Greetings everyone, 1st post. After reading numerous informative posts from the resident oil guru's I decided to try blending 3 quarts valvoline synpower 20w-50 with 4 quarts maxlife 5w-20. (06 buick rainier 4.2 litre 7 quart sump) which I believe would give me approx. 10w-32 wt. Now it seems valvoline has removed the pao from maxlife. Does anyone know if they removed the pao from the synpower 20w-50 (pao content used to be between 65% and 75%) Thanks for any imput.
Valvoline loosing its mojo?
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Valvoline Maxlife Full Synthetic 10w30...is available...
I don't think anyone really knows except Valvoline and they're
not talking. This does not mean it's a bad oil all of a sudden... It does however change my attitude about their products. I flat out asked them if they've removed PAO from their Maxlife Blend and the answer came back in corporate nano-speak. i.e. alot of talk but no confirmation.
So... one min. they have it... and then presto! Gone. I'm no expert... but I'd at least like to know.
Triple_Se7en
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Actually, Valvoline had gained more gusto.
In the past 18 months or-so, their VOAs/UOAs are showing-up stronger than around three years prior. Lastly, alot of folks here prefer non-PAO/esters....ie... Group III synthetics. It really depends on what you definition of 'better' is.
In the past 18 months or-so, their VOAs/UOAs are showing-up stronger than around three years prior. Lastly, alot of folks here prefer non-PAO/esters....ie... Group III synthetics. It really depends on what you definition of 'better' is.
Show me a UOA where Valvoline did not perform well...from any year...
Last I checked the MSDS for 20w50 Synpower, it still listed PAO about 80 - 90 percent. You can check at Valvoline.com.
The poster above is right, PAO is not magic. A good GroupIII oil will perform as well. The formulation is an important factor.
You have blended essentially a robust 10w30 and that is fine, though in the future you may find it more beneficial to use Maxlife Synthetic 10w30 straight out of the bottle with it's 290 ppm moly (and supposedly PAO, but who knows, and do we really care anymore).
Now it you want to be sure to have a shot of PAO, get the PAO Amsoil and throw a quart in with the brew. Our Amsoil reps are on the level and bend over backward to help. When they say it's PAO (not all Amsoil is by the way), you can be sure. Who knows if Synpower 20w50 is PAO just bc the MSDS says it is. Maybe the MSDS is out of date.
Long live Valvoline, especially Maxlife!
The poster above is right, PAO is not magic. A good GroupIII oil will perform as well. The formulation is an important factor.
You have blended essentially a robust 10w30 and that is fine, though in the future you may find it more beneficial to use Maxlife Synthetic 10w30 straight out of the bottle with it's 290 ppm moly (and supposedly PAO, but who knows, and do we really care anymore).
Now it you want to be sure to have a shot of PAO, get the PAO Amsoil and throw a quart in with the brew. Our Amsoil reps are on the level and bend over backward to help. When they say it's PAO (not all Amsoil is by the way), you can be sure. Who knows if Synpower 20w50 is PAO just bc the MSDS says it is. Maybe the MSDS is out of date.
Long live Valvoline, especially Maxlife!
why would someone want to mix synpower 20w50 with a 5w30,5w20or 10w30? just curious. what are you supposed to gain from this and from what conditions would you guys blend these?? older motors? motors that use oil? very very hot conditions?? can someone explain to me?
By mixing in the PAO 20w50 to a thinner oil, the resulting oil, say a 10w30 will be more robust (theoretically) than the off-the-shelf 10w30. And few people complain about a shot of PAO in their oil.
OTOH, one could just get Maxlife Synthetic 10w30 and be done with it. Not sure there is any PAO in it, but it is robust meeting ACEA A3 and many other specs.
I did my first run of full synth at ~180K miles on a 1985 911. It was the SynPower 20W50. Last summer I did a run with Maxlfe 20W50. Here is my experience:
The Maxlife run went like GTX for leaking, almost none but some. It did seem to hold up better than the GTX. But I thought, "no big deal" as consumption was the same as GTX.
I'm now on a run with SynPower 20W50 (MSDS says PAO). I turned over the cardboard to a fresh side under the car when I changed the oil. It PAO'ed all over the place, including drips in parking lots. I can send pictures of both sides of cardboard to compare.
Since the car is rated to consumer 1qt/600 miles and does, I started adding Maxlife 20W50 in as make-up. . When I got to about 30% Maxlife the leak diminish and now has stopped at about 50% Maxlife(I assume back to normal.)
My conclusion so far is the 20W50 Synpower is mainly PAO (or leaks like it)and the Maxlife does work on leaks. I have also concluded my oil consumption was 'not' due to volitity rather a known issue with brass valve guides. This last item was the reason I wanted to use the suspected PAO.
My next test is QS Q-Torque 10W40 for winter (N.Cal.) gas mileage, my first test of a GrpIII. Next is PP 15W50 with a 21.4 cSt100C (20W50 GTX is 18cSt, SynP and ML are 19.5). After these two I'll know more about GrpIII leak rate and if the thicker 21cSt helps on consumption.
The Maxlife run went like GTX for leaking, almost none but some. It did seem to hold up better than the GTX. But I thought, "no big deal" as consumption was the same as GTX.
I'm now on a run with SynPower 20W50 (MSDS says PAO). I turned over the cardboard to a fresh side under the car when I changed the oil. It PAO'ed all over the place, including drips in parking lots. I can send pictures of both sides of cardboard to compare.
Since the car is rated to consumer 1qt/600 miles and does, I started adding Maxlife 20W50 in as make-up. . When I got to about 30% Maxlife the leak diminish and now has stopped at about 50% Maxlife(I assume back to normal.)
My conclusion so far is the 20W50 Synpower is mainly PAO (or leaks like it)and the Maxlife does work on leaks. I have also concluded my oil consumption was 'not' due to volitity rather a known issue with brass valve guides. This last item was the reason I wanted to use the suspected PAO.
My next test is QS Q-Torque 10W40 for winter (N.Cal.) gas mileage, my first test of a GrpIII. Next is PP 15W50 with a 21.4 cSt100C (20W50 GTX is 18cSt, SynP and ML are 19.5). After these two I'll know more about GrpIII leak rate and if the thicker 21cSt helps on consumption.
7 quart sump? . . .
i got a 8 quart sump on my 318, it has a larger oil pan
Glenn, don't forget about M1 10w-40 HM.
Thanks for all the input. Tall Paul's reasoning is correct. I forgot to mention I picked up 20 quarts of the valv. synpower 20w-50 at bogo pricing. I thought blending it with the 5w-20 maxlife would give me a robust high pao based motor oil (with seal conditioners) without having to cough up $7.00 to $8.00 a quart.
I did pick up a couple bottles of the 20w50 on BOGOF too. Couldn't help myself even though I don't need to thicken with my 10w30 and 10w40 stash.
Anyway it sounds like you have a winning combo. This is especially good for those folks who are afraid to use HM oil because they think there's too much seal conditioner and are afraid (falsely it seems to me) that it will over condition their seals and cause problems. And you also get some moly in the deal, about 150 ppm on a 50/50 mix.
Anyway, What G-Man said. Apparently Valvoline is forced to use PAO to get the higher viscosity of the 20w50. That suggests other brand's 20w50 synthetics would be likewise.
Triple_Se7en
$50 Site Donor 2024
Normally I would say .....
.....Please -- do your own homework!
But in this case, the old BITOG board - before the virus or bug that lost the old threads containing all those UOAs -- plus back when we had an "edit-post" option, well they are now probably lost forever.
So if you desire to see those lost VOAs/UOAs, I would suggest seeking-out a world class computer magician.
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So you are saying in the "old threads"...there were Valvoline UOA's...and in any of these UOA's was there a subpar UOA from an engine that was ran on Valvoline?...
triple seven, I've been here since 02 and don't recall seeing many bad Valvoline UOAs apart from one's that had engine problems. I do remember, however, the relentless attacks on valvoline for the "weak add packs" that occurred with almost religious fervor.
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