Synthetic Nostalgia - Zenex

[Tom NJ]

In addition to the ones mentioned in that article, there were many smaller or short lived brands, including Certified Synthetic (N Carolina), Kling Oil, Freedom Oil (NJ), Keystone (Philadelphia), Zenex (Miami), HPS (High Performance Synthetic, Carlsbad, Cal), and probably a dozen others whose names do not leap to mind.

These were all full ester based oils, as were all in the early 70s. Most were diesters, but some triesters were also used in the engine oils, and POEs in the gear oils and 2-stroke oils.

Regarding silicon, I don't recall if the filters were ever opened and examined, and the source of the silicon was never determined. More likely it came from bad air filters.

Tom NJ

 

[Tempest]

Tom, was there any seal issues with the di-ester base?

 

[Brian Barnhart]

Originally Posted By: Tom NJ
Regarding silicon, I don't recall if the filters were ever opened and examined, and the source of the silicon was never determined. More likely it came from bad air filters.

So the oil filter change interval of 25,000 miles you mentioned may have had nothing to do with the excessive wear and engine failure. In this test the oil itself was still in good shape after 40k miles but the dirt levels were excessive. One wonders how much less wear would have occurred with an OCI of 5K, with the same air leak or bad air filter. (I realize that goes against the original purpose of the test). All of this suggests to me that if you choose to extend OCIs and have an air leak or bad air filter you can cause significant wear in your engine, regardless of the oil used.

 

[Tom NJ]

Originally Posted By: Tempest
Tom, was there any seal issues with the di-ester base?


Surprisingly there were very few complaints of any kind. Most complaints were about wear, but our analyses of the used oils invariably showed very high silicon levels or gross contamination with other oils, anti-freeze, or additives. Leaks were rare.

Tom NJ

 

[Rolf]

Originally Posted By: Mike_dup1
fyi
1976 Popular Science


I have on my workbench shelf an unopened can of All Proof.

I don't even recall where I picked it up.

I also had a can of the Eon E-11 until I ran short one time and used it four quarts of something else for an oil change.

 

[Rolf]

Originally Posted By: lexus114
Synthetic oil was originally made for air craft engines,was it not? I think I saw this on the history channel.Reg/dino oil could not hold up what so ever to those engines.


There were three drivers for synthetics:

Oil Shortages (Germany WWII) led to synthesis from coal or alcohol

Cold - arctic vehicles and airplane landing gear bearings, for two, needed lubricants that worked in extreme cold

Heat - Jet engines and turbines cooked mineral oils

 

[Tom NJ]

Originally Posted By: Brian Barnhart
All of this suggests to me that if you choose to extend OCIs and have an air leak or bad air filter you can cause significant wear in your engine, regardless of the oil used.


Yes indeed - that is one of the biggest downsides of extending drains. Any dirt that gets in the oil has that much more time to do it's damage. If I were to do very long (25k) OCIs I would watch the air filter very carefully, change the oil filter, and do a UOA mid way. Personally I never exceed about 10k miles.

Tom NJ

 

[addyguy]

If anyone is still wondering about DI treat rates in 1970's syn oils, B-S did a test that included 1970's Amsoil 10W-40 in the article in this link:

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2789096&page=1

Ca was 1500ppm; Mg was 500ppm, and TBN was 7.8.