first cold morning startup with Chev Supreme

[crashz]

Don't worry - we all used Valvoline at one point, just like Fram oil filters. When the marketing hype clears, the truth tells trhat these products are mearly just adequate, if that.

BTW- my comments earlier on the 5w-30 must be changed. My truck is now starting and running without noise. However I do notice a big performance difference using dino in a cold engine rather than syn. The dino seems to make more vibrations before its fully warmed up and seems to make the motor more sluggish. Well so much for my scientific study!

 

[Jim Spahr]

I have to respond to the question: 'What's wrong with Vavloline?' and the comparison of Valvoline oil to Fram filters as a mass marketing sham. I had previously used Pennsoil dino 10w/30 in my Chevy LT1 350 cu. in. V8 and noticed a build up of reddish varnish in the vavle covers. I changed to Mobil 1 for three oil changes and this seemed to flush out the varnish build up. I then decided to try Vavoline dino in 10w/30. I have used it for many thousands of miles with no varnish and no sludge build up. I am very pleased with the performance of the Vavoline dino oil and the AC Delco PF 52 oil filters. I then discovered and read regularly Bobistheoilguy forum. I was surprised to see Pennsoil ranked higher in the dino ratings than the Valvoline oil. My personal experience demonstrates the opposite is true. Running a clean LT1 engine at 194k miles. Sincerely, Jim

 

[MNgopher]

There is nothing wrong with Valvoline oils. They serve tons of folks (#3 brand in sales, I believe, behind Pennzoil and Quaker State) just fine. The reality is that their oils meet the specs laid out by the various organizations to meet.

Now, that doesn't mean they are the best or best value for the money. Other brands cost less and deliver better wear numbers and the oil holds up longer.

Frankly, there likely will not ever be an issue using the Valvoline so long as manufacturers intervals are adhered to.

I'll put it this way: I used Valvoline for hundreds of thousands of miles with no oil related isues to speak of. I switched brands after realizing there were some better values on the market than what I had been buying, not because I feared I was harming my engines.

 

[Holden McRoin]

About four years ago PepBoys Proline Oils were made by Ashland(Valvoline/Pyroil).
At that time it was probably the best value in dino at .84 per quart.

 

[crashz]

I see your point on Valvoline. I used it in many of my vehicles as well. Mechanics I knew and my father all agreed that it was the best oil on the market. And I used a lot of straight 30w with my two deisel pickups. Never had any failures and always had nice clean engines. But I also changed my oil at 2000 - 2500 miles. So there was always fresh oil in my engines.

Through VOA and UOA, the proof is there that Valvoline has a weak additive package. It provided good protection but for less miles than Chevron, Penz., or Castrol.

 

[Jim Spahr]

A few things I wanted to add to my post above supporting Valvoline. I changed both oils at 3k OCI. When I had a varnish buildup problem with the Pennsoil dino, I called the Pennsoil Cust. Service toll free line. The rep tried to tell me I needed to use their Turbo dino version to prevent the Oxidation I was experiencing. This was an expensive special formula dino oil designed to prevent the turbo coking problem. My response was- Why won't your regular oil at 3k interval changes prevent Varnish buildup? Solution to the reddish varnish problem was a change to Valvoline.