Maybe for my home heating oil boiler, but not my car.
No name budget oils
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Originally Posted By: PimTac
PQIA has tested a number of no name oils from these Dollar Stores that are in fact harmful to run in any engine. Why bother when SuperTech or Peak or any number of lower priced oils can be bought and still meet certification.
I actually have to give some cudos to Dollar General for the way they handled this - shortly after the PQIA investigation, they pulled all the bad product off their shelves, started working with a better blending partner and went out and obtained API Licensing on their house brand products:
Dollar General API listing
PQIA testing of new 10W30
It's not a top shelf synthetic by any imagination, but it meets current specs so should be good for most vehicles that will run on a GF-5 oil.
PQIA has tested a number of no name oils from these Dollar Stores that are in fact harmful to run in any engine. Why bother when SuperTech or Peak or any number of lower priced oils can be bought and still meet certification.
I actually have to give some cudos to Dollar General for the way they handled this - shortly after the PQIA investigation, they pulled all the bad product off their shelves, started working with a better blending partner and went out and obtained API Licensing on their house brand products:
Dollar General API listing
PQIA testing of new 10W30
It's not a top shelf synthetic by any imagination, but it meets current specs so should be good for most vehicles that will run on a GF-5 oil.
Noticed this brand of oil at a small independent grocery store.. is $2.59 per qt. As soon as my last few qts of TSC oil are used up this might become my go to oil.. cheaper than TSC or NAPA. I think that the grocery probably just does not sell much of it so it probably just reflects an old price and they just dont think of marking it up. Any oil that meets the API standard is good enough and Zecal does.
PEAK motor oil is not bad. I used it once when it was at a deal at local NAPA store for 99 cents/Qt.
For a buck or 2 per quart, not a bad deal for oil to add to a vehicle that really burns some oil, or oil to flush a dirty motor, or to add oil to a low sump shortly before oil is changed. For a full oci on an engine you care about, there are better choices than dollar store and no-name brand oils, imo.
If I have to go cheap I buy Supertech from Wally world.
Zecol-Max got a ping from the PQIA for the 5W20 testing saying synthetic on the front label and semi-synthetic on the back one, but the test results for it were fine. The PQIA noted that their tests could not unequivocally distinguish a synth from a semi-synth, which is probably not big news at this site but might surprise the average oil buyer.
Their 5W30 got a thumbs up from the PQIA, but it is listed as a conventional oil in the summary table despite the semi-synthetic label on the bottle. Doesn't look like a budget oil by the test results, has doses of moly and boron as well as a NOACK loss below 12% and a high dose of ZDDP for an SN oil...starting TBN is modest at 7.0, though.
Their 5W30 got a thumbs up from the PQIA, but it is listed as a conventional oil in the summary table despite the semi-synthetic label on the bottle. Doesn't look like a budget oil by the test results, has doses of moly and boron as well as a NOACK loss below 12% and a high dose of ZDDP for an SN oil...starting TBN is modest at 7.0, though.
Originally Posted By: Linctex
If it MEETS API spec SN, who would fear it?!?
RE: the DG stuff : It doesn't have the API donut that I can see in the photos psted, so it likely is recycled hydraulic oil that would ruin a 3.5HP briggs.
Its always better to save 2 dollars on motor oil which will ruin the engine in your only means of transportation just so you can buy a pack of Marlborough's instead of generics THAT DAY.
Me, I like putting beef tallow in my engine- Tailpipie smell like ... MMMmmm!
If it MEETS API spec SN, who would fear it?!?
RE: the DG stuff : It doesn't have the API donut that I can see in the photos psted, so it likely is recycled hydraulic oil that would ruin a 3.5HP briggs.
Its always better to save 2 dollars on motor oil which will ruin the engine in your only means of transportation just so you can buy a pack of Marlborough's instead of generics THAT DAY.
Me, I like putting beef tallow in my engine- Tailpipie smell like ... MMMmmm!
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It's a matter of who do you trust. Opening up a modern engine is expensive and the question is do you really trust that no-name brand and what they put in that bottle no matter what spec's they list? Oil is such a small part of the cost of maintaining a vehicle it just appears to me to be a bad bet to use anything less than a name brand oil in a bottle that has not been opened.
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Its always better to save 2 dollars on motor oil which will ruin the engine in your only means of transportation just so you can buy a pack of Marlborough's instead of generics THAT DAY.
$2 a pack? How much is a pack of Marlboro's in NH? I think they're like $10 in MA. I know a guy who keeps smoking them and is always broke. I tell him to stop but he won't do it.
Its always better to save 2 dollars on motor oil which will ruin the engine in your only means of transportation just so you can buy a pack of Marlborough's instead of generics THAT DAY.
$2 a pack? How much is a pack of Marlboro's in NH? I think they're like $10 in MA. I know a guy who keeps smoking them and is always broke. I tell him to stop but he won't do it.
Originally Posted By: PimTac
PQIA has tested a number of no name oils from these Dollar Stores that are in fact harmful to run in any engine.
You are confused..... or just mis-informed
The Dollar General brouhaha was over oils that DID NOT meet a current API spec.
Those are no longer sold.
You need to educate yourself on what API specifications mean: http://www.pqiamerica.com/apiserviceclass.htm
PQIA has tested a number of no name oils from these Dollar Stores that are in fact harmful to run in any engine.
You are confused..... or just mis-informed
The Dollar General brouhaha was over oils that DID NOT meet a current API spec.
Those are no longer sold.
You need to educate yourself on what API specifications mean: http://www.pqiamerica.com/apiserviceclass.htm
(From June 2016.)
The one on the left was one of the offending products that have been off the shelf for more than a year. (Though, I don't think it was recalled. I bet if I really hunted around for it, I could still find some of that stuff on the shelf somewhere.)
Notice how the SN/GF-5 one on the right has the characteristic Warren "notch" in the bottle. And yes, they have the API donut on the label.
for 30 cents more I would get the Peak oil. That being said it is probably a Citgo or Warren blend.
Re conventional or blend oils. My favorite no name oil brand is Smitty's Both their Super S or Cam 2 products. I also like WPP products (Peak Mag 1 Supertech) in 20w 50. My beef with WPP conv oils is they are high Noack (with exception to the 20w-50) and my vehicle burns them up like no tomorrow and seems less durable looking at a bunch of UOAs but they are certainly functional if you use a lower OCI.
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Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Originally Posted By: Linctex
If it MEETS API spec SN, who would fear it?!?
RE: the DG stuff : It doesn't have the API donut that I can see in the photos psted, so it likely is recycled hydraulic oil that would ruin a 3.5HP briggs.
Its always better to save 2 dollars on motor oil which will ruin the engine in your only means of transportation just so you can buy a pack of Marlborough's instead of generics THAT DAY.
Me, I like putting beef tallow in my engine- Tailpipie smell like ... MMMmmm!
http://www.pqiadata.org/DG_Auto_10W30.html
Originally Posted By: Linctex
If it MEETS API spec SN, who would fear it?!?
RE: the DG stuff : It doesn't have the API donut that I can see in the photos psted, so it likely is recycled hydraulic oil that would ruin a 3.5HP briggs.
Its always better to save 2 dollars on motor oil which will ruin the engine in your only means of transportation just so you can buy a pack of Marlborough's instead of generics THAT DAY.
Me, I like putting beef tallow in my engine- Tailpipie smell like ... MMMmmm!
http://www.pqiadata.org/DG_Auto_10W30.html
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