Starfire brand motor oil?

B

Bitter

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May 25, 2021
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Where I work stocks this brand in bulk, I didn't find a thread about it here but may have missed it since I'm looking from my phone. We used to stock Valvoline but we weren't moving enough volume the past couple years after we lost an employee and pivoted away from doing lots of oil changes and refocused on diag/repair.

Any opinions on it? Have an oil change coming up for my GF's 2016 Escape 1.6T, not sure if I should use our stock or supply my own. If I supply my own it'll be M1 0W20 and a Frame Ultra filter since that's been suggested to me for my own vehicles. Trying to keep her oil changes in the 5k to 6k mile range, plan on doing PTU fluid and trans drain n fill at this 70K mile oil change too and a round of intake carbon cleaning with some CRC cleaner at home just prior to the oil change.
 

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Bitter said:
Where I work stocks this brand in bulk, I didn't find a thread about it here but may have missed it since I'm looking from my phone. We used to stock Valvoline but we weren't moving enough volume the past couple years after we lost an employee and pivoted away from doing lots of oil changes and refocused on diag/repair.

Any opinions on it? Have an oil change coming up for my GF's 2016 Escape 1.6T, not sure if I should use our stock or supply my own. If I supply my own it'll be M1 0W20 and a Frame Ultra filter since that's been suggested to me for my own vehicles. Trying to keep her oil changes in the 5k to 6k mile range, plan on doing PTU fluid and trans drain n fill at this 70K mile oil change too and a round of intake carbon cleaning with some CRC cleaner at home just prior to the oil change.
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PQIA seems to think it is okay...at least when they tested it...

 
No, just no-no-no. I tried their 75W-140 gear oil in a semi, and it was crap. Replaced it with AMSOIL 80W-140. I would use Supertech before this stuff. You got plenty of choices, you don't have to use this. Havoline ProDS is always a good option, Castrol Magnatec, Quaker State, Pennzoil, and so on.

It's a small turbo-charged GDI. Castrol EDGE EP 0W-20 will do you a much better job. The real deal 0W-20 Mobil 1 is ESP X2.
 
YogiTheCat said:
No, just no-no-no. I tried their 75W-140 gear oil in a semi, and it was crap. Replaced it with AMSOIL 80W-140. I would use Supertech before this stuff. You got plenty of choices, you don't have to use this. Havoline ProDS is always a good option, Castrol Magnatec, Quaker State, Pennzoil, and so on.

It's a small turbo-charged GDI. Castrol EDGE EP 0W-20 will do you a much better job. The real deal 0W-20 Mobil 1 is ESP X2.
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Thank you, I'll see what Walmart has for her. Probably M1, any harm in running 5W20 or 0W30 or other viscosities? I'll check info to see what Ford has approved.
 
Bitter said:
Thank you, I'll see what Walmart has for her. Probably M1, any harm in running 5W20 or 0W30 or other viscosities? I'll check info to see what Ford has approved.
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In that motor, if it were mine, I'd use M1 EP 5W-30 or Castrol EDGE EP 5W-30. It's barely thicker than 0W-20, but you have more room for fuel dilution. Castrol EDGE EP 5W-30 has shown good results in F150 EcoBoost motors, 2.7 and 3.5.
 
bluesmokertdi said:
yes but check the analysis, it BARELY passed the volatility test at 14.9 % loss (15% is max)

your engine will likely consume a great deal of this oil if installed in your car
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To be fair, that VOA is 7 years old and hardly an indicator of what its performance currently is. Personally, I wouldn't buy it (the 7 year old version), but there are many who would because the belief is that a license is a license and therefore will perform the same as any other equally licensed oil.
 
JustN89 said:
To be fair, that VOA is 7 years old and hardly an indicator of what its performance currently is. Personally, I wouldn't buy it (the 7 year old version), but there are many who would because the belief is that a license is a license and therefore will perform the same as any other equally licensed oil.
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If that were the case, then it would make BITOG pointless. However, we all know it's not. It's "cheapy" made oil from a second-rate manufacturer. I will never use any of their products ever again. With so many good choices, why even bother with this? Can you give one good reason?

[Edit]

The OP might as well call up that other guy (also in Ohio) and have the OP blend him a "custom batch" that fits his "unique vehicle profile," "driving style," and "use case."
 
Bitter said:
Where I work stocks this brand in bulk, I didn't find a thread about it here but may have missed it since I'm looking from my phone. We used to stock Valvoline but we weren't moving enough volume the past couple years after we lost an employee and pivoted away from doing lots of oil changes and refocused on diag/repair.

Any opinions on it? Have an oil change coming up for my GF's 2016 Escape 1.6T, not sure if I should use our stock or supply my own. If I supply my own it'll be M1 0W20 and a Frame Ultra filter since that's been suggested to me for my own vehicles. Trying to keep her oil changes in the 5k to 6k mile range, plan on doing PTU fluid and trans drain n fill at this 70K mile oil change too and a round of intake carbon cleaning with some CRC cleaner at home just prior to the oil change.
Click to expand...

JustN89 said:
To be fair, that VOA is 7 years old and hardly an indicator of what its performance currently is. Personally, I wouldn't buy it (the 7 year old version), but there are many who would because the belief is that a license is a license and therefore will perform the same as any other equally licensed oil.
Click to expand...

There's a report on their 5w30 from April of this year. Looks ok, but I like the M1 idea.

https://pqia.org/star-fire-sae-5w-30-motor-oil/ (sorry)
 
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That one actually looks okay, just about as good as any other oil. However... Given the UOA I've just seen of Super Tech 5W-30 in a 3.5 EcoBoost engine for 10K miles, there is very little reason to choose this over SuperTech of it came down to that. It can't possibly be cheaper than SuperTech.
 
It’s an average inexpensive oil, no better or worse than any other.
It’s all going to come down to price…if you get a crazy good deal on this oil, I’d use it, and it is probably more convinient to use what is at your work than shopping around.
 
YogiTheCat said:
In that motor, if it were mine, I'd use M1 EP 5W-30 or Castrol EDGE EP 5W-30. It's barely thicker than 0W-20, but you have more room for fuel dilution. Castrol EDGE EP 5W-30 has shown good results in F150 EcoBoost motors, 2.7 and 3.5.
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At 74K and with her generally hour long commute I'm not sure how much of an issue fuel dilution is, but grabbing a jug and spare qt from Walmart with a filter works out to be about the same as 'my cost' or a little cheaper and can get me better stuff. Seems like a no brained to me!

So far it doesn't seem to be using any oil between oil changes but I'm keeping it on a 5k to 6k interval because I know little turbo engine had to work hard hauling around SUV. Not looking forward to the oil bathed timing belt job at 120K it's supposed to get.

Valvoline 75-140 ok for the front PTU drain and fill? How about a good Mercon LV replacement? Maxlife still good stuff?
 
Bitter said:
At 74K and with her generally hour long commute I'm not sure how much of an issue fuel dilution is, but grabbing a jug and spare qt from Walmart with a filter works out to be about the same as 'my cost' or a little cheaper and can get me better stuff. Seems like a no brained to me!

So far it doesn't seem to be using any oil between oil changes but I'm keeping it on a 5k to 6k interval because I know little turbo engine had to work hard hauling around SUV. Not looking forward to the oil bathed timing belt job at 120K it's supposed to get.

Valvoline 75-140 ok for the front PTU drain and fill? How about a good Mercon LV replacement? Maxlife still good stuff?
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You can get licensed Mercon LV, Pennzoil LV Multi Vehicle can be had for less than $5/qt at Home Depot and it's Licensed Mercon LV and Dexron VI.
 
blufeb95 said:
You can get licensed Mercon LV, Pennzoil LV Multi Vehicle can be had for less than $5/qt at Home Depot and it's Licensed Mercon LV and Dexron VI.
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Eh if I'm doing a drain and fill every 30K (and I'm about 50K late on this one because I haven't had the car on hand for a while, Ford replaced the valve body around 20K for some shift problems) then cheap isn't a huge problem, good is better.
 
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