 5w30. I plan on using it in my '21 Crosstrek and doing 4 month/4K OCI's with it.

I prefer the lower priced HPL PCMO that is Group III + AN + ESTER. The Ester does the cleaning, and all HPL oils have the same amount of Ester as per Dave from HPL. Because of my 4k/6 month OCI, the more expensive HPL oils won't have any added benefit over their regular PCMO.

 

[Wheel366]

I do have a question that I know has been asked. What is the difference between the Euro 5W-40 and the Supercar 5W-40? The description is the same but the price is different. Both have the same meets or exceeds, etc... The product spec sheets list the same values for both also.

 

[Deleted member 89374]

My hope is that with keeping the oil fresh it may help limit IVD's over the long term.

That's a nice, somewhat hopeful, dream.

Will it?

No.

Once a month run a bottle of Red Line SI-1, or any other fuel additive that has a high concentration of PEA. That will loosen the carbon deposits inside the cylinders and around the rings.

Install an oil catch can. If you don't want to do that, run once or twice a year a can of CRC GDI Intake Valve & Turbo cleaner into your intake.

The only thing that will impact changing your oil that often is your wallet.

 

[High Performance Lubricants]

I do have a question that I know has been asked. What is the difference between the Euro 5W-40 and the Supercar 5W-40? The description is the same but the price is different. Both have the same meets or exceeds, etc... The product spec sheets list the same values for both also.

I just looked at the webstore. Those to oils are in fact the same they are listed in separate groups of products. As far as I can tell the pricing is the same like for like packaging.

Thanks for asking.

 

[JRHAWK9]

Once a month run a bottle of Red Line SI-1, or any other fuel additive that has a high concentration of PEA. That will loosen the carbon deposits inside the cylinders and around the rings.

Install an oil catch can. If you don't want to do that, run once or twice a year a can of CRC GDI Intake Valve & Turbo cleaner into your intake.

I do run a bottle of SI-1 twice a year or so. Sometimes I can go almost a month between fillups. I also do the CRC IVD every year. I'd run a catch can, but I don't want to deal with the possibility of having lines freezing up in winter like happened to my buddy where his rear main seal burped out oil due to excessive pressure buildup.

 

[Deleted member 89374]

I do run a bottle of SI-1 twice a year or so. Sometimes I can go almost a month between fillups. I also do the CRC IVD every year. I'd run a catch can, but I don't want to deal with the possibility of having lines freezing up in winter like happened to my buddy where his rear main seal burped out oil due to excessive pressure buildup.

I think the better question is: what make and model vehicle is it?

 

[JRHAWK9]

I think the better question is: what make and model vehicle is it?

'21 Subaru Crosstrek 2.5L

I also follow the same regime with my other halves '21 Acadia 3.6L.

 

[Deleted member 89374]

'21 Subaru Crosstrek 2.5L

I also follow the same regime with my other halves '21 Acadia 3.6L.

I'm dealing with several Hyundais, one which is mine. Your Subaru and GM aren't close to being as bad as Hyundai when it comes to GDI issues.

So...

All @High Performance Lubricants oils have the same cleaning power, which is what you want to keep carbon deposits away. Running HPL PCMO for 5K~6K miles to start with, you should be in good shape, without having to stress about it. It's what I run in the Hyundai. Will be switching everything to HPL. Their motor oils are blended with fleets in mind. Abusive use, contaminants, carbon buildup, etc., were taken into account when HPL designed their oils. Running HPL for 3K~4K miles is kind of a waste, even in GDI engines.

 

[Wheel366]

I just looked at the webstore. Those to oils are in fact the same they are listed in separate groups of products. As far as I can tell the pricing is the same like for like packaging.

Thanks for asking.

You are correct (obviously) on pricing. I was going by the assumption that all the viscosities in a given category are the same price. When I actually went in and changed them, the prices were the same. My apologies for the confusion!!

 

[Impatient]

@JRHAWK9 is your Crosstrek engine stock? Tuned? Added Turbo? Do you have UOA’s showing fuel dilution? What engine code is this? FA? FB? I doubt it’s EJ25.

I’m just curious, as a fellow Subaru owner, why you are using one of the very best oils in the world, formulated with additives to last way longer than run-of-the-mill oils, but changing it (so often) as if it were one of the cheapest/crappiest. And running thicker than recommended.

 

[JRHAWK9]

@JRHAWK9 is your Crosstrek engine stock? Tuned? Added Turbo? Do you have UOA’s showing fuel dilution? What engine code is this? FA? FB? I doubt it’s EJ25.

I’m just curious, as a fellow Subaru owner, why you are using one of the very best oils in the world, formulated with additives to last way longer than run-of-the-mill oils, but changing it (so often) as if it were one of the cheapest/crappiest. And running thicker than recommended.

It's an FB25 completely stock. These newer GDI Boxers do show some fuel dilution from others who have done UOA's, not horrible, but not great either, right @dezlpwr ?

As far as why I'm going a bit thicker with a 5w30 vs 0w20......it seems this same motor in other parts of the world uses 5w30 up to 5w40.

 

[Impatient]

It's an FB25 completely stock. These newer GDI Boxers do show some fuel dilution from others who have done UOA's, not horrible, but not great either, right @dezlpwr ?

As far as why I'm going a bit thicker with a 5w30 vs 0w20......it seems this same motor in other parts of the world uses 5w30 up to 5w40.

Fair enough, I’ve heard the U.S. vs ROW argument before, and basically respect it; plus running “thicker” oil is one way to defy fuel dilution. But if you are willing to do a UOA, let it guide you regarding whether to change the oil right away, or after some amount of additional miles/months. Again, use a lab that uses Gas Chromatograpy (which rules out Blackstone) such as Oil Analysers or TestOil. But at some point, a user can decide short OCI’s are just as reasonable as basing OCI on UOA’s. Personally, since I’ve become obsessed with fuel dilution (because of Ford), I would want to know just how much in MY vehicle…hence lean toward UOA’s…I’ve used them to decide (as I’m suggesting) but also to just establish trends. I do UOA every other fill; on the Ford that means once a year (I do a short winter OCI on “ordinary” synthetic, and a long OCI on “superior” synthetic to make it through a ~8k summer trip) and on the Subaru, I UOA every other year, as I’m changing oil only once a year on it.

 

[Impatient]

I see HPL is the new BITOG darling, but where would some of the “thought leaders“ here rank Amsoil SS (and XL for that matter) relative to the various HPL passenger car products? I’m mostly asking about quality, and mostly about 5w30, in case one company makes a great 5w30 but it’s 5w20 or 0w40 falls behind.

I really appreciate HPL’s “transparency,” and that’s worth a lot, but really I’m wondering if SS is on par with HPL PCMO Premium, or Premium Plus, or, gasp, maybe not even as good as regular PCMO?? Both companies have a “good, better, best” approach, but on a sliding scale, how do their versions (or tiers) line up? Anyone with actual experience or insight have an opinion? and by all means including a “why” you think that way regarding your opinion…just don’t say “transparency alone” because I already know who wins that competition. We assume SS is more Grp IV than XL, but maybe not. And it appears to have more TBN, but no mention of the VII’s used. And no mention of differing Esters, if Esters used at all. POE?? AN?

and speaking of transparency, I am not a thought leader nor expert, but was advised to stay at Holiday Inn Express…(joke)…but really was advised to try Valvoline (Cummins) Premium Blue Restore several years ago for my long summer road-trips. It did great! UOA's much better than any “off-the-Walmart-shelf” products I tried. But used that all up, and same expert said Amsoil SS was OK, though not as good. That “expert” either didn’t know about HPL or didn’t want to recommend them for some reason, and I don’t think I can ask him questions anymore (if he is even still alive). Seems to me, HPL‘s “cleaning” approach is similar or parallel to the VPBR…but that’s just my amateur speculation.

 

[buster]

I see HPL is the new BITOG darling, but where would some of the “thought leaders“ here rank Amsoil SS (and XL for that matter) relative to the various HPL passenger car products? I’m mostly asking about quality, and mostly about 5w30, in case one company makes a great 5w30 but it’s 5w20 or 0w40 falls behind.

I really appreciate HPL’s “transparency,” and that’s worth a lot, but really I’m wondering if SS is on par with HPL PCMO Premium, or Premium Plus, or, gasp, maybe not even as good as regular PCMO?? Both companies have a “good, better, best” approach, but on a sliding scale, how do their versions (or tiers) line up? Anyone with actual experience or insight have an opinion? and by all means including a “why” you think that way regarding your opinion…just don’t say “transparency alone” because I already know who wins that competition. We assume SS is more Grp IV than XL, but maybe not. And it appears to have more TBN, but no mention of the VII’s used. And no mention of differing Esters, if Esters used at all. POE?? AN?

and speaking of transparency, I am not a thought leader nor expert, but was advised to stay at Holiday Inn Express…(joke)…but really was advised to try Valvoline (Cummins) Premium Blue Restore several years ago for my long summer road-trips. It did great! UOA's much better than any “off-the-Walmart-shelf” products I tried. But used that all up, and same expert said Amsoil SS was OK, though not as good. That “expert” either didn’t know about HPL or didn’t want to recommend them for some reason, and I don’t think I can ask him questions anymore (if he is even still alive). Seems to me, HPL‘s “cleaning” approach is similar or parallel to the VPBR…but that’s just my amateur speculation.

If I had to compare based on what I know about both products, HPL is an even more stout blend. Amsoil is kind of an in-between Mobil 1 and HPL in terms of additization. It's not quite as loaded up with metallic additives as HPL, but still has much more than the approved oils. Amsoil's SA is around 1.07. HPL is likely much higher than that. The approved synthetics are now around .67-.8.

 

[JRHAWK9]

I just got my 5 gallon pail of HPL PCMO 5w30 delivered yesterday. It seems to have a different smell, compared to how I remember others smelling like anyway.

 

[Impatient]

I just got my 5 gallon pail of HPL PCMO 5w30 delivered yesterday. It seems to have a different smell, compared to how I remember others smelling like anyway.

How does it taste?

 

[hemioiler]

Couple questions.

Is the HPL PCMO (the cheapest/basic oil) a group III, and if so, what are the potential negatives of those over a pao base?

I'm aiming for a high quality full synthetic product that can be used for medium amounts of towing (say 25 freeway hours over an OCI), with my OCI being no more than 7000 miles. Would the HPL PCMO 5w-20 be a good choice? HT/HS is a little lower vs the 5w-30, but given my frequent oil changes would that be so much of a problem? Oil temps can reach 240F at times. I'd like to avoid 5w-30 (for now) if possible, would the 5w-20 have enough additives to handle my use case without problems?

(I can explain why I'm avoiding 5w-30 for now, but don't want to dump this into the weeds, I get 5w-30 offers more protection, I'm wondering if my use case would be an issue for this oil with 5w-20 given the very high quality of HPL in general; lots of moly etc).

Please use small words

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Couple questions.

Is the HPL PCMO (the cheapest/basic oil) a group III, and if so, what are the potential negatives of those over a pao base?

I'm aiming for a high quality full synthetic product that can be used for medium amounts of towing (say 25 freeway hours over an OCI), with my OCI being no more than 7000 miles. Would the HPL PCMO 5w-20 be a good choice? HT/HS is a little lower vs the 5w-30, but given my frequent oil changes would that be so much of a problem? Oil temps can reach 240F at times. I'd like to avoid 5w-30 (for now) if possible, would the 5w-20 have enough additives to handle my use case without problems?

(I can explain why I'm avoiding 5w-30 for now, but don't want to dump this into the weeds, I get 5w-30 offers more protection, I'm wondering if my use case would be an issue for this oil with 5w-20 given the very high quality of HPL in general; lots of moly etc).

Please use small words

HPL PCEO is perfect unless you live in the Great White North where temps see -30* or lower. You’re not shortchanging yourself in any way going with PCEO.

I’ve got a 500+HP Ecoboost in my F150, and I still run the factory grade with no issues or concerns. Use it with confidence in whatever grade your engine calls for… but 7k OCI even on a Ram sounds like you’re throwing away oil at half life or more. Just consider a 7k UOA without a drain to ease your concerns and extend from there.

 

[hemioiler]

HPL PCEO is perfect unless you live in the Great White North where temps see -30* or lower. You’re not shortchanging yourself in any way going with PCEO.

I’ve got a 500+HP Ecoboost in my F150, and I still run the factory grade with no issues or concerns. Use it with confidence in whatever grade your engine calls for… but 7k OCI even on a Ram sounds like you’re throwing away oil at half life or more. Just consider a 7k UOA without a drain to ease your concerns and extend from there.

It's not the HP that concerns me though, NA engines need to rev to make power, and there are hours where I'm sitting at 2200+ RPMs and then spiking to 3000-4000 to climb hills etc. Add to that the heat where it can reach 240F when towing. My truck works quite a bit for 3 seasons of the year.

If I was just bombin around town, yes I'd have no concerns whatsoever with the 5w-20. After the mods I made, my daily driving temps don't go past 200F even in the heat of summer (exceptions for high idling times, it will climb then).

Edit: also, my reasons for the 7000 mile intervals is because I do about 14 to 15k miles per year which works nicely into a spring and autumn oil change. I do my own changes on my back on my driveway, so I want to avoid a situation where I'm doing an oil change in February.