Wear protection ratings

[kinch1]

Hi, I'm a newbie here so I apologize if this topic has been beaten to death. I came across this while researching what oil would be best in my vehicle. I googled, "best motor oil to reduce wear" or something and this was one of the links provided.

https://540ratblog.wordpress.com/

It's a tub of information but if you skip to the wear rating portion it's pretty interesting. There is some very interesting stuff on there about zinc as well.

 

[Nate1979]

Yes, beaten to death. And that tub is full of something and it ain't information....

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Nate1979
And that tub is full of something and it ain't information....

 

[69GTX]

Originally Posted By: kinch1
Hi, I'm a newbie here so I apologize if this topic has been beaten to death. I came across this while researching what oil would be best in my vehicle. I googled, "best motor oil to reduce wear" or something and this was one of the links provided.

https://540ratblog.wordpress.com/

It's a tub of information but if you skip to the wear rating portion it's pretty interesting. There is some very interesting stuff on there about zinc as well.




Numerous long threads on here discussing those rankings and methodology. It could take you a couple hours to get through all the posts.

1. Their testing is done with a 1 arm bandit imparting a scuff on metal balls, often at very high temps....there's nothing in a car engine like that.
2. The zinc levels they found issues with were at the 1500-1700 ppm and higher levels. You won't find that in most regular passenger car motor oils....but typically in race and track car engines, especially those with flat tappets. Zinc levels in typical SN motor oils are more than adequate.
3. Numerous inconsistencies in their testing methods and results. If a well respected oil tested by auto mfg's, PQIA, API, etc. shows up high on the 540Rat list, that certainly can't hurt anything in your decision to use it. And I wouldn't let a low ranking of a strong motor oil (like most of the (0/5/10w-40's) prevent you from using them.

 

[FCD]

the 540rat blog has been discussed here to death.... also just searching best motor oil to reduce wear is POINTLESS , completely useless some oil behave well in some engines others do not you will never ever get a precise answer pointing to one exact motor oil....the only way to find out the best motor oil to reduce wear in your engine is to try several different brands and have the used oil analyzed and see which has less wear particles in it.
but anyway welcome to BITOG , enjoy your stay

 

[kinch1]

I should have known. I can't find a search function on this site. I would like to read some of the discussion if I could find it. Thank you.

 

[AirgunSavant]

Two sides to every story.
Many here are professionals that work in a trade or business.
Experts at what they do with decades of in the field experience.

These are the people I am posting to.
When they go on Internet forums and read, most leave rather quickly. I think they know what I'm talking about.

 

[FCD]

Originally Posted By: kinch1
I should have known. I can't find a search function on this site. I would like to read some of the discussion if I could find it. Thank you.

It's easy , go to google and type :
540rat site:bobistheoilguy.com
This works for anything , just type anything before site:bobistheoilguy.com and hit esearch.

 

[AirgunSavant]

Search? - top center under SEARCH

Originally Posted By: kinch1
I should have known. I can't find a search function on this site. I would like to read some of the discussion if I could find it. Thank you.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: kinch1
I should have known. I can't find a search function on this site. I would like to read some of the discussion if I could find it. Thank you.


https://www.google.com/#newwindow=1&q=540rat+site:bobistheoilguy.com

 

[kinch1]

thanks guys. I'm preaching to the choir but this is some interesting reading.

 

[Brons2]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=540rat%2Bsite%3Abobistheoilguy.com

 

[fdcg27]

Any oil of a reasonable grade and spec changed on a reasonable interval for the use you give the engine will yield low wear and keep everything clean.
There, now wasn't that easy?
There are no magic oils and it's very hard to try to show that one will provide better wear performance than another.
The link you provide certainly doesn't show that.

 

[nascarnation]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Any oil of a reasonable grade and spec changed on a reasonable interval for the use you give the engine will yield low wear and keep everything clean.
There, now wasn't that easy?
There are no magic oils and it's very hard to try to show that one will provide better wear performance than another.
The link you provide certainly doesn't show that.


Your post is obviously correct, but doesn't that defeat the entire purpose of BITOG?

 

[fdcg27]

Not really.
We can all still play around with grade and spec.
We can argue, I mean discuss, the merits of thick versus thin oils and the importance of the many specs and certs out there as well as the importance of these various brews in their various grades to the engines we all use every day.
But you already knew all of that.

 

[Garak]

Yes, quite true. We can play around with grade or spec. Trying to find differences between two oils of the same grade and identical specs and similar base stocks is where one is likely wasting a lot of time.

 

[barryh]

So does this mean that the general internet obsession with high levels of ZDDP for flat tappet engines is all an unnecessary concern and any decent quality oil of a reasonable grade and spec changed at a reasonable interval will be fine ?

If it does it's hilarious how much influence internet forums can have, even to generating a market for ZDDP oil additives.

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted By: Garak
Yes, quite true. We can play around with grade or spec. Trying to find differences between two oils of the same grade and identical specs and similar base stocks is where one is likely wasting a lot of time.


On the contrary, there are significant differences between finished oils of identical specs using similar basestocks.
Consider API SN/ILSAC GF-5 Grp III oils.
These cover the gamut from cheap store brand oils to premium priced name brands.
There are differences in the add packs used as well as the physical properties of the finished oils.
I'd trust M1 5W-20 for a 7-8K drain while I wouldn't some of the store brands with the light add packs they have, so even within similar basestocks and specs met, there is still a lot to consider.
Splitting hairs?
Isn't that what we often do here?

 

[Shata]

Only way your going to get your answer is start with quality oil and do UOA on specified intervals your comfortable with, keep your driving reasonably the same and see the wear results and do a trend for 2-3 changes on same oil. Then try different oil and see what happens.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
On the contrary, there are significant differences between finished oils of identical specs using similar basestocks.
Consider API SN/ILSAC GF-5 Grp III oils.
These cover the gamut from cheap store brand oils to premium priced name brands.

This is where we do have to be careful about specifications. M1 (and Castrol synthetic and PP and PU) tends to have at least A1/B1 on their options, whereas the cheaper store brand won't. M1 and Castrol do also offer extended drain warranties, so that's a bit of a differentiation.

What I'm getting at is you won't find any difference between M1, Castrol Syntec, and PP (or PYB versus GTX versus Mobil Super conventional). Usually different tiers do list different specifications. Of course, if you try to compare one of these versus a store brand vanilla SN/GF-5, you might wind up discerning a difference over a long OCI. But, those are different specifications, albeit subtle.