"New" Castrol 0w-30 "Made in Belgium"

[pengc99]

Was on my way to AutoZone to pick up and restock on GC, when I saw this new bottle on the shelf. I did a little internet digging and wasn't able to conclusively find out if the new stuff is the same as the old "Made in Germany" stuff.

Pictures of the new bottle:


Notes:
Orange accents instead of old red accents
It says "Made in Belgium"
It's SL rated
No "Energy Conserving" labeling
Says "European Formula" on the front

I can't find any VOAs of the new 0w-30 - the old "Made in Germany" VOA is easy to find.

Bottom line: Is the new stuff just as good as the old stuff? Has anyone run a VOA on the new stuff yet?

 

[440Magnum]

Old news (well, a few months anyway). The German plant now makes their more modern 0w40, 0w30 production got shuffled off to Belgium.

 

[VNTS]

How much a qt?

 

[FowVay]

Belgium? Germany? What's the difference? Even their flags look nearly identical.

 

[turtlevette]

Originally Posted By: pengc99
No "Energy Conserving" labeling


I think this oil has gotten thicker than previous versions. It used to shake like M1 AFE. Now it seems more like a syrup consistency at room temp.

 

[SLATRON]

Are you kidding me? GC was a very thick 30 grade almost a 40.
Are you trying to sound stupid or what? Shake test. ROTFL

 

[tommygunn]

@pengc and turtlevette, Castrol 0w30 *never* had the energy conserving label. It was always SL, no energy conserving.

The 0w40 used to be made in Belgium but is now made in Germany.

I don't think this will really affect anything for the worse, as it still has the same approvals and specs as before.

Now all they need to do is sell Castrol 0w30 in Walmart!

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted By: turtlevette
Originally Posted By: pengc99
No "Energy Conserving" labeling


I think this oil has gotten thicker than previous versions. It used to shake like M1 AFE. Now it seems more like a syrup consistency at room temp.



This is the first time I've ever read a reference to GC not being a 'thick' xxw30...

 

[A_Harman]

I think the SL and ACEA A3/B4 ratings signify it's still the same as old GC. By the way, I just put old GC in my Camaro and will send out a sample for a VOA. Will post here in a week or so.

 

[Boomer]

Castrol LL03 (low SAPS diesel oil) is made in Austria.

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: SLATRON
Are you kidding me? GC was a very thick 30 grade almost a 40.
Are you trying to sound stupid or what? Shake test. ROTFL


Right, because evaluating the oil's "perceived" viscosity at room temperature is a useful test.

 

[turtlevette]

There's nothing wrong with doing a shake test when choosing an oil.

What is the other option? You want me to buy a quart of each oil, go home and use a viscometer on them?

It's a good starting point to tell how the oil is going to perform at startup and during the first minutes of operation. You want a fast flowing oil.

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
pengc99 - The original "OLD" Castrol 0W-30 that was made in Germany was actually called Castrol Formula SLX

It came to OZ in 1996 - green in colour and ester rich, it had these specifications:

KV@100C 11.6, KV @-30C 65, CCS@ cp -30C, HTHS 3.5, Pour point -57C, TBN 8

It had these performance levels:
API SH/CF
Energy Conserving 2
ACEA A3-96/B#-96
BMW Special Oils Listed and M51 approved
Porsche approved
Rover RES 22OL.G$ and RES 22OL PD2
VW 500 and 506 issue 11/92

It was heavily promoted here as a "race ready" product...........


It was very prone to excessive varnish and was withdrawn after about 12 months. I have some experience with this problem in VW engines as I was working with Castrol at the time on diesel lubricant. I saw at least one oil pump drive shaft frozen solid!!! Mercedes Benz also had varnish problems with this lubricant in some engines

It was reintroduced about 1999 with an SL/CF API rating and little if any ester base, and it was finally withdrawn a couple of years later

It is likely that the lubricant you have is the reintroduced version of 1999 product sold here

BP Castrol source their products from various locations.................

 

[A_Harman]

Originally Posted By: turtlevette
There's nothing wrong with doing a shake test when choosing an oil.

What is the other option? You want me to buy a quart of each oil, go home and use a viscometer on them?


You could use the quaint old man's method of reading the spec sheet for the oil, and believing the manufacturer is honest. You could even use a viscosity calculator to calculate viscosity at startup temperature.

 

[turtlevette]

Originally Posted By: Doug Hillary
I saw at least one oil pump drive shaft frozen solid!!! Mercedes Benz also had varnish problems with this lubricant in some engines



varnish causes things to seize up?

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: turtlevette
Originally Posted By: Doug Hillary
I saw at least one oil pump drive shaft frozen solid!!! Mercedes Benz also had varnish problems with this lubricant in some engines


varnish causes things to seize up?


Yes, being an engineer in nuclear power stations, you would undoubtedly be critically aware of how varnish affects governor control systems.

 

[turtlevette]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Yes, being an engineer in nuclear power stations, you would undoubtedly be critically aware of how varnish affects governor control systems.


Yes, If this were 1940.

Todays governors are microprocessor based. You ever apply at Woodward and take their aptitude tests? I rocked them but they couldn't afford me.

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
turtlevette - The engines and parts I inspected, held in my hands, discussed with the Castrol and MB Engineers and Servicing staff must have been part of an apparition..........? Wow

 

[turtlevette]

Originally Posted By: Doug Hillary
Hi,
turtlevette - The engines and parts I inspected, held in my hands, discussed with the Castrol and MB Engineers and Servicing staff must have been part of an apparition..........? Wow


I was just looking for a technical explanation on how the varnish causes problems. Some other stuff I've read here says varnish is not a problem. Why do you think I mean to insult or doubt you?

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
turtlevette - It's easy to perhaps misjudge your posts!

Perhaps you could learn and contribute more here instead of challenging meaningful comments from the likes of Shannow and other long term BITOG contributors