Imagine if you will 20-20 oil with perfect vision!
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Pennzoil 20w20?
- Thread starter Sonic
- Start date
Remember this oil is for sale today and not in some antique store. It was on the shelf with all the rest of the PYB in the grades we’re used to seeing. Crazy if it could still be sitting there and be 10-15 or more years old. I think it was $5.49 but I don’t remember. That may have been the price on some other oil I looked at. I emailed pennzoil to ask about this 20w20 and when it was last produced. Who knows, maybe it’s not that old after all. Hopefully they get back to me soon.
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you are correct.
iirc, 20W-20 can also be labeled SAE 20 (if it has no pour-point depressants? or vii?) but not the other way around unless it meets the W spec. or something to that effect ...
do you recall the labeling requirements and laws? Shannow had a post about it.
you are correct.
iirc, 20W-20 can also be labeled SAE 20 (if it has no pour-point depressants? or vii?) but not the other way around unless it meets the W spec. or something to that effect ...
do you recall the labeling requirements and laws? Shannow had a post about it.
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The old Pennzoil date codes had two letters, then one or two numerals, and another letter. They were printed in ink on the bottom of the bottle. They indicated packaging plant, month, day, year. For example, OF23H indicates:
O - Oil City
F - June
23 - 23rd
H - 8, in the case of the bottle pictured, 1998.
Get the date codes and decipher for yourself.
O - Oil City
F - June
23 - 23rd
H - 8, in the case of the bottle pictured, 1998.
Get the date codes and decipher for yourself.
Here's an example. This is a bottle of Performax 5W-50. Pennzoil's first widely marketed synthetic, it wasn't bottled at Oil City. So, I don't know what packaging plant the X designates. Back in the day, it was kept on the Q.T. It's too bad Johnny isn't around anymore. He would probably know.
E for 5th month
26 is the date
E, in this instance represents 1995.
E for 5th month
26 is the date
E, in this instance represents 1995.
Pretty much went away in the 90s, modern hydrocracked 5W20 oils are probably a lot better than that stuff, to my understanding 20w20 was generally solvent refined base oils with pour point depressants added.
Chevron Delo 400 SAE 20. Group II with a modern low ash additive package. It could be labeled 15W20 or maybe 10W20.
Nothing better for the price if your engine calls for XW20 and you don't need 0W or 5W cold start protection.
Nothing better for the price if your engine calls for XW20 and you don't need 0W or 5W cold start protection.
Pennzoil finally gave me an idea of how old this oil could be. They said it’s SJ so 2001 or older. So a few of you were correct in saying late ‘90’s. I know this was over a year ago to bump this thread but pennzoil never gave me an answer last year. Tried again today and they emailed back to me. Wonder if this stuff is still on the shelf where I saw it.
Probably no VII. Here is a Kendall 20W-20 API SB (nondetergent) with VI = 95:
Generally 20W20 was a straight 20 with poor point depressants added. Although that Kendall if it's made with modern base oils may just be group II or a blend of some group I with group II.
I don't remember which brand it was that made an oil that was labeled as 10W-20W-30.
Also here in Spain there are two brands that still make 20W-40 PCMO.
Also here in Spain there are two brands that still make 20W-40 PCMO.
The deal was closed in 2002, but it was at least a couple of years before the required divestitures and government and shareholder approvals were finalized. Until then, the old PQS corporate structure remained in place. The day after final approvals, we got a Shell swag bag via FedEx which included a letter saying nothing would change. Yah, right.
Very likely correct. Since the Pennzoil 20W-20 wholesale price was identical to that of SAE 10W, 30, 40 and 50 for many years, it's doubtful it had extra additives.
Quaker State had a product labeled as such before the Pennzoil merger in 1998. And I wish I could still buy the old Pennzoil GT 20W-40. Grumpy Jenkins favorite, and would be a great classic car oil.
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I seem to remember that 20w20 was a popular oil for chevys that still had a splash oiling system. Must have been 1960 or earlier.
By 1960, Chevys that used splash oiling were at least about 10 years old.
I bought about 10 cases of Pennzoil 20w20 at a flea market in the early-mid 00's. They were asking $1 a quart so I asked them what they'd take if I bought it all and ended up getting it for $ .65 a quart. What I bought I suspect was bottled in the late '80's or early '90's. The owner of the flea market had ran a couple family owned grocery stores that as I remember closed in the late '80's or early '90's so I suspect this was oil they had left when the grocery closed. They also had A/C Delco oil filters that fit my Ford's that I bought at $1. each. I used both it in my work car. The oil is long gone but I still have some of the filters that I'm using in my Escorts.
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