Tired of Pennzoil Bashing

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: troberts
Former Motorcraft Oil wholesale distributor for Houston/Southeast Texas once told me that Ford warranted a lot of engines that were eventually linked to that bad QS batch, thus giving them the idea to control to some extent what customers used in their engines by creating the Motorcraft brand and insisting all dealers use it. Remember how the bottles used to have little seals like a medicine bottle? Heavy quality control. The time you cited would be about right. Can anyone out there confirm that story?


QS did have a bad batch of oil back in the 80's due to some additives clashing, but I seriously doubt that had anything to do with Motorcraft oil being introduced. Ford has had their own oil since the 60's (Rotunda) which was also the name on their filters and other parts. Ford changed the name from Rotunda to Motorcraft sometime in the 80's or 90's.

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: wannafbody
I always heard the sludging stories about Quaker State.


So did I ad nauseum as I used to work for a local quick lube using QS, later bought out by Valvoline, in the early 90s. A lot of old guys would ask us if what we used was going to sludge or gum-up their engine. I would then invite them to use a costlier bottled oil of another brand, even synthetic, if they wanted. But most didn't bother and the QS brand dominated the Buffalo market at the time. But usually letting them know that wherever this myth/urban legend/outdated information came from, neither Quaker State nor Pennzoil were any longer based in the Quaker state of Pennsylvania and thus no longer used the same base stocks they had at one time. I think the rumors were the result of the belief that PA refined oil contained larger amounts of paraffin wax and I have no idea as to whether this was true nor whether it made a difference in lubrication of car engines in the automobiles from the 1920s-1960s . But that seems to be the time frame where the "horror stories" came from...

 

[paulo57509]

I thought I remember reading here that Texas crude is based on some relative of the asphalt molecule.

I'll take Pennsylvania paraffin crude over Texas asphalt crude any day.

 

[Nickdfresh]

Who says they used "Texas crude?" I'm not even sure they used PA crude. I was just saying where I believe the origin of the myth came from FYI...

 

[cookieman214]

Here are words of 'wisdom' from a Honda forum I was reading. This 'expert' has close to 400 posts on his forum, so he has to know what he is talking about! I guess that on some forums, the more you post, correct information or incorrect information, increases your believeability factor. Here is what he posted:

"i'd stay clear from penzoil if i was you
theres an additive in there thats like wax and if you let it sit too long it hardens
Royal Purple would be my choice
Mobile1 is good because, well, its the original oil company
so i would expect nothing less from an OG"

I read these comments and laugh to myself. Urban legends never die, they just get repeated over and over, until all of of a sudden they are 'truths'.

I can understand how these myths never end. Someone reading a forum sees a post from someone who has posted quite a few times, and they assume that person knows of what they speak.

Thank goodness for BITOG.

 

[spacemark]

Take it from a guy who's worked in the refinery... The crude comes from everywhere and is blended during processing (Texas / Mexico / Venezuela - all major imports to refineries).

 

[JCM35]

This is a dumb thread. Not the dumbest i have seen here but dumb the least. ANY oil you can buy at the store will protect your engine for the life of the vehicle. No synthetics or syn blends are necessary at all. There is ignorrance everywhere and on this site we enjoy talking about it. THe dumbest threads are the "best oil for my car" threads.

 

[BigRedWarEagle]

Originally Posted By: JCM35
This is a dumb thread. Not the dumbest i have seen here but dumb the least. ANY oil you can buy at the store will protect your engine for the life of the vehicle. No synthetics or syn blends are necessary at all. There is ignorrance everywhere and on this site we enjoy talking about it. THe dumbest threads are the "best oil for my car" threads.


You misspelled ignorance.

 

[yeti]

This is a dumb thread. Not the dumbest i have seen here but dumb the least. ANY oil you can buy at the store will protect your engine for the life of the vehicle. No synthetics or syn blends are necessary at all. There is ignorrance everywhere and on this site we enjoy talking about it. THe dumbest threads are the "best oil for my car" threads. jcm35.
the whole point of this site is to learn about oil, vehicle maintenance, etc. and yes, there are some dumb threads. since you are a veteran site member of about 30 days, you must be patient, and learn about the goings on before condemning any threads. then, if you think that they are "dumb", go to another thread. welcome to the site.

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: spacemark
Take it from a guy who's worked in the refinery... The crude comes from everywhere and is blended during processing (Texas / Mexico / Venezuela - all major imports to refineries).


Right! This is exactly what I am implying and what was inferred. The oil comes from wherever Shell can get it, and prior to that, wherever Pennzoil acquired their base stocks from...

I've used both Pennzoil and QS many times since then and recall the days when I could do a $7 oil change (cost) on my fleet of mighty chariots during college...

 

[FrankN4]

Here on BITOG, we are not prejudiced. We bash all oils but we usually take turns. Right now we are into bashing Mobil 1. Soon we will be through with them and go on to someone else. You just have to tune in at the correct time. If there is an oil that you especially do not like, just hang in there, we will eventually get around to it.

 

[Johnny]

Truer words were never spoken.

 

[double vanos]

SM classification pretty much ended oils that are prone to sludge.

If an engine sludges up on SM oil, there are other factors at work besides the oil brand.....

 

[HARTZSKY]

Originally Posted By: FrankN4
Here on BITOG, we are not prejudiced. We bash all oils but we usually take turns. Right now we are into bashing Mobil 1. Soon we will be through with them and go on to someone else. You just have to tune in at the correct time. If there is an oil that you especially do not like, just hang in there, we will eventually get around to it.
yep

 

[GMBoy]

I agree that old myths and mistakes die hard, if ever! GM's past stills haunts them, the Pennzoil wax thing, etc. I'm guilty of bias against Quaker State oils due to my use in the 80's and all the white gook it created. No other oil did this except QS so I've never used them again. I'm sure they are just as good as any today, but I just won't use Quaker State.

 

[Cruncher]

Havoline (back in the days when it was owned by Indian Refining or Texaco), was the oil company that developed wax-free oil. I think Havoline (now owned by ChevronTexaco) still gets a licensing fee from all other oil companies producing non-synthetic motor oil. From what I remember reading, wax, at one time, was a good thing for the little engines that used it. As engines grew, wax clogged up the engine. Havoline developed a wax-free process.

 

[Mystic]

I am tired of Pennzoil bashing also. I don't think Pennzoil causes sludge anymore than Valvoline, Chevron, or any other QUALITY motor oil. And when I say quality motor oil I mean an oil that meets specs. Some SA or SB rated oil you might still be able to find somewhere that does not meet specs is a different subject.

Many, many years ago I did hear that some brand of oil did have some problems with a bad batch (I think it may have been Argo Graphite). And I have heard that there was a federal agency that used to test various brands of oil for additive content and occasionally some brands tested low. They would buy motor oil in various places and test for the additives that should have been present.

I think that motor oils have improved greatly in the past 30 years. Any good brand of SM rated oil should do fine in a car or truck engine. This website here is useful in finding which of those brands of oil rate the best.

If there was a major problem with some brand of oil causing sludge to form in engines I think it would become readily apparent very quickly. Especially with a brand like Pennzoil that sells so well.

If Pennzoil ever did have sludge problems it was probably a long time ago in the past.

 

[Rabbler]

Originally Posted By: FrankN4
Here on BITOG, we are not prejudiced. We bash all oils but we usually take turns. Right now we are into bashing Mobil 1.


Are we still bashing Mobil 1?
I thought for March we were supposed to start bashing Castrol Edge?
Somebody check the rule book...

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: Rabbler
Originally Posted By: FrankN4
Here on BITOG, we are not prejudiced. We bash all oils but we usually take turns. Right now we are into bashing Mobil 1.


Are we still bashing Mobil 1?
I thought for March we were supposed to start bashing Castrol Edge?
Somebody check the rule book...

*checks book*

I think he's right..

 

[tropic]

If Mobil 1 season is ending, I'll slip in this quote from another forum just before the buzzer sounds. Thanks for being a sport, XOM.

Originally Posted By: tonyyy12
i must warn you, its not really possible to just try it, once mobil 1 has coated your engine parts, it aint comin' off. using a different oil brand after mobil1 may actually damage your engine, as "apparently" no other oil can lubricate these coated parts.thats what mobil say. so once youv'e used it, you have to keep using it.

it was a long time ago i heard this info, but this is what my older workmates were told when we first became a mobil1 dealer. make of it what you will.