You're right, GM put the kibosh on all 10W-40s, even though it was only lower grade brands causing the ring sticking problem. The word on the inside was that many were fine, but rather than say "use this brand, not that one," GM lowered the hammer on all of them.
A batch of additive received from a supplier was bad. It was blended without being tested, and the resulting finished product gelled in oil pans in cold weather. Engines failed in large numbers, and Quaker State paid for many replacements including my stepmother's. This was 1980 or so. In order to regain customer confidence and hold on to their number one market share, QS started offering their engine warranty advertising. So I'm pretty sure you have them to thank for that.
Correct and IIRC the article's author even said as much and differentiated between solvent dewaxed Group I and newer hydrocracked "conventional" oils. What it did show that was interesting was the additive packages that went from near nil in the 50's to pretty substantial with Zinc and detergents by the 70's. Also of note was that the tester made sure not to shake or overly disturb the oils to show the solubility of the additives that mostly stayed in retention....
This is the article I was thinking of, shared by Solarent (who doesn't appear to be a member anymore unfortunately, I can't tag him) back in 2015:
Wear was not the problem.
That's how I remember the 80's!
Worked as a line tech at a Chevy dealer in the late seventies and early eighties. Camshafts and valve guides were such common failures because of poor manufacturing that folks would blame whatever oil they were using at the time of the failure. Proper oil change intervals slowed down the failures however some were inevitable. My personal favorite oil back then was Phillips 66 Trop Artic 10w40.
Planned obsolescence has been around a long time.
Thanks. Yes, they chose a pour point depressant that didn't work.This is the article I was thinking of, shared by Solarent (who doesn't appear to be a member anymore unfortunately, I can't tag him) back in 2015:
This was the page that references Quaker State, but it appears they were not the only one affected:
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I started using Havoline 10w40 when I bought my first car. Most of the oil I use today is 10w40 but I now use various brands instead of exclusively Havoline. I think I used exclusively Havoline up until about the mid '80's when Western Auto started running rebates on 12 qt. cases of Exxon Superflo and Amoco Ultimate. They'd run 12 qt. cases on sale for $5. with a $5 rebate so all the oil cost me was the sales tax and a stamp to send in the rebate. I put Amoco Ultimate 10w40 in my mom's '99 Grand Marquis at it's last oil change. I think it was some of the oil I'd got the rebate on and gave to my dad years ago.
That's weird in that if it was only good to 60°F, why was it rated as a xW-30 oil?
But it also illustrated a problem with J300 that was subsequently addressed. In a way it was a good thing because it brought about positive changes to the way the winter rating was obtained.Thanks. Yes, they chose a pour point depressant that didn't work.
I was told that by an insider and by a man who owned a QS distributorship at the time. He tried to hire me when I was working for Pennzoil. QS ended up buying him out. After the merger years later we ended up as coworkers. I drove him home the day he retired because he had to turn in his car. A great guy, now quite advanced in age.
My dad used the original Mobil 1 in what is now my '75 Capri, during winter in Northern Finland, starting at -40 it certainly helped.
Planned obsolescence was in effect for many years in the American auto industry by the 1980s.
