Impact to additive package when switching brands

[mfisher1967]

I read a letter from a Ford engineer on Carbibles.com that left me wondering about the impact to an oil's additive package when switching from one brand of oil to another. This may be oil news to some folks here, but it is new to me. here is a portion of that letter:

"The chemicals will normally differ from the manufacturers blend, and can cancel each other out to the point where there will be no anti-wear properties left in the product. (This is one reason it's not wise to mix oils from different manufacturers together). Changing the oil from say Mobil to Shell and then to Pennzoil will have a negative effect on your engine from conflicting chemicals. Buy an oil that you may like and STICK TO THAT COMPANY'S product."

I have seen spikes in UOA wear metal ranges on this site after switching from one brand to another. Some folks seem to feel that changing oil brands will cause a brief spike in wear metals due to a "washing" effect. Could it be that we are actually seeing a conflict between the additives from the old oil having a negative impact on the new oil, resulting in increased wear for a short period of time? Reading UOA's does not point out anything to me that would suggest additives are radically different from one brand to another (Calcium, Boron, Moly, etc). Perhaps there are other items in an oil's additive package that do not show up on UOA's? Maybe some of the gurus on this site can clear things up?

 

[Auto-Union]

Check the Tech Forum for on-going discussion of this subject.

 

[globey]

Yeah, this very same comment was brought up just a few weeks ago and debated in another thread.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

I wish we had some Instant Graemlins that read....

"This Thread Is Worthless Without Blendologist UOAs Attached"

 

[JohnBrowning]

I do not think that we have any reason to belive that any of the chemical forms of ZDDP,Calcium,Moly etc... have any negative impact on each other. Same can be said for various base's of oil it is not like GI is going to attack GV molacules and some how weaken them. If anything the metabolites or deposit's from the various chemistry's is probably a bigger player in degradation of new oil. So if seems like reduceing the deposits left behind helps the next oil as well as the engine. Now obviously each form of the commonly available aw/ep additives is going to have differing levels of effectiveness based on their subtle difference.

I think that the various solvents and amines probably have more to do with any type of clash between products. now that I have said that we have not seen any additive class issues even wneh someone has used 2,3,4 different brands of oil in a single change.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I would love to know what supposedly cancells out another companies ZDDP,Calcium,Moly or Boron!!! That is funny!!

 

[dwendt44]

While it's probably best to not mix brands, I doubt any serious damage would result if you did.
Most oils are compatable with most other oils by industry custom, if not design.
The engineer may have been overthinking the question.

 

[tsmay51]

Man I hope this isn't true. I have tried many different oils in my truck.

 

[Steve S]

Since the additives used in the oils are the same only the amounts are different, as blended by the additive companies and as the additive levels change somewhat with use and when the combustion byproducts and wear metals and reactions from heat are added as well common sense would alert the B.S. alarm about additive clash impact when switching brands.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Look at all of my UOAs for my Toyota, Chev or ford and see if you can see ANY difference between them when changing oils.

Some OILS will do worst but its not a additive clash when the same oil does worst in different engines that ran different oil before.

I've NEVER ran the same brand of oil through out the life of an engine and have made 300k with no issues. Also have made 200plus k with many other engines.

I'm in the camp that brand does not matter as much as HOW often you change it and HOW you operate the engine.

Take care, bill

 

[Eddie]

I'm of the group that choses to pick one brand of oil and stick with it, unless there is convincing data/evidence that I made a bad choice. This is not the first engineering paper or letter article that recommends not switching back and forth between brands because of possible additive interaction and or dilution. I seem to remember that the early tests were preformed by the military in conjunction with several major oil blenders. I find it also interesting that gear oil producers say not to mix different brands because of additive issues. I also expect some will say they always mix and match and never a problem but, I chose to pick one. Ed

 

[Dr_No]

We need molakule to give us a real scientific answer

 

[LoneRanger]

Any link to the ongoing discussion in tech forum? I am very interested in this topic.

 

[BrianWC]

That carbibles oil section is almost useless.

IIRC, mola HAS posted on the subject of additive clash several times. Try a search of his posts with the subject of additive clash