Pennzoil Platinum Date Codes

Auto-Union · Nov 8, 2006

I grabbed some '06 at the AA bogo sale, great deal...even better since I returned some M1 EP! I got 14q PP and returned 2 M1, total cost $28. I might even get some more, it's really a great deal. Johnny, Pennzoil being up-front about their basestock compostion shows a very customer-friendly attitude (in addition to not uv-cloaking their date codes). Also, SOPUS held the line on pricing their RTS. I might grab some more as well. This is my first real Pennzoil purchase, other than some RTS for my Euro cars. For the purpose of this thread, say anything from 2005 is old formula and 2006 is new. The brand-new shinier label makes it even more confusing, but Johnny's explaination helped make it easy to be sure about the dates. I would not want to mix the formulas, but am actually mixing the viscosities a bit, I have a 20 weight engine and that leaves me some room to thin the 30 weight for winter. All in all, at this price...shure there are good competive dino oils, G-II+ and even III but the PP bogo price is basicly identical and if it has some XHVI(?) in it..all the better. Nice.

ToyotaNSaturn · Nov 12, 2006

Drats! The 5qt jug I have in my stash i 3/2006. No dice.

Found a couple 5qt jugs of "Pennzoil Synthetic" at a nearby store dated 12/2004. There's no mention of Platinum on the jug, just "Pennzoil Synthetic" and it did mention GF-4 on the label. If I didn't already have 75+ qts of PZ on hand, I would have picked it up.

Pete60 · Nov 13, 2006

In a local K-Mart today and saw some GF-2 Pennzoil synthetic SL with penzane.Just how old is it and would it be worth buying at $5.79 a qt? They also had a couple of qts of blend in the black bottle-all of it was 10W-30.

BrianWC · Nov 13, 2006

Nah, I picked up the same stuff at advance for $2 per qusrt. They were trying to get rid of it. Platinum is a better formulation from what I understand.

Johnny · Nov 13, 2006

$5.79 is NO DEAL. The Platinum is a lot better product. Don't waste your money, same on the black bottle blend.

ToyotaNSaturn · Nov 13, 2006

Johnny, what's the difference(s) between the Pennzoil GF-4 full synth and the latest Group III-based Platinum?

Johnny · Nov 13, 2006

Started out with a Chevron Group III base, switched to EOP for a short time when Platinum first came out, then went to the Shell XHIV Group III base. All three have a little different additive package. The old SL product listed above was a Group III that Pennzoil made before Shell took over. The SL product is a good oil but it ain't worth the $5.79, not even when new.

tripleM · Nov 13, 2006

Quote:

Started out with a Chevron Group III base, switched to EOP for a short time when Platinum first came out, then went to the Shell XHIV Group III base. All three have a little different additive package. The old SL product listed above was a Group III that Pennzoil made before Shell took over. The SL product is a good oil but it ain't worth the $5.79, not even when new.

Hi Johnny, with SOPUS being the umbrella is there any cross engineering between the PP & QS Synths?

Johnny · Nov 14, 2006

I'm sure there is but to what extent they are not saying. I have asked this question several times but have not gotten an answer.

G-MAN · Nov 14, 2006

Quote:

In a local K-Mart today and saw some GF-2 Pennzoil synthetic SL with penzane.Just how old is it and would it be worth buying at $5.79 a qt?

Is this the Performax? If so, molakule has said this is one of the best PAO-based synthetic oils ever made, bar none.

BrianWC · Nov 14, 2006

Nah, shouldn't be. I have SJ and SL and it's just "Pennzoil Synth...with Pennzane"

Tex89 · Nov 15, 2006

I was at a AZ last night, looked at the back of PP 10w-30 and where the bar code should have been was a stetement "not for retail sale".

What's up with that?

m2200b · Nov 20, 2006

For Winter - old school PP seems to be the better choice as
(2005 EOP syn) over the the new formula). I can't find the old data sheets but I know they were better for cold starts than the new group 3 PP.

SubLGT · Nov 21, 2006

Quote:

For Winter - old school PP seems to be the better choice as
(2005 EOP syn) over the the new formula). I can't find the old data sheets but I know they were better for cold starts than the new group 3 PP.

Here is the data;

Platinum 5W-30 Group V (PDS dated Jan 2005):
MRV, at -35 degC: 6600
CCS, at -30 degC: 4410
Pour Point, degC: -45

Platinum 5W-30 Group III (PDS dated July 2006):
MRV, at -35 degC: 14,800
CCS, at -30 degC: 5150
Pour Point, degC: -39

wgtoys · Dec 12, 2006

Hmmm, I've been exchanging my PP stash for Castrol Syntec. At least I feel like I have some clue what I might be getting with Syntec. It seems very strange that PP was first formulated with a magic new base oil and then rapidly switched to the New and Improved Group III stuff.

I bet that if it hasn't happened already then at some point QS synthetic and PP will end up being the same thing. Didn't Shell already do that some time ago with Pennzoil Long Life and Shell Rotella?

HondaMan · Dec 19, 2006

I have a date code of 12066. Purchased from WalMart.

Is that possible? Two weeks fresh off the line?

Houston is only three hours away, but I would never imagine that the stuff would hit distribution that fast.

nascarnation · Dec 19, 2006

Quote:

Is that possible? Two weeks fresh off the line?

Shell and Wal-Mart don't make money having inventory parked in storage. W-M has a state-of-the-art distribution system.

Ferndog · Dec 26, 2006

I originally started with Pennzoil Research in 1993. In 2000, Pennzoil merged with Quaker State. One smart thing the business did was respect that people either loved or hated the brands so they kept two marketing departments and two formulation strategies.

In 2003, Shell bought Pennzoil Quaker State Company. Once again, the business decided to keep the three brands separated. The oil formulators for Pennzoil, Quaker State and Formula Shell passenger car motor oils report to me. A proper chemical analysis should be able to confirm what's different versus what's similar.

Also, Pennzane is a special base stock Pennzoil makes for aerospace and other specialty applications. It is extremely expensive. For a while, Pennzoil used a portion of the Pennzane in the full synthetic.

'03 EB/B Corvette Z06 · Dec 27, 2006

Quote:

I originally started with Pennzoil Research in 1993. In 2000, Pennzoil merged with Quaker State. One smart thing the business did was respect that people either loved or hated the brands so they kept two marketing departments and two formulation strategies.

In 2003, Shell bought Pennzoil Quaker State Company. Once again, the business decided to keep the three brands separated. The oil formulators for Pennzoil, Quaker State and Formula Shell passenger car motor oils report to me. A proper chemical analysis should be able to confirm what's different versus what's similar.

Also, Pennzane is a special base stock Pennzoil makes for aerospace and other specialty applications. It is extremely expensive. For a while, Pennzoil used a portion of the Pennzane in the full synthetic.

So, is the new Grp III as good as the Grp IV?

Carmudgeon · Dec 28, 2006

Does anyone know anything about the PP 15W-50 grade?

There's practically no information about it on the net, just a mention in a almost four-month-old press release listing it along with the rest of the grades. The search function here is next to useless.

Neither Pennzoil's main site nor the PP microsite mention it at all. New and old datasheets can be found for the other grades, but not the thick brew.

Pennzoil Platinum Date Codes

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