Yes, kendall engine oils, the oil thats in the family tree of motorcraft and phillips trop-artic, made by parent corp conoco. Not discussed much at all here on this site. I would be willing to bet that the kendall GT-1 synthetic blend oils are the same oils filled into the motorcraft and trop-artic bottles. I just dont think conoco would go through the trouble to blend 3 differing 5w30's, being that they buy the add packs from a supplier. That being said, kendall might be an alternative to the beloved motorcraft.
Kendall oil, the almost forgotton about oil of yonder
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I think some not to impressive UOA's a few years back soured things a bit.
Hmmm. I posted a UOA of their 5W30 last month.
Nothing fancy..
Nothing fancy..
1 Agree, Kendall is forgotten pretty much on here. Right next to #2 or #3 Quaker State. Still the brand used by Firestone Tire.
2 Conoco has kept Mystik.
2 Conoco has kept Mystik.
I looked at some old Kendall bottles on clearance recently at AutoZone and they had a date code just like the date code on Valvoline and NAPA oil. Wonder if Ashland once bottled Kendall?
Using Google to track the Kendall brand name, it appears Witco Chemical acquired the Kendall refinery & brand in the 1960's. In the 90's, Witco sold Kendall to Sunoco which sold both the 76 & Kendall brands to Tosco. Phillips acquired Tosco and then merged with Conoco.
Someone correct me if I've mis-stated the succesion of the Kendall brand, it's the best I could piece together.
American Refining Group, ARG, operates the old Kendall refinery, and as we recently learned, ARG blends & packages Brad Penn and does contract work for Castrol.
Someone correct me if I've mis-stated the succesion of the Kendall brand, it's the best I could piece together.
American Refining Group, ARG, operates the old Kendall refinery, and as we recently learned, ARG blends & packages Brad Penn and does contract work for Castrol.
We used to use Kendall engine oil (Super-D III 15W40) on the farm for years. It would run just as long in the tractor as Schaeffer oil at the time. Si was the limiter to OCI there. We quit using it when the local distributor dropped them some time ~1988(?). Always had good luck with them prior to that. However, after that in the mid and late '90s we picked up a few cases of Superb 100 or GT-1 here and there.
I UOA'd some GT-1 in 1999 and it was unimpressive. Viscosity left grade @ ~5000 miles, and TBN was getting low. I read here that that is common with dinos, but I find it improper/undesirable. The truck was seeing relatively easy service and it just wasn't worth it to pay $1.80/qt. when M1 had plenty of reserve life left after 10,000 miles for ~twice the money.
I've always wondered whether the change of ownership caused the quality changes.
I UOA'd some GT-1 in 1999 and it was unimpressive. Viscosity left grade @ ~5000 miles, and TBN was getting low. I read here that that is common with dinos, but I find it improper/undesirable. The truck was seeing relatively easy service and it just wasn't worth it to pay $1.80/qt. when M1 had plenty of reserve life left after 10,000 miles for ~twice the money.
I've always wondered whether the change of ownership caused the quality changes.
A note on Kendall Oil Products from the past.
When Mr. Honda,was developing his dealer network for his fine motorcycles in the 1960's and 70's, he specified that Kendall Oils be used for his motorcycles when serviced by the dealers. He developed his own factory line of products, later, as he grew. I understand that he first started in the piston ring manufacturing business during WWII. After the war he devoloped 2 wheeled vehicles for the Japenese public. His piston ring products were encountering problems that were solved by using Kendall Oils, and kept him in business. And we know the rest of the story... That is why he specified Kendall Oil Products in his Honda dealerships.
Big Daddy Don Garlits and Kendall...need we say more?
When Mr. Honda,was developing his dealer network for his fine motorcycles in the 1960's and 70's, he specified that Kendall Oils be used for his motorcycles when serviced by the dealers. He developed his own factory line of products, later, as he grew. I understand that he first started in the piston ring manufacturing business during WWII. After the war he devoloped 2 wheeled vehicles for the Japenese public. His piston ring products were encountering problems that were solved by using Kendall Oils, and kept him in business. And we know the rest of the story... That is why he specified Kendall Oil Products in his Honda dealerships.
Big Daddy Don Garlits and Kendall...need we say more?
Motorcycles are well-known for being very sensitive to the types of oils poured into their crankcase.quote:
Originally posted by pastmaster:
A note on Kendall Oil Products from the past.
When Mr. Honda,was developing his dealer network for his fine motorcycles in the 1960's and 70's, he specified that Kendall Oils be used for his motorcycles when serviced by the dealers. He developed his own factory line of products, later, as he grew. I understand that he first started in the piston ring manufacturing business during WWII. After the war he devoloped 2 wheeled vehicles for the Japenese public. His piston ring products were encountering problems that were solved by using Kendall Oils, and kept him in business. And we know the rest of the story... That is why he specified Kendall Oil Products in his Honda dealerships.
Big Daddy Don Garlits and Kendall...need we say more?
Some of the old Ducati tower-gear cam drive V-Twins (e.g. Desmo 900 SS) are owned by specialist collectors who insist on using only Castrol HD-30 motor oil.
Well,their rides still run today, so that monograde dino oil must be good for something.
Bet these bikes would run great on Redline.
Here's the corresponding product data sheet for Phillips 66 TropArtic Synthetic Blend in 5W-20, 5W-30, and 10W-30 flavors. I doubt the small variations are significant nor represent any intentional product ID enhancements, but rather, merely sample-to-sample variations from different blending production runs. I further suspect that in any given production run it's a complete crapshoot which ConocoPhillips brand(s) (including Motorcraft) are drawn from the tank during bottling. If one brand gets left out of that production run, it could easily be the "superior" product in the next bottling go-'round with a different production run.
I finally found the awaited 10W-30 ConocoPhillips syn-blend (in the Phillips 66 TropArtic brand) at Dollar Tree for a buck-a-quart. I lightened that store's load by 36 quarts. The sweet-thing cashier thought I was nuts. Obviously she's an expert mental-health state diagnostician . . .
I fear many automotive store clerks think I'm nuts. I ALWAYS inspect every oil filter I buy. Stuff like that drives um nuts, but hey, I've found more than 1 defective oil filter in my life!quote:
Originally posted by Ray H:
The sweet-thing cashier thought I was nuts. Obviously she's an expert mental-health state diagnostician . . .
I have been using Kendall GT-1 full synthetic for some time. Seems to run well, but even I must admit the VOA was nothing stellar.
However, if I can get off my, er, duff and do a UOA that might solve the issue.
Bob W.
I have searched in vain for Kendall GT-1 5w40 for my VW 1.8T. It must be a fairly decent synthetic, since it is one of VW's beloved 502.00 approved oils. I would use it if I could find it. In fact, the GT-1 5w40 is so impossible to get around here, I might even pay a premium for it.....but that's more of my obsessive-compulsiveness than anything else.
I remember the GREEN colored Kendall GT1 oil of the late 60s and early 70s. Ran it in my Rupp Roadster mini bike.
Wonder if it was a forefather of GC?
Wonder if it was a forefather of GC?
Hey I just realized I have a round cardboard with metal end caps can of SE Kendall Superb 10w40 sitting in my garage and it is GREEN!
Hey I also had a Rupp mini bike, a 4 hp job in a bright green. Think it was called the Rupp Toad or something like that. Cost $110 back around 1971.
I know the John Deere dealer in Birch Run, MI, sells Kendall. Not sure I have seen it anywhere else in recent years.
I am fairly certain that the current Kendall is being producted by a blender in the Indianapolis area. i.e. I believe the Kendall Brand has been sold once again!
And yes, the oroginal Kendall refinery in Bradford is producing both the Brad Penn products and good ol' Gulfpride! Yes, Gulf oil brand has risen from the ashes and is alive and well in Bradford, Pa.!
As a 16 year old, I used to haul coal to the refinery for use in its boilers, before they switched to natural gas.
And yes, they are using Pennsylvania crude! It DOES still exist......
George Morrison, STLE CLS
And yes, the oroginal Kendall refinery in Bradford is producing both the Brad Penn products and good ol' Gulfpride! Yes, Gulf oil brand has risen from the ashes and is alive and well in Bradford, Pa.!
As a 16 year old, I used to haul coal to the refinery for use in its boilers, before they switched to natural gas.
And yes, they are using Pennsylvania crude! It DOES still exist......
George Morrison, STLE CLS
The current line of Kendall oils are all ConocoPhillips formulations and are very close to either a Conoco or Phillips 66 product.
Here's the link to the Kendall Product Data Sheet.
IMHO, the 10W-30 has the best specs for these GF-4 dino oils.
The base oils used are the S-Oil Grp III sold thru ConocoPhillips and the relatively low VI index(95) Grp II's from the ConocoPhillips/Excel Paralubes partnership.
Here's the link to the Kendall Product Data Sheet.
IMHO, the 10W-30 has the best specs for these GF-4 dino oils.
The base oils used are the S-Oil Grp III sold thru ConocoPhillips and the relatively low VI index(95) Grp II's from the ConocoPhillips/Excel Paralubes partnership.
GeorgeCLS, This is very interesting to me about the fate of Kendall Oil. I had used it for decades and wondered about it's decline. I really thought that they were the BEST, engine oils in their time.
Does anyone know about the Pennsylvania Crude Oils, when they were the King of Oils? And why, what made them superior?
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Does anyone know about the Pennsylvania Crude Oils, when they were the King of Oils? And why, what made them superior?
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