4WD
$50 site donor 2025
Saw a couple in the last year (on the road) our store got rid of it …
Fear of improper quality oil
- Thread starter mikeduf
- Start date
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
Some Thickening Polymer … sounds familiar
I somewhat agree. The lower-end approved products can sometimes give me pause (e.g. Supertech's or entry-level dino/syn products), but I don't think anyone should have concerns about using a major brand's flagship product (e.g. Mobil 1 EP, Valvoline Restore & Protect).
I don't believe that's 100% accurate. Didn't Hyundai/Kia change the viscosity requirements on some engines after problems developed? Ford, I recall, did likewise.
Not Hyundai/Kia, but Ford may have gone back to 5W-30 on several applications. I would not use this as a blanket justification that OEM viscosity recommendations are untrustworthy.
I'm not, but I am suggesting that not all recommendations are ideal.
For the context of real-world ownership, "ideal" is probably not applicable. Having a viscosity recommendation that is relevant to the typical ownership lifestyle is what matters.
I essentially agree. In fact, I was just going back to change "ideal" to something else when I saw your post.
There is a lot of gray area because the top tier flagship oils greatly exceed industry standard tests, often by a significant margin.
Specifications and approvals create a market where a floor baseline is created. You either meet and/or exceed, or don't participate and which is run at your own risk.
Specifications and approvals create a market where a floor baseline is created. You either meet and/or exceed, or don't participate and which is run at your own risk.
Unless there is extreme neglect where it bout has to be obvious not sure one could tell/notice from direct experience. Neighbor change with Edge 25 times in 75k miles and motor craps a part, about the time I bought one and I put 100+ on mine after that, still runs and had 6 or 8 changes on dino, go figure.
"Just trying to figure out what oil is the potential Nemesis of an engine in a short period of time!"
Most so called "accidents" are caused by human error of some kind.
e.g. if you buy a Mark1 version of a car then you open yourself up to a potential engine damage recall e.g. because the manufacturer specified a damaging oil grade - which has happened.
Specified oil grades vary according to the ambient temperature you are working in. Maybe you can use a multigrade oil that covers the manufacturers spec regardless of time of year or maybe you need to change it every 6 months regardless of distance.
e.g. I had a fwd car with the gearbox running in Engine Oil. I decided on a long trip to North Africa in the summer. I was going to use a lot of oil - so I fitted a oil cooler on the front bumper bar and it considerably reduced the oil consumption
e.g. I had a diesel in England back in about 1980 and I put a powerfull electric heater in the cooling system so that my heater would be instantly available when I started up. This brought me unstuck when I parked at Shift Work and we had record low temperatures of -15degC (4F). I had to get a tow home and put it away for a week of low temperatures and managed to get a ride to work. The alternative would have been to replace the oil.
If you want to find out about a problem then follow the money.
I can buy 5 litres of Semi-synthetic 10W40 (API SP, ACEA A3/B4) for about 1/4 the cost/litre of Full Synthetic Long Life 5W40 (API SN/CF, ACEA C3 and DEXOS 2 for GM)
I can buy 10 litres of Semi-synthetic 15W50 for about half the cost/litre of the Synthetic Long Life. (API CI-4/SL, ACEA A3/B4, ACEA E7)
Recommendations I can find suggest changing every 12months regardless of use because heating and cooling degrades the oil over time.
So you have all these permutations and combinations that are open to human error and misunderstanding.
Ambient Temperature, Distance Driven in time period, Cost of labour, Cost of Oil, Dexos 2 type special recommendations, Semi-Synthetic does not last as many miles/time as Fully Synthetic + Shelf Life consideration +oil consumption considerations.
Back in the day we generally embraced 20W50 when it came out because it reduced oil consumption and 20W was thin enough for the relatively mild temperatures experience in Britain.
e.g 20W50 would not be suitable for a 2019 Diesel Cruze in Canada which specifies a Dexos2 5W-30 from about -20C to about 33degC or a 0W-40 may be used if expecting -29C.
from autodoc.co.uk
Available SAE viscosity grades for Dexos 2 approved oils:
From Penrite:
From Penrite: (concerning oil consumption)
Always make sure that when choosing to use a heavier oil, it meets the performance specifications required by the manufacturer. Some vehicles may not be able to use a heavier oil because the performance specification required can not be met by heavier oils. In these cases, regular topping up may be the best course of action. The same with vehicles that are under warranty but make sure you have the correct specification and an approved product if required by the manufacturer.
Most so called "accidents" are caused by human error of some kind.
e.g. if you buy a Mark1 version of a car then you open yourself up to a potential engine damage recall e.g. because the manufacturer specified a damaging oil grade - which has happened.
Specified oil grades vary according to the ambient temperature you are working in. Maybe you can use a multigrade oil that covers the manufacturers spec regardless of time of year or maybe you need to change it every 6 months regardless of distance.
e.g. I had a fwd car with the gearbox running in Engine Oil. I decided on a long trip to North Africa in the summer. I was going to use a lot of oil - so I fitted a oil cooler on the front bumper bar and it considerably reduced the oil consumption
e.g. I had a diesel in England back in about 1980 and I put a powerfull electric heater in the cooling system so that my heater would be instantly available when I started up. This brought me unstuck when I parked at Shift Work and we had record low temperatures of -15degC (4F). I had to get a tow home and put it away for a week of low temperatures and managed to get a ride to work. The alternative would have been to replace the oil.
If you want to find out about a problem then follow the money.
I can buy 5 litres of Semi-synthetic 10W40 (API SP, ACEA A3/B4) for about 1/4 the cost/litre of Full Synthetic Long Life 5W40 (API SN/CF, ACEA C3 and DEXOS 2 for GM)
I can buy 10 litres of Semi-synthetic 15W50 for about half the cost/litre of the Synthetic Long Life. (API CI-4/SL, ACEA A3/B4, ACEA E7)
Recommendations I can find suggest changing every 12months regardless of use because heating and cooling degrades the oil over time.
So you have all these permutations and combinations that are open to human error and misunderstanding.
Ambient Temperature, Distance Driven in time period, Cost of labour, Cost of Oil, Dexos 2 type special recommendations, Semi-Synthetic does not last as many miles/time as Fully Synthetic + Shelf Life consideration +oil consumption considerations.
Back in the day we generally embraced 20W50 when it came out because it reduced oil consumption and 20W was thin enough for the relatively mild temperatures experience in Britain.
e.g 20W50 would not be suitable for a 2019 Diesel Cruze in Canada which specifies a Dexos2 5W-30 from about -20C to about 33degC or a 0W-40 may be used if expecting -29C.
from autodoc.co.uk
Available SAE viscosity grades for Dexos 2 approved oils:
- 5W30 oil,
- 0W30 oil,
- 5W40 oil,
- 10W40 oil,
- 0W20 oil,
- 10W30 oil,
- 15W40 oil,
- 5W20 oil,
- 20W50 oil,
- 0W16 oil
From Penrite:
What is the average Shelf life of Oils?
The performance properties of lubricants will remain intact for many years provided they are in protected storage and not exposed to severe high/low temperature cycles and outside contamination. Generally, the simpler the oil formulation, the longer the oil will remain satisfactory. As a rule, shelf life of lubricants is around 5 years, if stored correctly.From Penrite: (concerning oil consumption)
Always make sure that when choosing to use a heavier oil, it meets the performance specifications required by the manufacturer. Some vehicles may not be able to use a heavier oil because the performance specification required can not be met by heavier oils. In these cases, regular topping up may be the best course of action. The same with vehicles that are under warranty but make sure you have the correct specification and an approved product if required by the manufacturer.
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