Mobil 1 and Engine Noise

[buster]

For those of you who are complaining about Mobil 1 and noise, you have to realize that it's the thin viscosity of the oil. I've used Amsoil, Redline and Mobil 1 and all have produced some valve clatter. RL was the quietest of the bunch. If it's not effecting wear values, there is nothing to be worried about. People are jumping to conclusions based on noise.

As far as Mobil 1 not having a good enough addtive package, can you be more specific? It has Moly (Amsoil doesn't), more Calcium then Amsoil, more Boron then Amsoil. The only thing Mobil 1 lacks right now is the same level of ZDDP, due to API restrictions. As Molekule has stated, there are other was around that and that is what Mobil has done.

Keep in mind also that there isn't ONE BEST OIL for every engine. Generally speaking we see that certain engines like certain oils for whatever reason. Pick one and try it. If it does good then use it. There are certain engines that like thicker viscosity oils.

[ December 12, 2003, 10:09 PM: Message edited by: buster ]

 

[Motorbike]

Theres nothing wrong with the Mobil oil other than it's price being over 2 bucks a quart less than a heavily promoted competitor here .

Buster even you over 100k mile Toyota had only 6ppm of lead using the Mobil 0/20 at almost 2k miles more in the interval than the AMSOIL ATM 10/30 you ran .

Too thin and not enough zinc does is not flying so well is it ?

 

[buster]

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Too thin and not enough zinc does is not flying so well is it ?

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Your right and I think it was you that pointed it out in another thread. Boron and the high level of calcium I think come into play. I'm not buying it either. I can understand that Mobil 1 is too thin for certain engines and that the noise is irratating, but as I said if it's not effecting wear, who cares?

 

[Leo]

If the noise wont go away, add Moly until it does

 

[geeeman]

If the noise won't go away, add 15W50 until it does...!

 

[Patman]

If the noise won't go away, keep adding in Amsoil until it does!

 

[Whimsey]

I have the cheapest solution, ear plugs

. I guess this is an off shot to my earlier thread. I was only making a PASSING COMMENT on Mobil 1 and engine noise. I was not PASSING JUDGEMENT on how Mobil 1 performs. I've used it for years and have been pleased with it. But now after talking with Terry I'm going to use Schaeffer's Supreme instead. We'll see how it goes.

Whimsey

 

[S2000driver]

Is it just cars with hydraulic valve "lifters"? All my cars have mechanical "lifters" and the car sounds the same regardless which oil I use...

 

[Whimsey]

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Originally posted by S2000driver:
Is it just cars with hydraulic valve "lifters"? All my cars have mechanical "lifters" and the car sounds the same regardless which oil I use...

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Unless your lifters are "faulty" or the oil is too thick for the temperature I think the "engine noise" is just normal engine sounds only they are more noticable with some oils than others. It's not causing any damage. You are just hearing clearer and louder normal engine operating sounds until the engine warms up and parts expand. The last vehicle I had that had "mechanical" lifters was my 1972 VW Beetle. I had to check them every 3,000 miles with the oil change. I'm not going to call that the good old days

.

Interesting thought just occured writing this. My 1972 Beetle required 3,000 mile oil changes and it used straight 20 or 30 weight oil depending upon the temperature. And it had NO oil filter, only a screen cage on the drain cover you removed to empty the oil. So most likely 5,000 mile OCI is easily obtainable with todays modern engines even on dino oil in most cases. We are brain washed into 3,000 mile OCI even for non severe driving conditions.

Whimsey

 

[buster]

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I have used Amsoil since 1977 and I have never had any lifter noise, none. I always owned GM cars/truck, nothing else.

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Amsoil 0w-30 was the worst oil in terms of noise I've used. M1 and ASL Amsoil are about the same. RL was the quietest.

 

[Mobil2]

When switching from dino to M1 SS 5w30, I noticed that starting and idle was much quieter with the M1. After 5k it seems a bit noiser now, but it's also a lot colder out now too.

 

[Mike_dup1]

I have used Amsoil since 1977 and I have never had any lifter noise, none. I always owned GM cars/truck, nothing else.

If the noise won't go away, trade it in...!

 

[Whimsey]

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Originally posted by Mike:
I have used Amsoil since 1977 and I have never had any lifter noise, none. I always owned GM cars/truck, nothing else.

If the noise won't go away, trade it in...!

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Uh Oh! Stand back I guess there is going to be a lot of GM owners trading in their 4.8's, 5.3's 6.0's and 8.1's(forgive me if I got the engine sizes wrong, I'm more familiar with Ford's

) for engine noises cold and hot

. This seems to be a problem brought about by the search for the "Holy Grail" of fuel economy and emissions for numerous vehicle manufactures, especially for trucks and SUV's.

Whimsey

 

[buster]

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72sub,I doubt its the oil. The engine was due to begin the LS1 "dance". I think piston slap isn't even a close description to the core of the issue.

If we are on to something and it is a oil pump,flow issue it won't matter what oil is used.

Only benefit some are seeing is that a thicker vis oil is dampening sound out and or allowing a bit more internal friction and the pump doesn't cavititate or burp as much. The thicker oil may inadvertantly index the pump drive a bit, allowing more normal operation.

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This from Terry in another thread regarding GC and louder engine noise in a LS1. We two things about these engine, they show insane wear numbers and have a piston slap problem of some kind. It's not the oil, its the engine.

[ December 15, 2003, 05:57 PM: Message edited by: buster ]

 

[MolaKule]

Many of the newer engines have direct acting and bucket-type tappets and are generally noisier than the hydraulic lifters. I think this is one reason that many engines of this type have the thick aluminum valve covers; it's not to increase stiffness but to deaden the lifter noise.

Case in point:

My son's 2000 Tahoe - 5.8L V8 hydraulic lifters - quiet as a mouse with Mobil 1 5W30 or 10W30.
Noiser with Amsoil ATM 10W30.

My '92 Burb earlier version of above, quietest with Schaeffer's 10W30 or Amsoil ATM 10W30 and has 280,000 miles on it. Noisier with all others.

Nissan PathFinder - 3.5 L V6 - Hydraulic Lifters - Quitest with M1 SS 5W30 or 10W30.

Nissan Frontier - Direct Acting Bucket Lifters - Quietest with Redline 10W30. Noisy with anything else.

 

[TooSlick]

I'm actually going against my better judgement and actually agree with Buster on this one - who-da thunk it?

....My 2.4L Toyota engine also has solid, bucket type lifters with shim adjusters. It was much noisier running the Amsoil 5w-20 and the Synergyn 0w-20 than the previous 5w-30 synthetics, in fact I thought the valve badly needed adjustment. I switched back to the much thicker Series 2000, 0w-30 several weeks ago and the valves have steadily gotten quieter.

Amsoil 5w-20, HT/HS of only 2.9 Centipoise
Series 2000, 0w-30, HT/HS of approx 3.5 Centipoise

This new Mobil 1, 5w-40 should run quieter, if that's what you want ....I'd expect HT/HS to be 3.8-4.0 in that formulation.

Tooslick
Dixie Synthetics

 

[buster]

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I'm actually going against my better judgement and actually agree with Buster on this one - who-da thunk it?

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Ted, welcome aboard. Enjoy your stay.