PennGrade Partial Synthetic Motor oil SAE 10W30 Grade

MolaKule

Staff member
Joined
Jun 5, 2002
Messages
23,946
Location
Iowegia - USA
Every once in awhile I see what appears to be some off-brand or unusual labeled oil so curiosity had me do an analysis:

Aluminum - 1
Iron - 1
Copper 1
Moly - 70
Boron - 4
Silicon - 4
Sodium - 4
Calcium - 1940
Magnesium - 727
Phosphorus - 1700
Zinc - 1900

40C Kinematic Viscosity - 61
100C Kinematic Viscosity - 10.5
Flashpoint 425F
Dyed - Dark Green

Made by D-A Lubricants Lebanon, Indiana; www.dalube.com

No API Starbursts anywhere.

On the back label there is a statement: "Contains high zinc and phosphorus additive concentrations which can be detrimental to cars and trucks with catalytic converters. Consult owners manual for proper oil selection. Meets no API classification."

I asked the counter guy who buys this product and he said mostly racers and racing engine rebuilders.

NOTE: I would NOT even remotely consider using this oil for a daily driver oil.
 
That's too much ZDDP for even us racers. The most demanding applications don't need more than ~1400 ppm. I've been hearing of people having foaming issues with this oil since the formula changed a little over a year ago. This oil used to be known as Brad Penn before they were bought by D-A Lubricants.
 
Last edited:
I know they have gone to great lengths to make this the same as the original Kendall/Brad-Penn stuff, but it looks like they went too far. Even the original stuff didn’t have this much zn and ph, they have gone overkill on it.

However, might make a good additive to boost other oils up?
 
This oil in the 20w-50 variant is what my engine builder recommended and I ran it for around 8k miles with interesting results. Link for UOA here. I was going to run an VOA on the 20w-50 to debunk some sodium concerns but I think this covers it.

Thanks for the VOA
 
Back
Top