I think I read here about some grades of motor oils being not up to par back in the 1980’s?
Anyone remember this?
Thank You
Anyone remember this?
Thank You
How bad were oils in the 1980’s?
- Thread starter 53' Stude
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Not that bad. I was running 10W40 in my vehicles and never had an engine failure. I used oils on sale like Exxon Superflo, Western Auto private brand as well as Pennzoil and Quaker State. The one I stayed away from was Amoco LDO, because it caused increased oil consumption in my vehicle.
Of course, oils improved over the years, and my engines got full advantage of those improvements.
Of course, oils improved over the years, and my engines got full advantage of those improvements.
The only thing I remember from back then (high school mid 70's) was not to use Pennzoil because it had wax in it.
Not that bad, if you changed them. 3k you were ok.
Black stone did a UOA running a decades old oil.
Blackstone cannot test for most of the attributes that would define the problems of oils back then.
Back in the 1980s I was riding UJMs with air cooled engines that ran to around 10,000 RPM and shared a common sump with transmission & wet clutch. It's harder on motor oils than most cars. I used regular old off-the-shelf 10w40 which was easier to find back then. Various brands, but all cheap mineral oil, not 'motorcycle specific'. When I rebuilt the '78 CB-550-4 at around 75000 miles, the machine shop said the engine was in excellent shape overall, cylinders had less than 0.001" taper which they said was essentially nothing. The only reason it needed the rebuild was to replace dry hardened seals, gaskets & o-rings, not for any machining.
The oils back then might not work well in modern engines, but they were just fine for the engines in which they were used.
The oils back then might not work well in modern engines, but they were just fine for the engines in which they were used.
I was a Quaker State 10W-30 guy for the first few years, but switched over to Gulf 10W-30 in 1980 because it was "Hydrotreated". I wonder if this was an early attempt to further refine dino to make it mimic synthetic.
Gulf was bought out by PetroCan not long after.
Gulf was bought out by PetroCan not long after.
I used to use Gulf oil because I liked their color scheme.
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The oils in the 1980s were perfectly fine. It was mostly owner neglect that got all those oil urban legends started.
Had to be half way decent for the time. My dealer sold BMW's and Volvo's and there were always BMW's with the hoods up and missing engine parts all around 30K to 35K. I ask about what was with the BMW engine problems. The service writer said nothing wrong with BMW engines it was the owners not changing the oil. Guys were buying their wives BMW's and the wife would show up for the first free oil change to remove the break in oil, and they never saw the car again until it was towed in. You see those first oil changes occured between 600 and 1200 miles. Somewhere between 30,000 and 35,000 miles without another oil change the camshafts would seize. If I remember the dealer was using 10W30 Quaker State bulk oil at the time.
They were pretty good—with tons and tons and tons of ZDDP for API SF and API SF/CC. Back in the 1980s, Toyota recommended a 10,000-mile OCI with conventional oil. Now, it's a 5,000-mile OCI unless it's synthetic oil.
Here is actual wear and fuel-economy data for selected API SF through API SN oils.
Here is actual wear and fuel-economy data for selected API SF through API SN oils.
Wear and fuel economy results for selected SF through SN oils: PCMO3 engine test
Tribology Testing Labs developed an engine test called PCMO3 in 2015, which is used to predict fuel economy & engine durability. http://www.tribologytesting.com/PCMO3-vs-Seq6E-vs-D7589-Jan2015.pdf They claim: For determining friction and wear characteristics: • Gasoline & Diesel Motor Oils...
bobistheoilguy.com
Nothing wrong with oils from the 70's & '80's that I can see. I started driving in 1975 and used oils of that era for years I'm still using up oil that I bought in the '90's and '00's and it's working fine in my '94 Ford, '97 Ford, and '16 Nissan. Back sometime in the early-mid '00's I found about 10 cases of Pennzoil YB 20w20 that was probably bottled in the '80's at flea market, I asked what they'd take for it if I'd buy it all. They quoted me a price that came to about $ .65/qt. so I bought it all and used it in the work car I had at the time. I finally retired the car in about 2011-2012 with 518K miles on it and compression readings were still 145-155 PSI across all 4 cylinders.
This is an oil viscosity chart from 1984, in the shop manual for a 1984 Chevy Cavalier. 5W30 then wasn't what it is today, seemingly, because they didn't want it used above 60F. Also note that 10W-40 is not listed:
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I wondered why my dad told me don't ever use Penzoil. I always wondered why, but to this day I won't. I actually useds PUP once - i figured its Shell now so must be OK. Still felt guilty the whole time, changed it out early.
In 1976 GM recommended 7,500 miles oil change intervals, oil filter every other oil change.
Used pennziol exclusively in the 80’s. Always had clean valve covers and valve train with no oil burning, gelling, or any other issues with several different vehicles.
Same in 1984.