Valvoline

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OK here it goes. It is late on a Friday night. I just got back from my last class of the semester in Buisness Law I, and the final test.

Was sitting here as usual going through the site(one of these days my wife is going to devorce me if I don't start paying more attention to her, Gee I'll miss her) and was wondering, why no mention of Valvoline oil? I mean I really don't see it much on here? Any thing I need to know about it? I do know some folks that use it.

Thanks
 
I have used SynPower 5w-40 for a while and liked its better cleaning ability compared to my (then) MOBIL1 10w-30.

I am currently running GC.

There seems some general hostility here towards that brand but SynPowetr 5w-40 has posted at least one excellent UOA in a demanding application.

I also think the Durablend is an excellent value.
ACEA A3 in 10w-40!

An oil formulation chemist that frequents my nissaninfiniticlub.net recommends the Durablend in 10w-40.

Fred...
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The impression I have gotten browsing this site is that generally folks here are not too keen on Valvoline. But I am a die-hard Valvoline guy. I was using Durablend for the past several years, but recently switched to Maxlife. Looking at the tech data sheets on Valvoline oils, it seems to me that they make pretty good oil, but their bottom-of-the-line AllClimate seems mediocre. The 5w30 Durablend stands out as exceptional with a 238C flashpoint (right up there with the 10w40s); contrariwise, the Maxlife 5w30's flashpoint is listed as 204C. But the other Maxlife grades look good, with another outstanding example being 10w40 Maxlife, which is listed at 242C flashpoint (right up there with 20w50s).
 
Valvoline is a name brand oil and demands a name brand price. For the most part, valvoline's performance doesn't seem to live up to its reputation. The all-climate IMO is completely outgunned by chevron, pennzoil and even castrol. The maxlife doesn't look very good in UOA's compared to pennzoil and castrol HM. The synpower and durablend seem to do well, but I wouldn't push the OCI as far as some from mobil 1, amsoil etc.
 
Before BitOG, I was at a loss for an oil selection and I was maintaining a bunch of cars on Valvoline. I had just came off a bad experience with Mobil Drive Clean...it drives clean out of your engine (another story)...I went back to an ol standard, Valvoline. MaxLife, Durablend + an extra quart of synth and SynPower 5w-40 because it meets ACEA A3 and is available at any NAPA was what I ran. In general, the Valvoline cut consumption in half over Mobil DCO.
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Then, I went right to GC and cut consumption in half again!
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I consider Valvoline to be a standard, basic baseline oil to judge others by..."it has GOT to be better than Valvoline for me to use it".
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I've used Valvoline before many times.
I didn't notice any differance from other
oils. Just bought a 5 liter jug of
Synpower for $19 cdn. That's $3.80/liter.
Other synthetics sell for $7.00/liter.
This is one of the oils recommended by
BMW.
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I've always found it strange how two of the most heavily marketed oils, Valvoline and Quaker State, don't seem to be used by too many members on here. I guess it shows that even with heavy advertising, sometimes people still ignore the products.
 
30+ years ago, before the Walmarts, KMarts and the likes of Auozone and Napa, Pep Boys, etc. you had to buy your oil at a local auto parts store, "1001 Auto Parts", was mine. I remember it fondly
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. And basically they either carried Valvoline or Quaker State and perhaps some real odd ball oil for the real cheapskates
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. You didn't have any real choices unless you went to a gas station and bought their branded oil. I used Valvoline for many years because it was the only one available. Not to mention it advertised all over the place. So it had to be superior, right
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.

Whimsey
 
i used the all climate in my first car,a 74 dart sport with a 360 ci motor, a 85' gti, a 88' ranger with a 2.0 4 banger, a 92'f 150 w/ the 4.9 inline 6,and the first part of my 92' rangers life. never had an oil related problem with any of them. it seemed to serve well. now using pennzoil dino. actualy, i switched just because i wanted to try something different. it seems after joining this site that i made a good choice, however i beleive that no one out there is killing or harming their motors by running even the "all climate" basic oil. weird, as bad as it is supposed to be, valvoline never seemed to garner the bad reputation as some of the "superior" oils, such as the sludging problems attributed to pennzoil, quakerstate, kendall...the pensylvania crude, based oils did. penzdude
 
Back when PERP Boys use to use Ashland as the supplier for their Proline Oil for .79 a quart, I used it exclusively. I was able to get 247K on my Audi 5cyl engine before I gave it up. With a 3K change, and using the 20w-50 in summer, it was good. But now with Chevron and Havoline being so excellent, I really can't see using it anymore.
The Synthetic I have no experience with, so I defer to the other members.
 
I used All-Climate to break-in my '95 Civic. No problem.

Since then, however, I had consumption problems with their Synpower and was lied to repeatedly by their chemists about their basestocks.
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Thanks, but I now prefer other brands.
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--- Bror Jace
 
The persistent criticism of Valvoline on this board is all relative. Valvoline AllClimate is "SL" rated which makes it better than any blender's former "SJ" rated conventional motor oil and "good enough" to maintain the warranty on any new car that doesn't call for synthetic or certain European spec. motor oils. I don't personally use Valvoline since I can get Chevron Supreme or ChevronTexaco Havoline quite a bit cheaper. But if the situation were reversed, I wouldn't hesitate to try Valvoline.
 
I used to use mostly Pennzoil (sometimes Quaker State). But I started to hear a lot of stories about mechanics finding sludged up engines where Pennzoil or Quaker State had been used. I noticed with my own car that what I could see by looking in the oil fill hole looked dirty, even though I changed oil every 3000 miles or three months.

I was hearing a lot of good stuff about Valvoline from people that I trusted. The Toyota dealership switched from recommending Pennzoil to recommending Valvoline. I noticed a lot of mechanics seemed to use Valvoline. So I started using Valvoline. I have to say that it did seem like my car seemed cleaner.

When I discovered this web site, I switched to Chevron. Chevron seemed to have great VOAs and UOAs and at least Valvoline conventional did not seem to look so good. Although Valvoline Durablend, MaxLife, and SynPower seemed to look good in VOAs and UOAs.

Plus, you can buy Chevron for about a buck and a little amount of change, and Valvoline is usually somewhat more.

If I did use Valvoline again, I think I would probably use the Valvoline Durablend.
 
I wonder whats up with their website and the lack of data sheets ?

Is anyone running the 10/40 Durablend A/3 oil or has a used oil analysis been seen ?

Might be one of the better buys out there at any cost
 
labman, you worked for Ashland Chemical. I know you are angry at them because they fired you, but what do YOU think of Valvoline oil?

Personally myself, their conventional All-Climate seemed about the same to me as any other oil. I never tried Durablend but it seems to have good UOAs. I did like their MaxLife, which seemed to make my car run smooth. But it did not stop a small seal leak. I hated their SynPower. My last car ran TERRIBLE with it.

I really liked Chevron Supreme, Schaeffer's, and the German Castrol. All seemed to make my car run really good.
 
quote:

Originally posted by labman:
I switched to Pennzoil after Ashland Chemical fired me.

Did you dump your used Valvoline into the "Bossman's" personal parking space?
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I like Valvoline because their lube places are the only place in town to take antifreeze and ATF
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.

I was very curious when the guy poured my jugs of ATF into the oil catch in the pit. He said they use all their old oil to heat the place in the winter. I was very impressed.

Back when I was too busy to change my own, I used to use Valvoline quick lubes because they were quite a bit less expensive than Iffy Lube.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Ray H:
*-*- Valvoline AllClimate is "SL" rated which makes it better than any blender's former "SJ" rated conventional motor oil -*-*

I disagree! Just because it is an SL doesnt mean it surpasses an SJ. Many many oils surpass the current ratings standards....
 
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