oil brand/engine noise/placebo????

[grbr95]

Many of you have spoke of swithing from one brand to the next and POOF!!! engine noise is gone. Is this really true, or just some sort of placebo effect.

I can tell absolutely no difference between any brands I've used. I'm not saying the claims I heard are false, but does this have to do more with the vehicle in question? Placebo? Or the oil?

 

[ewetho]

The only thime I have ever heard a difference is in smaller 4 Cylinder engines when using Redline instead of anything else. Never heard a thing different when running Mobil, Exxon, Pennzoil, Castrol, Amsoil, Valvoline, Royal Purple, etc.... Conventional or Sythetic.

When I was running Redline I was changing oil at 10K OCI and tried Mobil 1 again and the guy in the next stall noticed the difference. Immediately ordered more Redline. Then my sister inlaws Geo Metro 3 Cylinder which sounded just normal on dino was much quieter on Redline. So much so she noticed it. Besides all you could hear was the belts werring along.

Oh one other instace was when Sytec first came out tried 5W-50 and in a Suzuki Swift (Geo Metro with a 4 Cyl) and you could hear it at redline not being as trashy.

But even as much of a change this was in these engines I could hear no difference in V-6 or V-8 engines. Even other mechanics I have known admitted how much of a difference my cars had witht the stuff and yet in the big stuff too much is going on to hear any difference.

 

[Titan]

The only car that sticks out in my "ear" was a Honda Element 2.4...on Mobil 1 5w20, when I was gently accelerating by a certain concrete wall, especially if the passenger window was down, the valvetrain clatter was noticeable. Other oils I ran in that engine did not result in the same noise. Those "other" oils were all 5-20's, and were Havoline, Exxon Superflow, and Valvoline. There was enough difference my wife even noticed, once I pointed it out to here pre-, post-, and upon return to Mobil 1 from the others.

Currently, my woodpecker Subaru (Saab 92X) engine was quietened by GC, and Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 keeps it just as quiet. Only thing that has been in it otherwise was the factory fill, and a short run of Mobil 5000 5-30 put in at no charge from the dealership.

My wife's Forrester is much quieter than the Saabaroo, even though it is basically the same engine...probably due to the reworked exhaust and the difference in engine bay soundproofing....but, it sounds the same so far on it's original fill, a course of Havoline 5w30 on a Bosch filter, and now it's 2 quarts of Mobil 1 5w20, 1 quart of Exxon Superflow 5-20, 1.1 quarts of Delo 400 15-40, and 5 ounces of Lube Control with a Napa Gold Filter.

So, there can be differences, some easy to describe, others not so easy. Then again, some engines seem to sound the same no matter what.

 

[Thermactor]

quote:

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Originally posted by Titan:
now it's 2 quarts of Mobil 1 5w20, 1 quart of Exxon Superflow 5-20, 1.1 quarts of Delo 400 15-40, and 5 ounces of Lube Control with a Napa Gold Filter.

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HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

got enough brands and types of oil in there? I think you forgot to put in some ATF and some gear fluid into the mixture!

 

[youngbuck]

I noticed a slight difference when I change from Mobil 1 5w30 to Pennzoil Conventional 5w30 in my 3.4L Tacoma. Things just seemed a hair smoother/quiter, like the conventional oil provided more padding/shock absorption for the engine or something. My brother also noticed it also. Who knows, maybe both of our minds were playing tricks on us. I'm not 100% sure.

 

[MarkC]

I've never run Mobil 1 in my Jeep, so I can't speak about that. However, I can say that with Havoline in it, it is quieter and smoother than I remember it being with GTX, or Chevron SL.
But quiet is a strange term to associate with a 4.0.
Mine does run quieter than my co-worker's though it's 2 years older.

 

[Titan]

Thermactor, yeah, I don't usually mix. BUT, I had the 5-20's left over from my Honda ownership days, and hated to let them go to waste. I have the Delo 400 15-40 on hand for motorcycles. Put them together, and the used oil analysis are remarkably good in many engines.

 

[LarryL]

We have a Nissan in the shop with a noisy top end. And we have dug up enough oil to try M1, Chevron Supreme, GC, RL and Regular Syntec, all 5w30. We're going to put a block-off plate in pace of the oil filter, to take it out of the test and try 'em all. I'll let you know if we hear any difference. Not science, just a pizza and six pack of bear project. People, here are placing bets and next week we'll give it a try. And, don't worry about the oil. Everyone has spoken up for the oil, for their own cars. Are only problem with the test is the Chevron. The coupon price has shot up from $0.57/quart all the way to $0.58/quart, but we won't let expenses stop an important test.

 

[LarryL]

Finished the experiment. We decided not to use RL but did try GC, Reg Syntec, M1, Chevron Supreme, Chevron Supreme Synthetic, SuperTec Walmart, and Castrol GTX, all 5w30 or 0w30 or 10w30. We listened, poked, proded and provoked the engine. Everyone was there. There was money on the line. No oil was wasted and no animals or mechanics were hurt during the testing. And.... not one lick of difference between any of them. Same noise, same amount of vibration. Everyone had their pet choices, and everyone agreed, a dead heat. This car was taken out and driven about 10 miles, really flogged. We even used a stethoscope, and a screwdrive against the forehead. And no oil filter, we just plumbed an adapter and piped it right back into the engine. After all, we are serious testers here. We did a compression test on every run. The only thing to note was the only oil that showed a difference, just a slight one, but one everyone agreed was a measurable one, GC, a couple of pounds higher, every hole. All others were as same as could be, with the gauge we had. I have no idea what that means, but is was there. Maybe the little Elves did it.

 

[vad]

quote:

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Originally posted by ewetho:
When I was running Redline I was changing oil at 10K OCI and tried Mobil 1 again and the guy in the next stall noticed the difference.

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I suggest that you try GC next time.
Because when I switched to GC from Redline it made my 4-cylinder run quiter.
As with Redline, I change GC every 10-12K miles. It's cheaper, and can be found at many local Autozones.

 

[hominid7]

quote:

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Originally posted by LarryL:
Finished the experiment. And.... not one lick of difference between any of them.

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Kudos to you and your friends for this experiment. Removal of the oil filter from the equation was excellent thinking. Your findings help support something i've been investigating lately, I often think that it is exactly that, the oil filter, that makes a difference in my engine at idle when combined with thicker (10w30) oil. When using thinner 5w30, there appears to be no difference regardless of filter used.

I like WIX filters, but i think while the filter media is excellent, the flow at idle with low oil pressure is somewhat slower than less expensive filters, thus causing a ever so slight drone sound at idle in my particular car.

Having said that, the noises i hear from my engine are just noises, not indicitive of anything 'wrong' with my engine. It is really nice to have a wisper quiet silky smooth idle though

My previous car was a SOHC 4 cyl engine that sounded like a sewing machine on steroids, so i was never concerned with attempting to quieten the noises it made, as it would have been useless. My current car is a nice and quiet DOHC V-6, so i'm obsessing over making it as quiet as possible.

Great job!

 

[LarryL]

hominid7, the interesting thing was the very slight increase in compression with GC, very small but there.

 

[hominid7]

LarryL: I'm guessing that is due to GC's vis @ operating temp? It's really more like a 0w40 it seems.

I go back and forth on thick vs thin, but while brand seems to make no difference, my car does seem to idle quieter and smoother on 5w30 than 10w30. Although i recognize the difference between the two, is only slight.

I've never tried GC. I have some sort of psychological phobia of paying more than 2.00 a quart for motor oil.

 

[Titan]

hominid7 wrote: I have some sort of psychological phobia of paying more than 2.00 a quart for motor oil.

Maybe you should start saving up for therapy, because the days of 2.00+ oil seem to be close!

 

[hominid7]

Well, i think i just don't like to pay more than 2.00 per quart when i know oils like Havoline, TropArtic, Superflo, Shell Formula, and even some like Castrol and Pennzoil when you can find them on sale, can all be had for 1.99 or less.

When the cheapest oils go above 2.00, i'm sure i'll adapt without the need for too much therapy

 

[LarryL]

I think there are things I don't know about oil viscosities and relationship between easy pumping and helping to seal the combustion chamber. This relationship probably has something to do with efficiency and gas mileage. There's lots of speculation about lower viscosities making better mileage because it's easyer to pump and making better compression with a thicker oil when the engine is hot. Maybe thin oils perform better when an engine is idling or turning very slow under a light load, and the higher viscosity oils generate better compression under higher load (high bmep) and make for more efficient operation. If cars run lightly loaded and idle a lot, which they do, that might be the place for thin oils. If you drive at higher speeds or keep the engine loaded, either pulling weight or accelerating a lot, then the thicker oil is more efficient.