Finally!!! Castrol GTX Given the Boot......

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jan 18, 2003
Messages
453
Location
Galveston, TX
After 25 years, I finally gather up enough courage to change old habits. For the 1st time, a non-Castrol dino product is poured into my sump. The new oil? Chevron Delo 400 15w-40 mineral. The car feels like it runs better already. Probably a superior base stock in the Chevron oil. If everything works out, I may not even bother to change to Schaeffer Supreme Syn Blend at the end of 2000 miles of Auto-Rx treatment. Chevron Delo 400 may just be good enough to do the job.

Thanks to everybody on this site. Without you guys, I would never have thought to try Chevron.
wink.gif
 
Drive enough miles in your car and you know the sounds it makes as well as how it idles/ runs/accelerates.

I can tell a difference with certain oils/viscosities. It seems like many others can also.....
wink.gif
 
quote:

Originally posted by csandste:
I was going to post this as a separate thread, but I'm always curious by reports of "feels like it runs better."

How could any oil make more than a percent or two difference in performance unless the viscoscity is so far off that the oil is totally unsuited for the engine? Why wouldn't this be placebo effect?


I can certainly tell the difference after switching to synthetic from dealer dino. My van idles smoother, accelerates smoother and is significantly quieter. Or perhaps it's just that it's new oil in the sump. Regardless there is a noticeable change after dumping the synthetic in. My $0.02
smile.gif
 
Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that Castrol GTX was one of this boards favorite dinos. No? Seems like Castrol GTX, Pennzoil, and Chevron are all on everyones "best dinos list".
 
cool.gif
My old van is noticeable quieter and smoother with the Valvoline Max Life I just put in. How much is the Max Life and how much is simply because it's fresh oil I don't know. Less than 3k on the old oil though, mileage fluctuates a lot so I just change it every quarter. Yeah, yeah, I know Valvoline isn't a favorite around here.
grin.gif
 
quote:

Without you guys, I would never have thought to try Chevron.

Ditto on that statement. Its funny on how we percieve a product strictly based upon advertising & hype. Before I came here, I would always just walk past those inexpensive blue bottles on the shelves @ Wal*Mart and dismiss them as an inferior product. Apparently, many other people in my area still do because everytime I walk through those oil isles, those blue bottles are always there. I like it that way so lets keep this little secret to ourselves.
wink.gif
 
Gotta put my 2C worth in!!

I used to be a long time Castol GTX 20-50 user! I used it in an 82 Mitsubishi P/U 4X4 2.6 from the time it had about 25,000 miles! Changed every 3,000 mi. Religiously! At 110,000 Miles the timing chain jumped, (My fault as I heard it making noise), so because you had to tear it almost completly down to change it and it bent four valves I decided to freshen it up!! All the bearings wear in great shape, I would not have had to replace them! But the rings were almost frozen in the grooves, all oil holes were pluged in the pistons! Engine very clean otherwise!

Now my other car, an 87 Mazda RX/7 Rotory! I also used the same oil in it! It had 100,000 Mi. on it when I got it! I put about 25,000 more miles on it with the Castrol but it carboned up badly all the time, It would clean out after a Long trip but then would start running crappy after about a week when I got back! I found the site, "All you ever wanted to know about motor oil" And from looking at the various oils I decided to try Delo 400 in the Mazda! Wow, what a difference, no more carbon build up, always runs great! I`m sure it`s due to the detergent package in the deisel oil! I have 275,000 Miles on the mazda now, (Almost unheard of for a rotory)! So that`s two different carbon problems with Castrol GTX!
shocked.gif


Hasbeen
 
quote:

Originally posted by Flimflam:
After 25 years, I finally gather up enough courage to change old habits. For the 1st time, a non-Castrol dino product is poured into my sump. The new oil? Chevron Delo 400 15w-40 mineral. The car feels like it runs better already. Probably a superior base stock in the Chevron oil. If everything works out, I may not even bother to change to Schaeffer Supreme Syn Blend at the end of 2000 miles of Auto-Rx treatment. Chevron Delo 400 may just be good enough to do the job.

Thanks to everybody on this site. Without you guys, I would never have thought to try Chevron.
wink.gif


What viscosity of GTX were you running though? Perhaps it's a viscosity change more than anything?
 
quote:

Originally posted by mikep:

quote:

Originally posted by Flimflam:


Thanks to everybody on this site. Without you guys, I would never have thought to try Chevron.
wink.gif
Congrats on your new oil choice. Hope it works well for you. I'm curious though....was there something with the GTX that you were unhappy with? Is your vehicle having problem related to GTX? What drain interval have you been using with the GTX?

Mikep [/QB]

Mikep, there is nothing wrong with Castrol GTX per se. Except for Chevron, Castrol GTX and Castrol HD are the best dino oils one can buy. Let me put it more clearly: if Chevron did not exist, I would not have stopped using castrol GTX.

As for your question re: GTX-related vehicle problem, I have to say there are none.

I use Castrol GTX 10w-40 and I change it out at 3,000-3,350 mile intervals. In cold winters I sometimes use castrol GTX 5w-30 and I leave it in for 2,500 miles. In really hot summers I use monograde Castrol HD-30 and I leave it in for 3,800 miles.
 
quote:

Originally posted by tenderloin:
Drive enough miles in your car and you know the sounds it makes as well as how it idles/ runs/accelerates.

I can tell a difference with certain oils/viscosities. It seems like many others can also.....
wink.gif


Tenderloin, you are sooooo right. Back in 1990-1991, my local gas station (in those days, I sometimes let the gas station people service my car) put CITGO dino oil in my car. They put it CITGO 20w-50 instead of my then-usual shot of castrol GTX 20w-50. The darn car would not run with the CITGO!!!!! Felt like it was pulling a fleet of Mack trucks all tied to the rear bumper!!!!! I made a U-turn, confronted the gas station guys, and they admitted to being cute and putting CITGO in my sump instead of Castrol. When the mistake was fixed, the car ran like normal again. Goes to show, not all 20w-50's are equal!!!!!!
 
FlimFlam,

Understood. Good luck with the Chevron. It sure does seem to be a fine motor oil.
cheers.gif


Mikep
 
Vehicle like certain oils. My truck is very finicky like this. Which led me to this site. Which caused my oil addiction. My truck loves M1 10w-30. I have Penz 5w-30 in it now and it feels like I'm always towing something. On top of the the oil doesn't warm up for at least 15 min worth of driving, so the whole time it makes the truck vibrate.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Flimflam:
After 25 years, I finally gather up enough courage to change old habits. For the 1st time, a non-Castrol dino product is poured into my sump. The new oil? Chevron Delo 400 15w-40 mineral. The car feels like it runs better already. Probably a superior base stock in the Chevron oil. If everything works out, I may not even bother to change to Schaeffer Supreme Syn Blend at the end of 2000 miles of Auto-Rx treatment. Chevron Delo 400 may just be good enough to do the job.

Thanks to everybody on this site. Without you guys, I would never have thought to try Chevron.
wink.gif


Congrats on your new oil choice. Hope it works well for you. I'm curious though....was there something with the GTX that you were unhappy with? Is your vehicle having problem related to GTX? What drain interval have you been using with the GTX?

Mikep
 
I was going to post this as a separate thread, but I'm always curious by reports of "feels like it runs better."

How could any oil make more than a percent or two difference in performance unless the viscoscity is so far off that the oil is totally unsuited for the engine? Why wouldn't this be placebo effect?
 
FlimFlam: “For the 1st time, a non-Castrol dino product is poured into my sump. The new oil? Chevron Delo 400 15w-40 mineral. The car feels like it runs better already. Probably a superior base stock in the Chevron oil.”

Chevron uses a Group II+ base oil (“Isosyn”). I believe Castrol still uses a Group II base in GTX. I’ve never said Castrol was a bad oil per se, it’s just that Pennzoil (“PureBase”) Chevron and probably others use a slightly better base stock and seem to hold their grade better. I’m also a little leery of Castrol’s detergent/dispersant package but the anecdotal info I have on that is quite dated. They could have fixed that two or three times over by now.
dunno.gif


Anyway, to quote John McClain from Diehard: “Welcome to the party, pal!”
grin.gif


joatmon: “Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that Castrol GTX was one of this boards favorite dinos. No? Seems like Castrol GTX, Pennzoil, and Chevron are all on everyone’s ‘best dinos list’.”

I think with Castrol (especially GTX) people have brought their preferences with them to this board. This happens with every brand but it seems to be especially acute. Hey, I was a big believer that Castrol GTX was special once. But looking back 15+ years, I know that perception of mine was based 100% on marketing.
tongue.gif


Pennzoil and (especially) Chevron have earned their respect on this board, mostly through exceptional OUAs.
smile.gif


How many people besides me came here with a pro-Chevron bias?
confused.gif


Of course Schaeffer oil is serious stuff too, but most people are going to prefer to use oils they can source locally, easily & cheaply.
dunno.gif


I also think that with some vehicles you can really feel/hear the differences between oils. Mostly though, I think that almost any fresh oil is better than almost any used oil and that accounts for people’s perceptions that one oil is better than another. Of course, there are exceptions where same weight, different brand seems to have a noticeable difference.

--- Bror Jace
 
quote:

Originally posted by tenderloin:
Drive enough miles in your car and you know the sounds it makes as well as how it idles/ runs/accelerates.

Absolutely. I've posted about this before, but I'm so familiar with the sounds the 3.4 V6 in my Olds van makes running on Mobil 1, that I knew immediately upon start up one time when the dealer had given me a "complimentary" oil change.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top