I'm not all that great in interpreting the date, but can anyone tell if Valvoline Maxlife blend is a lot thicker than Durablend or even All Climate when comparing 5w30 and 10w30 oils? A tech a Valvoline explained to me that Maxlife for all intents and purposes is energy conserving but they can't rate it that way because of the additive package, which doesn't make sense to me, because if it is in fact "energy conserving", then why not state it on the bottle?
How much thicker is Maxlife to Durablend?
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Just from memory, Maxlife is something like 11.3 cst @ 100c, while Duralblend is 10.3 cst @ 100c...so yeah, Maxlife is a full cst thicker than Durablend.
I don't know about the 'energy conserving status, but Mobil 1 5w30 is 11.3 cst @ 100c, and it IS energy conserving, so maybe it does have something to do with the add-pack....
I don't know about the 'energy conserving status, but Mobil 1 5w30 is 11.3 cst @ 100c, and it IS energy conserving, so maybe it does have something to do with the add-pack....
Maxlife has higher levels of ZDDP which prevents it from having the energy conserving label, IIRC.
Personally, out of the Valvoline varieties, I would highly recommend the Maxlife - it contains a stronger add package.
Also, the difference of 1 cst is not going to be noticeable in terms of fuel mileage.
I personally went from the 10w30 Maxlife to Rotella synthetic 5w-40 at 14cst versus 11.3 cst, have noticed *maybe* .5 mpg difference - BUT, the wind has been blowing a lot here too lately soooo, could be a very mute point.
Personally, out of the Valvoline varieties, I would highly recommend the Maxlife - it contains a stronger add package.
Also, the difference of 1 cst is not going to be noticeable in terms of fuel mileage.
I personally went from the 10w30 Maxlife to Rotella synthetic 5w-40 at 14cst versus 11.3 cst, have noticed *maybe* .5 mpg difference - BUT, the wind has been blowing a lot here too lately soooo, could be a very mute point.
Valvoline All-Climate 5w30 SM/GF-4 62 cSt 40C 10.5 cSt 100C
Valvoline Dura-Blend 5w30 SM/GF-4 58 cSt 40C 10.3 cSt 100C
Valvoline MaxLife 5w30 SM / not EC 67 cSt 40C 11.3 cSt 100C
Valvoline All-Climate 10w30 SM/GF-4 70 cSt 40C 10.7 cSt 100C
Valvoline Dura-Blend 10w30 SM/GF-4 71 cSt 40C 10.8 cSt 100C
Valvoline MaxLife 10w30 SM / not EC 75 cSt 40C 11.5 cSt 100C
So yeah, the MaxLife is definately thicker. Too much phosphorus could be a reason not to have the EC/GF-4 donut, but in this case the valvoline 'tech' is out to lunch. The data sheet clearly shows zinc/phosphorus at 0.083/0.076, same as for All-Climate and Dura-Blend.
Unless he was talking about something in the base oil (PAO?) as an additive that makes the oil to thick for GF-4.
No, it still has GF-4 levels of ZDDP; ie the 800 ppm phosphorous limit. It's not energy conserving if I remember correctly, because Valvoline didn't submit it for testing (this was back when it was on the thinner side). Now that it's on the thick side like the other High Mileage oils, it would likely not even pass the GF-4 fuel economy energy conserving test.
Pretty much all passenger car oils sold over the counter have the GF-4 phosphorous limit, even in 10w-40 and 20w-50 grades. It's not SM that limits phosphorous, it's GF-4, but most all motor oil producres cap ph at 800 ppm now in all grades. If you look at Valvoline's data sheets, all their oils, even VR-1, show 830 ppm phosphorous.
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No Maxlife does not have higher zddp. It's SM version is right on par with other brands. It does, however have a nice slug, about 300 ppm, of moly. As for thickness, only the Maxlife after sometime in Feb 07 (presumably with the new label intro) per the product sheets is thicker. Prior to that, maxlife was around 10.5 cSt.
Frankly, I don't give a rip whether it could meet energy conserving. It is a well made, robust oil and that is what counts. I always buy HM over regular oil so as to not get energy conserving, since the energy conserving status has nothing to do with engine protection.
Frankly, I don't give a rip whether it could meet energy conserving. It is a well made, robust oil and that is what counts. I always buy HM over regular oil so as to not get energy conserving, since the energy conserving status has nothing to do with engine protection.
Me bad.
I stand corrected - I was listing the info of my 2 favorite oils backwards, sorry.
Went from a Rotella synthetic thread to Maxlife too soon - brain couldn't keep up
With all that Maxlife promises Durablend is a hard sell because they are both synthetic blends. But I am sure Valvoline has many loyal Durablend users...
I would run Durablend in a cold climate over Maxlife...
I would run Durablend in a cold climate over Maxlife...
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