I wish there was a newbie area

[ne_plus_ultra_1]

Ok, here's the email I got from a nice fellow at Kendall.

I have seen amazing stuff with this oil and I have read here it is somewhat of a debated topic.

Please let me know what you think...

[Dear ultra,]

Since 1995, Kendall has transitioned through several ownerships ( as I have, being with Kendall from the onset). It would be fair to say that the Kendall you purchase today is very different from the product you purchased in 1995. The lubricants industry has undergone several major specification improvements, boosting overall performance keeping pace with the needs of the latest generation of automobiles. Kendall's reputation has been built upon performance both on the track and on the road. Over the years this has been achieved through constructing engine oils that not only meet, but exceed the latest industry performance requirements. Our philosophy has not changed. The proprietary recipes utilized in the formulation of today's Kendall GT-1 offer performance characteristics well beyond ILSAC GF-4 and API SM. To further support the performance reputation of Kendall's GT-1, all ILSAC grades (5w20, 5w30 and 10w30) are only offered as synthetic blends. The base oils upon which GT-1 is built are among the finest in the world. ConocoPhillips is a world leader in the production and sale of Group II, Group III, PAO technology. You can be assured that when you purchase Kendall, you're purchasing the best Kendall we have ever produced. Kendall GT-1 is a true leader in the PCMO (passenger car motor oil) arena. Thank you for being a loyal Kendall customer.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Interesting. I don't doubt other's experiences with recent Kendall oils, but my single experience was less than stellar.

When a local shop changed my tires and brakes a couple years ago, they threw in a free oil change. I didn't know about it when they took the car in. To the average consumer, this was great, but to this novice BITOG'er, it wasn't all that good.

The noise, vibration, harshness was the worst I've ever experienced withn any oil in this 96 Saturn. Dumping the oil with only a few hundred miles on it and putting Chevron Supreme brought noticeable improvement in the NVH area.

Granted, the oil they used was Kendall 10w30 bulk, not the same as today's SM formulations...

 

[Blue99]

Here's a Link to a Lube Reports Article from the launch of the ConocoPhillips GF-4 products, last summer.

quote:

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ConocoPhillips has a stable of four PCMO brands – Kendall, 76, Phillips 66 and Conoco – and is upgrading all of them to synthetic blends as it adopts GF-4 formulations. It will begin selling blend versions of 5W-20 and 5w30 grades by the middle of this month – less than three weeks after the American Petroleum Institute started commercial licensing of the standard. Next spring the company will introduce synthetic blend versions of 10w30s.

ConocoPhillips officials declined to disclose the types of base oils used in the various products, but said it considers synthetic as including Group III stocks, PAOs and synthetic esters. It has a regular source of Group III through its marketing agreement with South Korean refiner S-Oil, and is part owner of Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., which supplies PAO. Without revealing specific content levels, Commercial Lubricants Manager Louis P. Burke said synthetics are the principal base stock in the company’s blend products.

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I think it's generally accepted that the synthetic blends are Grp II/III blends, and the Grp III component is the low cost & lower VI index from S-Oil.

 

[ne_plus_ultra_1]

Hmm, let me tell you my experience with the ONE engine that ALWAYS had Kendall.

This was about a 95 B350 with a 360 in it. The water pump sprung a leak and we decided to do the timing chain as we were that close to it.

This engine had 300K on it and the timing chain had virtually no play in it!

What I found more amazing than that was that there was no varnish or coloration. The metal looked like an engine that had just been assembled. It was all grey or shiny metal.

I have worked on hundreds of engines and I have never seen this before.

I dont care about NVH unless that means you are damaging your engine.

96 Saturns are not the most smooth quiet cars in existence and I really dont mean to put them down but I think this is true. Interesting that you noticed a difference with different oil.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

quote:

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Originally posted by ne_plus_ultra_1:


96 Saturns are not the most smooth quiet cars in existence and I really dont mean to put them down but I think this is true. Interesting that you noticed a difference with different oil.

---

No offense taken whatsoever! These cars are sooo touchy with NVH, it wasn't til the mid-2000 year last redesign where they received more insulation and damping. As a result, changes in oil are more noticeable in a car like this than a well-behaved design.

I wouldn't mind trying Kendall or Brad-Penn synthetic if the price was right...

 

[ne_plus_ultra_1]

Wow, I just did a lot of reading about how Pennsylvania oil is not what it used to be and how they are scraping the dregs now.

Newer refining technologies make even lousy crude oils good?

I think it unlikely that Conoco ONLY purchased the Kendall name. I think it more likely that they purchased the name and AT LEAST the proprietary ingredients.

Why is the stuff green like GC? Is that what makes it good?

 

[drive it forever]

Kendall GT1 isint dyed green except for maybe the nitro 70 weight????

 

[ne_plus_ultra_1]

Dude, every bottle of Kendall I ever poured was green. I haven't poured one in a few years.

You say it is not so. It was a few years ago in CT. Either that or someone poured green oil in multiple Kendall bottles and welded the plastic lid back on.