Sluge fiction or real?

[wolf_06]

My mecanic told me he was using quaker state before, but he told me he had to stop, he said it creates a kind of paste/sluge ish in the engine if you use it too often.

He is a ex mecanic teacher and master mecanic at a chevy dealer. He now do business at his place. He probably knows what he is talking about, considerimg his experience.

I kind of have a slight hesitation using quaker back.
Just sick of these sludge drama, is this all old stories or still true?

 

[CarbonSteel]

In the 1960's and 1970's there was some truth to QS causing sludge (and not due to paraffin wax either). However, this is no longer an issue and you can use QS with no worries; it is good oil.

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
wolf_06 - IME most sludge is caused by a number of vehicle design-maintenance issues along with using an unsuitable lubricant (incorrect specification)

Some lubricants of the correct specification do handle certain contaminants (eg soot) better than others. Most issues emerge with unsuitable service routines

 

[LeakySeals]

I'm with you. Had bad experiences in the late 80's, mid 90's with sludge and the green bottle. And I was 3k back then too. Never used it again, can't get over the stigma. True today? Inclined to say no formula change but..will pass on the latest craze, Defy red bottle. Will watch from a distance. See how it does over time.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: wolf_06
My mecanic told me he was using quaker state before, but he told me he had to stop, he said it creates a kind of paste/sluge ish in the engine if you use it too often.


No. If you talk to old mechanics, they'll alternatively tell you it was GTX, QS, or PYB that caused the sludge. It all depends upon whom you speak to. Note that these three oils are top selling conventionals and have been for many years. Back in the day, VIIs weren't what they are now. To make matters worse, many used 10w-40. Combine that with fuel dilution.

From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, the taxi fleet used nothing but Quaker State for 6,000 mile OCIs. There was no sludge. It may be important to note that it was 10w-30 used (not 10w-40) and there was no fuel dilution, with the engines on LPG. The oil was almost always at temperatures, around the clock, year round.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted By: wolf_06
My mecanic told me he was using quaker state before, but he told me he had to stop, he said it creates a kind of paste/sluge ish in the engine if you use it too often.

He is a ex mecanic teacher and master mecanic at a chevy dealer. He now do business at his place. He probably knows what he is talking about, considerimg his experience.

I kind of have a slight hesitation using quaker back.
Just sick of these sludge drama, is this all old stories or still true?


No it is not true. Also a good question to ask a "export" is what is different between Quaker State and his favorite off the shelve motor oil.

 

[RF Overlord]

No offence to the OP, but we really need a separate forum labelled "Sludge Myths"...

 

[TC]

"Hulk SMASH Quaker State!...Quaker State cause sludge..."

I dunno, I've heard those claims before, but was never sure if it had some truthiness to it, or was simply an urban myth. Either way, this Quaker State talk dates back to when mood rings were popular and the two Miami Vice guys had ultra-cool cell phones the size of red bricks. A VERY dated claim. And aren't Quaker State and Pennzoil just two sister brands under Shell now anyway, and probably about as different from each other as the Olsen twins?

 

[carwreck]

Originally Posted By: wolf_06
My mecanic told me he was using quaker state before, but he told me he had to stop, he said it creates a kind of paste/sluge ish in the engine if you use it too often.

Maybe he saw this 1941 Quaker State ad "Stabilized Quaker State solves motor troubles caused by sludge, varnish", but he only read the words "Quaker State Motor Oil SLUDGE"

 

[chainblu]

Originally Posted By: wolf_06

He is a ex mecanic teacher and master mecanic at a chevy dealer. He now do business at his place. He probably knows what he is talking about, considerimg his experience.

My high school auto shop teacher was a retired master mechanic. Care to guess what he used in his personal vehicles? Yep, Quaker State. This was in the 80's, right smack in the middle of the Quaker State-itis rumor period.

Did I use it. Nope! I believed the rumors. Strangely, in my parts, Pennzoil never got the bad rap QS did. It wasn't until later when I got a job at a 'quick lube' that had QS in the tanks that I began to give QS a 2nd look. The returning customers weren't coming back all 'sludged up'. In fact the drained oil seemed quite healthy, like it could have gone many more miles.
Since then I have used green bottle and synthetic in a couple of my vehicles with absolutely no complaints.

 

[wolf_06]

He also recomend to pit castrol gtx or syntec. Apparently its good oil for import cars, truee? Duno, is there a better oil for import 4cyl, really i dont know. It would be funny if castrol had caused sludge in the past. A sure shot would be valvoline, lots of mecanics like this oil, why???? Should be as good as any other ones. Does it make engine runs smoother, quieter, why valvoline is so popular, compared to the bad quaker state?

 

[addyguy]

Again, old-school thinking.

Back in the 1970's and 1980's, Castrol really pushed being the oil for 'the import crowd', and said it's oil was the best in hard-running, high-rpm engines.

Back then, it MAY have been a bit more shear-resistant than other oils, but today the actual 'gap' between different oils is almsot non-existant.

Another thing to keep in mind is the oil grade that Castrol made it's 'reputation' on was it's 20W-50 - first developed for use in the BMC Mini; them 'imported' over here as the best oil for any small engine.

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
addygug - Castrol's oil grades that made it a household name were R30, R40 and R50. These resulted in Castrol R synthetic 15W-50 of the 1960-1970s. This is the forerunner of their 10W-60 synthetic and of course Formula SLX (GC)

The 20W-50 followed Duckhams version around 1960 and indeed became very popular due to better distribution and exposure

Prior to (and continuing after) the Castrol XL and Castrolite had a great following in the old Commonwealth. In some engines they were not the "cleanest" of perfomers and XL was sludge prone at the extremes of OCIs at the time. Mobilube 10W-30 was a much better performer

 

[Nickdfresh]

In the early 1990's, I worked in a lube shop that featured Quaker State oil and never saw any sludge problems with cars whose owners practiced proper OCI's. We regarded the QS causing sludge as an old-man-myth even then...

 

[jek]

Originally Posted By: wolf_06
My mecanic told me he was using quaker state before, but he told me he had to stop, he said it creates a kind of paste/sluge ish in the engine if you use it too often.

He is a ex mecanic teacher and master mecanic at a chevy dealer. He now do business at his place. He probably knows what he is talking about, considerimg his experience.

I kind of have a slight hesitation using quaker back.
Just sick of these sludge drama, is this all old stories or still true?


fiction i never heard of "sluge". i have heard of sludge though. just j/k...

 

[lexus114]

I used Quaker State Sterling 10W-40 back in the early 80`s. I had no problems.