Mixing Oils this way...would you do it ?

[Jetronic]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
We all have too much of a stash, we all buy when it's on special, it's the perfect oil for the car that we have.

Then we find a better oil, return the oil that we've bought and buy the new one on special, have the odd quart here and there , particularly annoying when it's in 5 litre or gallon jugs.

Given that your fleet is changing constantly, you may have to top up with an unknown quart while on the road, and there are hundreds of cars out there that call for your particular grade.

We'll call the particular grade 5W30 as an example, but if your fleet has a different one in the manual, then suit your owner's manual.

Why not get a 20L (5 gal) pail , or better yet a home brew kit. Fit it with a dessicant breather, and stuff a bit of sponge in the breather so that dust doesn't get in.

Every time you get an odd quart, throw it in the vat.

Every time that you need to do an oil change, drain it off the tap (home brew kit best, but 20L pail can have it also).

That way you don't have to worry about inventory, as there's only one supply.

Would you do it or not ?

would you encourage others to do it, and what benefits do you believe that it offers ?


I don't retrurn what I've bought, I'm not a girl.

And if there's a leftover quart that I want to get rid of, I'll use it at the next oil change. But since I bought 80 quarts of the same oil it'll be a long time before that happens.

 

[69GTX]

Originally Posted By: Cardenio327
I wouldn't, but only because of supposed "additive clash"


This.

I always try to mix similar add packages (high calcium, high sodium, or high magnesium). And if possible, somewhat close in viscosities. I see no reason to mix up oils in a vat. It's not like it's going to save any space. And on top of that you lost all portability just in case you want to pass off some of the old oil.

 

[IndyIan]

I never seem to accumulate spare quarts, 5l does either car with some left over to top up at some point.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

I don't see any reason to store lots of oil when WalMart has lots of reasonably priced stock that meets my needs and is a ten minute drive away (maybe a 25 minute round trip if I am just getting oil).
I am already ticked about having a 5l jug of Quaker State Ultimate Durability I'm not planning to use in my car and the remainder of a box of Mobil 1 ESP 5w30 liters taking up space in my garage. I would use the Quaker State Ultimate Durability in my wife's Avalon, but she is convinced I would destroy her car by messing up the change. At this point, I would like to have just a jug of whatever I'm going to use in my car (some kind of Mobil 1 5W30 at this point) and top up quarts of 5W30 and 0W20 (daughter's car) sitting around as a maximum. Maybe a jug of 0W20 if I start doing the changes for the Impreza. Having the box around is a big PITA compared to having a jug.

 

[blupupher]

Originally Posted By: Ducked
Anyway, you're a serially documented anti-mixer, so I doubt many people are buying your pitch.


That's what I was thinking. And it is not April 1st?


I have and would use a 5 qt jug to mix single/partial qts in, but I stay within grade (all xw-20 for example).
I am not concerned with "additive clash" or going out of grade.

Now if you are wanting to try Shannow's process and just have a continually mixed idea, and are trying to stay in a 5w30 range, then only use xw-30 oil.
If you start mixing 0w-20 with a 15w40 and then add some SAE 30, you really have no idea what your winter or final SAE grade will be. True beater car oil only.
I would be leary of mixing vastly different API specs (like a SJ with SN), but a generation apart (SM with SN) I would not care.

And yes, this has no scientific basis except there is no proof that doing this has not been shown to cause any real world problems.
Heck, I may just take a qt of all my stash xw-20 (Mobil 1 Extended Performance, Castrol Magnatec, Quaker State Ultimate Durability, Auto Zone, PUP) and use it for the heck of it.

 

[MSTUEBER]

My 2015 Chrysler 200 takes 5.5 quarts of oil. I just bought a 5qt jug of Pennzoil Platinum 0w20. So on the next oil
change I will have to add half quart of M1 or Napa oil to the PP, since I have a quart of each spare.

 

[BrocLuno]

I might if my fleet was simple, it's not. I already have to stock 2-stroke oil, outboard TW-C3 (they are not the same), something JASO MA for the bikes, the Saab needs a good semi-syn or Full Synthetic (oil pick-up coking due to adjacent CAT), and the other stuff seems happiest on HDEO of one kind or another ...

I can prolly get down to just Rotella T6 for most stuff... But already have lots of other oils too

I like the idea. It worked when I was in the lube bay back in the day. We drained all the container left overs into one 5 gallon jug and used that for personal cars, shop truck, boss's fancy cars, etc. Never an issue and most of those engines had well over a 100K with carbs

It'd take a week or two to get five gallons with just the overnight residuals from single qt containers after oil changes and top-offs for customers. I figured 98% went into the customer car, 2% went in the jug. But it was definitely a mix

 

[Shannow]

Yes all, I was providing the case "tongue in cheek", as a logical bookend to "mix it all" advice that is around a lot these days. Interesting that no-one has come out and suggested that it's a really really good way of doing things.

Could do it easily as well, as the family go-to oil for a long time was Castrol Magnatec SP 5W40, only available in steel drums, and with a bottom tap.

Personally I think the "Sasha Gray" blend approach holds more logic than having a mixed dozen of half quarts lying around and tipping them in come OCI time.

BTW, confession time, here's an old post...(December 13)

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Given that some take any intentional blend of oils as "CATERHAM" blend, I'll post...not claiming it's CATERHAM blend.

L67 - 3 parts Caltex C3 5w30, 2 parts Delo GOld Ultra. Intent with that was synthetic blend, fairly high adds. Border 30/40 grade, High HTHS, and cheap (were rebottled by local auto parts chain)...a little lubromoly.

Nissan - 5L Penrite 10-tenths 10W-40, and balance Mobil 3000 5W-40. Intent, getting through what was in the shed, with what I could buy to minimse orphan quartage.

Available next round of changes...
Penrite 10-tenths 5w30 (was cheap on closeout)
Castrol Magnatec SP 5W-40 - probably nearly enough for a Nissan change in and of itself (after Dad died, Mum didn't want a part full 20L rum in the shed, so it wasn't planned, but the Nissan goes well on this stuff...and it's green).

Caltex C3 synthetic - 3L or so
Delo 400 Gold - 3L or so
Probably use them n the L67.


That was before I started looking into what ASTM D6922 ACTUALLY promises. Member KCJeep's mix that didn't follow the Widman calculator piqued my interest in digging up papers.

I actually though some of the mixing ides and intent were well founded, e.g. the popular advice to add a quart of redline as an inexpensive additive rather than an expensive oil. (VII free, it's probably not that horrid an idea).

When I sold the Nissan, it had Castrol EDGE 5W30 A3/B4 with about 20% 25W50. Caprice has Magnatec stop start 5W30 with a top off of Penrite SAE30 small engine. If the Colorado was a quart down, it would get oil, regardles of the fact that I know nothing about what the factory fill is.

-8C is the lowest that it's ever been, so I don't have to worry at all about CCS and MRV.

The "anti" part that people pick up on to label with is the "never has and never will be" an issue, when presented to newbies asking questions, and the shooting down the message that there "can" and "has" been rare issues.

Anyway, if anyone wants to adopt the "Sasha Gray" blend, please do and report back...

 

[bbhero]

Speaking of a mix... Friday I used 2.5 qts of Lubrigold 5w30 ( Dexos approved) made by Warren Oil and a quart of SAE 30 high detergent oil (API SN) made by Warren Oil. This went into my lady's Camry. If I do a mix like this one stay within the same manufacturer.

 

[Silk]

I usually get rid of dribs and drabs of oil easily enough, and will use anything in a top up...but if it needs a top up then it's using oil and I'll find something on the gluggy end. In my end of life cars I'm happy to mix - the Volvo now has a base of Penrite 20w-50, some Fuchs CFX 15w40, a bit of Gulf 10W-40 and the 5w30 that was in the filter and oil cooler. I'm not going to have enough left overs to put in a 20 litre, maybe a 10...

I drain my containers at work, and have heaps at home, but it's normally just the same 5w30....although today some Akcela No1 got in there. OOps.

 

[Bailes1992]

Would you mix oil to do a quick flush then?

I have about 7 different bottles with a quart left in each. I was going to throw them all in my Father's defender at the next OCI, take it for a quick drive, get it hit and then drain and refill with the correct stuff.

 

[Jetronic]

I'd leave the mix in for a few weeks

 

[edhackett]

Originally Posted By: Shannow

The "anti" part that people pick up on to label with is the "never has and never will be" an issue, when presented to newbies asking questions, and the shooting down the message that there "can" and "has" been rare issues.


Originally Posted By: Scott Adams

Absurd Absolute

An absurd absolute is a restatement of the other person’s reasonable position as an absurd absolute. For example, if your point is there is high crime in Detroit, the absurd absolute would be your debate opponent saying something such as “So, you’re saying every person in Detroit is a criminal.” When your debate opponent recasts your opinion to include an “absolute” word, such as every, always, never, all, completely, universally, and the like, you are seeing cognitive dissonance.

Some people call what I just described a strawman argument. But a strawman argument refers to any sort of inaccurate recasting of your opponent’s argument. That is the generic case. I’m referring to a specific strawman argument that uses an absurd absolute. When your debate opponent recasts your point as an absurd absolute, you won the debate. That’s as far as you can go.



Ed

 

[Olas]

I wouldn't use a 20 litre vast simply because it's too big - an old oil jug holds my spare ounces and quarts, when it's full I get a 'free' change..

 

[SirTanon]

While I do mix oils in my Fusion daily driver, I would never think about doing what you suggested in your OP.

Each time I do an oil change in my Fusion, I evaluate what oils I have on hand, and how much, as well as the climate over the next 3-4 months and expected driving habits. Based on this, I pick whatever combination of oils that I have on hand to meet the requirements. In most cases, this means at least some kind of mix, since the engine takes about 5.3 quarts of oil. A simple 5-quart jug won't do the trick, so something else must be added.

The goal, however, is to try to keep the add packs as close as possible. If I use a 5-quart jug of Valvoline MaxLife, I'll always try to round it out with a quart bottle of Valvoline, as they all use the same basic add pack. This does not, however, necessarily mean I'll be using the same oil WEIGHT. For example, in my last oil change, since summer is close, and I know that I'll be driving in 100+ degree heat, I went with a 5-quart jug of Valvoline MaxLife 5w30, and finished it with ~.3 quarts of Valvoline NextGen 5w20 to thin it out, ever so slightly. Still all Valvoline and similar add pack.

The problem with just dumping leftover 'whatever' into a huge jug is you get all sorts of odd Add-pack mixups in there.. and I just don't feel comfortable with that.

I do have a couple of partial quart bottles of oil in my garage.. the result of the engine taking 5.3 quarts instead of 5.0.. but that's okay. Next time I do an oil change, I'll have roughly 0.7 quarts of the Valvoline I can get the .3 quart from in the one bottle..

 

[A_Harman]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
As additive packages evolve, you won't be left with gallons of obsolete oil.

Your stash will be evolving in real time with the state of the market oil, along with your fleet.

Never again be stuck with 2 gallons of SG in 8 differently branded containers, when your car was built on the cusp of SL/SN, and your brew kit could be holding the pace.



This flies in the face of the age-old complaint against mixing: you end up with an oil that is not formulated by design to do any task particularly well. When posters ask about mixing, we normally say they can get by with a Frankenbrew for one or two oil changes as long as they get back to using pure spec oil soon. Or if someone asks if they can run one OCI of SL oil in an SN engine, we would normally say OK, but don't do it forever.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: edhackett
Ed

Ed, is me buying bulk quantities every couple years or so to ensure it's all from one batch for many oil changes any less absurd?

 

[Dallas69]

I can't believe you of all people are thinking of doing this.
Are you sure aliens haven't taken over?

 

[SilverSnake]

Dallas69: It was a joke. He just wanted to see how many aliens there were out there. After all if on the internet, it has to be a good idea.

 

[DGXR]

First, I smell trolling, or some attempt at provocation or humor. But more likely just daydreaming or thinking out loud when it should be kept to ourselves (which we can't seem to do here on BITOG).

Second, just NO. I would rather have 20 mostly empty oil bottles (with tight lids) lying around and keep the leftovers that way. Hey, at least I know what I'm adding.