My Quest For The Best Oil on the Planet

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Aug 14, 2019
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710
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NYC
I have trucks with the Ford Ecoboost 3.5 Liter engine and Ford states its Motorcraft 5W30 Semi-Synth is the best for it..but through oil testing I was concerned with it. Basically the oil I put in was 5W30 and the oil I took out was 5W20...and Ford says it can last 10000 miles.

Over the years I settled on Mobil 1 Delvac ESP 5W40 and other 5W40 Euro oils. The Mobil 1 tested very well and was able to last at least 5000 miles without it falling to a 5W20.

So Ive decided to try Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5W30. The Ford tech on Youtube says to always use OEM parts listed in the manual except for the oil which he holds up the yellow Ultra Platinum 5W30 jug.

So I decided to give this a go in my 3.5 liter High Output Ecoboost to see how it goes. I do get about .5 mpg less using 5W40. One huge benefit in using 5W40 is it quiets down the engine and sounds very refined.

Pennzoil Ultra Platinum I understand is their answer to boutique oils like RedLine and Amsoil. Pennzoil basically decided to make the best oil possible.

I did try Amsoil 5W30 Signature Series in the past and its a great oil...problem is its expensive and hard to source. I got the Pennzoil jug at Walmart 5 quarts for $32....more expensive then other oils at Walmart but Amsoil and RedLine are way more expensive! Basically if an oil cant be sourced from Walmart it will ultimately be too much trouble to locate when you really need it.

So I will give this a go and in several weeks report back on my findings...sending virgin oil sample to Blackstone....

BTW...API SP

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Define "best"
It is a quest :) We will see what happens on my journey with Ultra Platinum. From the many posts on here everyone seems to like it, I liked the UOAs I saw and the Fors Tech uses it. So I will give it a go and compare/contrast with other oils Ive tried.
 
Are you aiming for longer engine life or just enjoying the quest and learning how different oils perform in these engines?
 
I definitely would not define PUP as an answer to Redline or AMSOIL, it's a decent API SP style oil, similar to regular Mobil 1 (not EP), Valvoline EP, Castrol Edge black bottle...etc.

I know you've been tracking your viscosity loss with Blackstone UOA's and I know I've mentioned this several times in response to you on the subject, but I implore you to try a lab that uses GC to properly measure fuel dilution, which is typically the primary driver of viscosity loss.
 
I definitely would not define PUP as an answer to Redline or AMSOIL, it's a decent API SP style oil, similar to regular Mobil 1 (not EP), Valvoline EP, Castrol Edge black bottle...etc.

I know you've been tracking your viscosity loss with Blackstone UOA's and I know I've mentioned this several times in response to you on the subject, but I implore you to try a lab that uses GC to properly measure fuel dilution, which is typically the primary driver of viscosity loss.
Why wouldn't you say PUP is similar to M1 EP? GTL isn't as good as PAO?
 
Yeah, I've seen this "Ultra Platinum" variant recommended but Walmart didn't carry it (they carried plenty of other Pennzoil) and the nearby auto parts stores didn't have on-hand.
 
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If you are on a forum called Bob Is The Oil guy you probably not one of those guys who takes your car to the instant oil place to get your fill and dont care what they did behind the scenes. Im that guy who likes to do his own oil changes and use my own oil...and later on diving into the testing to see if what Im doing is effective.

The backstory here is I took my truck to the dealer to get recalls done. When I got it back I found out they did an oil change on it with the Motorcraft 5W30 SemiSynth. So thus now Im changing it out.

While I drove the vehicle with the 5W30 last week or so I saw about .5 mpg more and the vehicle seemed peppier. A bit more engine chatter. Thus with gas prices the way they are I thought let me try a 5W30...but not the Motorcraft SemiSynth. So I went to PUP 5W30 API SP.

This dealer really had a newb doing the change. I had to use the oil filter jaws of life to get it off. Apparently someone tightened it with a filter wrench. Oil filter is hand tighten only until its snug. Its not going to fall off.

When I do oil changes I take off the filter with a seperate pan and the drain bolt with a seperate pan. I also take off the fill cap and dipstick. Then I wait 5 minutes to make sure as much of the old oil is out as possible.

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I have trucks with the Ford Ecoboost 3.5 Liter engine and Ford states its Motorcraft 5W30 Semi-Synth is the best for it..but through oil testing I was concerned with it. Basically the oil I put in was 5W30 and the oil I took out was 5W20...and Ford says it can last 10000 miles.

Over the years I settled on Mobil 1 Delvac ESP 5W40 and other 5W40 Euro oils. The Mobil 1 tested very well and was able to last at least 5000 miles without it falling to a 5W20.

So Ive decided to try Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5W30. The Ford tech on Youtube says to always use OEM parts listed in the manual except for the oil which he holds up the yellow Ultra Platinum 5W30 jug.

So I decided to give this a go in my 3.5 liter High Output Ecoboost to see how it goes. I do get about .5 mpg less using 5W40. One huge benefit in using 5W40 is it quiets down the engine and sounds very refined.

Pennzoil Ultra Platinum I understand is their answer to boutique oils like RedLine and Amsoil. Pennzoil basically decided to make the best oil possible.

I did try Amsoil 5W30 Signature Series in the past and its a great oil...problem is its expensive and hard to source. I got the Pennzoil jug at Walmart 5 quarts for $32....more expensive then other oils at Walmart but Amsoil and RedLine are way more expensive! Basically if an oil cant be sourced from Walmart it will ultimately be too much trouble to locate when you really need it.

So I will give this a go and in several weeks report back on my findings...sending virgin oil sample to Blackstone....

BTW...API SP

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Enter @High Performance Lubricants 😃

Definitely on the playing field of "best" because, as mentioned, there is no "best." I vote High Performance Lubricants https://www.hplubricants.com/

For the Readily Available at Walmart, as is my normal go-to in most instances, hard to beat a Mobil 1 but then enters all manner of discussion as to needs etc.
 
Enter @High Performance Lubricants 😃

Definitely on the playing field of "best" because, as mentioned, there is no "best." I vote High Performance Lubricants https://www.hplubricants.com/

For the Readily Available at Walmart, as is my normal go-to in most instances, hard to beat a Mobil 1 but then enters all manner of discussion as to needs etc.
I’m enjoying their products a lot and especially how open they are with questions
 
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