Valvoline or Castrol

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I have the same concern on multiple oils. I would like to use one oil in all my rigs. I buy a used car with Castrol useage, and I have used Vavoline. I heard Valvoline was superior, then I hear other heresay. I would like to see some oil test results which show the comparisons of these two oils,pour,flash, etc...which to me as a novice don't mean much. Is the real fact, that if you change your oil every 3000 miles it doesn't matter what oil you use...castrol,Valvoline, Mobil, Amsoil or...
 
"I have been using Valvoline for many years and had good luck with it. I emailed Ashland and asked them why they didn't have moly in their oil, and they said they had an other additive that does the same thing. "

It's called ZDDP (zinc phosphate). They have less of it compared to most other oils and it is not as effective as moly.

"I have an old 77 Chevy pickup,and it has over 100 thousand miles and never needed any motor work, so it has done a good job there."

I had a 1976 Chevy Caprice which I put 140,000+ HARD miles on and I had no trouble at all when I sold the car. It was my first ride. The car got infrequent oil changes (1 year, 10,000+ miles) and when it did, it was often cheap grade bulk oil. 100,000 miles without a rebuild is not testimony to an oil's quality with a 70s V8 American car. Any oil would have served admirably in the same circumstance.

"My 2000 Camry 4 cly. has over 40 thousand and uses less than a pint at my 5,000 mile changes. So it has done good there."

Again, any oil would have done as well. Not a good test of the oil's quality at all. I used Mobil 1 in my '95 Honda Honda and as of 100,000 miles it used ZERO ounces inbetween 6,000 mile changes.

"as I understand Valvoline is a paraffin base and Castrol is a Petroleum base. Was wondering if that would cause a problem."

You can switch without any problems. Both are petroleum/mineral oil based.

Between the two you stated, I would choose Castrol but I believe Chevron & Pennzoil to both be better oils; better base oils and better additive packages.

--- Bror Jace
 
I think My pickup probably has harder miles on it than your Caprice, as I have used it to pull a 23 ft. travel trailer in the hills and had some loads on it that the springs bottomed out, it was metal to metal. And I changed oil when I thought about it and that wasn't too often. So yes I think that many miles on it, does say something for the oil that was used in it. Not wanting to argue, just I put it through a lot, more than most people ever put one through. You spoke of Pennsoil, well I have known some people that didn't have very good luck with it. But of course the car or truck can make a lot of difference and they are all different also. But when you have been using the same oil for over 50 years and no motor trouble, you just kind of favor it.
 
Valvoline meets minimum specs. It will work in your vehicles. Is it the best?......no. If you are happy with it, then continue to use it. Pennzoil and chevron seem to be superior in both components and specs, and UOA's posted on this site. I don't think that valvoline is going to hurt your engine, but I think that there are superior oils to be used for the same price.
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[ September 25, 2003, 04:54 PM: Message edited by: sbc350gearhead ]
 
If it were me, I'd go with the Castrol too, but if the Valvoline gives you what you perceive is good service, then stay with it. If you are going to continually be thinking to yourself, "Wonder if I should have gone with the Valvoline?" then don't put yourself through it; go with the Valvoline.
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You have gotten so many miles out of Valvoline that it seems to me you might as well stay with Valvoline. However, if you wanted to swtich there would be no problem. Based on VOAs and UOAs that people have done at this web site, some of the best conventional motor oils look like Chevron, Pennzoil, and Castrol. But some people have pointed out that Castrol apparently does not have a good low pour point. Personally myself when it comes to conventional motor oils I have had the best luck with Chevron Supreme.

However, if I were you I don't think I would start using synthetic oil in a high mileage engine. If you have 100,000 miles with conventional motor oil, then I think it is best to stay with a conventional motor oil. You can change brands, but a switching to a synthetic oil with so many miles on the engine might result in seal leaks.
 
I have been using Valvoline for many years and had good luck with it. I emailed Ashland and asked them why they didn't have moly in their oil, and they said they had an other additive that does the same thing. Well I have an old 77 Chevy pickup,and it has over 100 thousand miles and never needed any motor work, so it has done a good job there. My 2000 Camry 4 cly. has over 40 thousand and uses less than a pint at my 5,000 mile changes. So it has done good there. I bought a Town Car, that has Castrol in it, and about 30,000 on the motor. I would like to change it to Valvoline, I hate haveing to have different oils on the shelf. And as I understand Valvoline is a paraffin base and Castrol is a Petroleum base. Was wondering if that would cause a problem. Thanks for the help.
 
I also like to have only one oil on the shelf. But it never seems to happen. I also like and have used Valvoline , but now i use Pennzoil because all the numbers (vis, flash, pour point ect) look the best. I have family members and friends that have always used Valvoline and have no problems. I was happy with Castrol also, but in MN, the 5w-30 is not a good oil at -0f.
 
pruntyc, I stick by what I said above. The Caprice was a 4,600+ lb. behemoth which pulled a bass boat as well as a camper before being handed over to me for more abuse as my first car. That thing was in kickdown more often than not and I don't know what's harder on a tired, old motor than high RPMs. Also, it saw winters up here the likes of which Missouri never sees.

Again, 100,000 miles is not a good test to show exceptional oil quality. Search this site. The exceptional anecdotal stories start at around 200,000 and go up.

Also, if you search around, you'll find plenty of threads dispelling the myth about Pennzoil causing problems.

As dene57k said, if you change your oil at around 3,000 miles, you can use any minimum spec SL oil like SuperTech, Prol-Line, Mobil Drive Clean, Valvoline, Wolf's Head, etc ...

--- Bror Jace
 
I'm sorry, but I don't believe very many, if any cars or trucks V8's from the 70's ever saw 200,000 without motor work. They just weren't built that good back then. My truck with over 100,000 of abused miles without any motor work done on it at all is a test of oil. And MS is not Missouri, it is Mississippi. I live here, but the truck I bought in Omaha, Nebraska. It goes down to 20 and 30 below there, and it was never in a garage, and I drove it to work every day. I've only lived here for the last 10 years or so. It still sets outside all the time. And the motor will only turn over once or twice and it will be running, even after setting for a week at a time without being started. I may switch to Castrol, but not because Valvoline hasn't been good. But it sounds like Castrol has got better than it in these times. I was even using Valvoline in my 1949 Fords and it did alright even back then.

[ September 26, 2003, 09:53 AM: Message edited by: pruntyc ]
 
quote:

Originally posted by pruntyc:
I'm sorry, but I don't believe very many, if any cars or trucks V8's from the 70's ever saw 200,000 without motor work.

My uncle had a 1977 Mercury with the big block 460 in it that had over 300,000 miles on it when he gave it to their minister. The transmission was rebuilt twice, but the engine was never touched. The only oil ever used in it was Pennzoil 10w40. Last time I saw the car (which was last year) it had over 400,000 miles on it when the minister gave it back. I don't know what kind of oil the minister was using.
 
I worked with a lady back in the late 90s who had a daily driver which was an old 70s Chrysler, a very huge one, probably an Imperial. This thing was originally a US car, so it's odometer was in miles and it had over 450,000 miles on it! She told me the engine and trans had never been rebuilt. It was in great shape too, not a spot of rust on it.
 
OK, there may be one once in a while, but rare. But when you go compareing heavy used pickup trucks to cars, its like compareing apples to pears or grapes, they are nothing alike, different gearing and motors, they are just all together set up different.
 
Come on Patman, not a spot of rust?????? You mean they don't use any salt up there and haven't? That is the only way I can see not a spot of rust. I can't buy that story, there is something wrong there.
 
I think many engines were built very good back then though, in those days the engines were built with a lot beefier parts, just look at the slant six for instance, that thing is indestructible.

Maybe some of the engines which were designed in the 70s during the time when the oil crisis were going on might not have been durable, but stuff that was being built in the 70s (especially early 70s) that was still based on stuff designed in the 60s, were all very durable.
 
quote:

Originally posted by pruntyc:
Come on Patman, not a spot of rust?????? You mean they don't use any salt up there and haven't? That is the only way I can see not a spot of rust. I can't buy that story, there is something wrong there.

The lady moved to Toronto from out west (Vancouver I believe) where they didn't salt the roads, so when I saw the car it had only seen a couple of Toronto winters. Her husband was very particular about keeping that car in tip top shape, so he was always keeping it totally clean in the winter and I believe he made sure it was rustproofed every fall too. It's not impossible to keep our cars rust free up here, you just have to work harder at it.
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quote:

Originally posted by Patman:
I worked with a lady back in the late 90s who had a daily driver which was an old 70s Chrysler, a very huge one, probably an Imperial. This thing was originally a US car, so it's odometer was in miles and it had over 450,000 miles on it! She told me the engine and trans had never been rebuilt. It was in great shape too, not a spot of rust on it.

To my knowledge the odometers on 70s Detroit cars went no higher than 99,999.9. Was this 70s Chrysler showing over 45,000 miles perhaps?
 
pruntyc, Where are the UOA to show how it is doing in the car. A perception of wellness is not the same as actualy being well!

Do a UOA of each oil in each application and let the chips fall where they may! I doubt that either product is really that great compared to other OTC oils widely available. Even if you put price limits on the oil their are better oils out their!

If you look through the UOA section their are not alot if any Trophy worthy UOA of either product!

I would type in TOyota in the search field of the UOA section and read the posts carefuly. Their have been numerious discussions on this brand and the better oils for them.

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quote:

Originally posted by 2533a:

quote:

Originally posted by Patman:
I worked with a lady back in the late 90s who had a daily driver which was an old 70s Chrysler, a very huge one, probably an Imperial. This thing was originally a US car, so it's odometer was in miles and it had over 450,000 miles on it! She told me the engine and trans had never been rebuilt. It was in great shape too, not a spot of rust on it.

To my knowledge the odometers on 70s Detroit cars went no higher than 99,999.9. Was this 70s Chrysler showing over 45,000 miles perhaps?


I'm not sure, I never did see the odometer, so I was going on the word of the lady who owned it, and she wasn't the type of person to lie. She told me she had been a real estate agent when she lived out west, and did a ton of driving, so that's how the miles got piled on so much.
 
quote:

Originally posted by 2533a:
To my knowledge the odometers on 70s Detroit cars went no higher than 99,999.9. Was this 70s Chrysler showing over 45,000 miles perhaps?

Hmmn, come to think of it my 88 GT ragtop showed 23K miles when I gave it away but it did cycle thru the odo's limit twice. Just to keep it on topic - Castrol was one of the main diet of that car.

[ September 26, 2003, 01:38 PM: Message edited by: pinoy99 ]
 
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