What brand of oils do we KNOW work well..........

[dkryan]

.......in certain makes/engines.

I did not want to hijack MrWideTires recent thread in this forum, but having noticed John Browning's post, I wanted to ask this question.

Based on the vast experience (and hopefully quality UOAs) on this site, what do we know on a reasonably certain basis about which oils work best in certain makes?

For example, M-1 absolutely stinks in my 2001 Infiniti I30 3.0
V6. It spits lead like a baseball player chewing Red Man. Pick a viscosity. It does not matter.

On the other hand, Maxlife full synthetic held its own against this well running engine. Green GC 0w30 was a close second. It beat the snot out of Platinum 5w30. Out of warranty? 10w30 for me, please.

And I have Dyson UOAs to back up these comments, though I've been a slacker to post them.

The 3.3L V6 in the 2005 Highlander? It smacked around 5w30 Platinum. Much to my chagrin, it kicked the living [censored] out of Schaeffer's 9000 5w30 full syn on an 8k mile OCI (Dyson, again). And this vehicle, like the Infiniti, is well maintained and run on Shell gasolines with FP Plus in every tank. They both run well, they just beat the tar (or add pack) out of certain oils.

I wish Mr. Browning had warned me about Schaeffer's and Toyota before I purchased those 25 quarts, though I'm about to start my last 5-qt. run of this oil (with 6k OCIs, thank you).

Who else has established a solid pattern for "brand of oil versus make of car" matchup?

 

[MrWideTires]

Amsoil S.S. 0w30 didn't work too well on the QG18DE I had.

And If you have a Suzuki XL-7 (2.7 v6).. do not even try Mobil1 0w30, it will make all kinds of ugly noises.

GC0W30 works great on almost anything though

 

[Zaedock]

This thread can go in about 50 million directions

My wife's '04 Maxx 3.5L "seems" to run best on XOM/WPP SuperTech, QS green bottle, and Mobil C5K.

My '92 Jeep Wranlger 2.5L trail rig runs best on anything.

My '03 Ford F150 5.4L "seems" to like QS conv/syn and Valv SynPWR in either 5W20 or 5W30. I'm actually running QS TQPWR 10W30 now, and it's super quiet/smooth. I might try 5W20 PP this winter.

 

[bustednutz]

My 07 Mazda 3 gets all ckickity clack sounding on Mobil 1. It really likes Synpower, Supertech, Formula Shell, and Valvoline white bottle. So far thats all I've tried in its 24k miles.

Wifes Hyundai likes anything so far. Just as long as it gets an OEM filter.

 

[JohnBrowning]

i do not dislike Schaffer's for the record I just do not think their oil is worth paying to ship to my doorstep when I service a fleet of Toyota's(4) and one (1)Buick. That 3.3 kicks the snot out a lot of oils....In fact I would not even worry about shearing because it will shear just about everything you put in it. The important thing in Toyota's is to keep the insolubles down. The best performing oil in any Toyota I have consistently seen is with Redline 5W30 but you have to run it at least 3 oil change intervals before you sample for a UOA because it kicks up all the old wear metals trapped in what ever the other oils have left behind and it removes the oxidized layer on the bearings. It normally takes three OCI's before it settles down. I think the best UOA ever on the history of this sight was wwith some of Terry's old customers back when he was pushing Redline for use in the Sludge Beast's that Toyota had a problem with. Some of his long term Redline user's where getting wear number too low to be detected by the equipment and all of the longterm user's had low single digit wear metals!

Now all of the modern Engines Toyota has come out from I4's to V8's will produce single digit wear numbers pretty consistently with any OCI that is 6 months or less and any mileage from 1000-10,000 miles as long as it is in a 6 month time frame. For some reason when people push them to 9 months or longer the wear metals jump up drastically even on that great 4.7 V8 of their's!

I have used Redline 5W30 and 5W40 and loved them. I think I have a 5W40 UOA on here from years ago when Redline first released it.The Redline 5W30 would be my pick though for the 3.3 not the 5W40 due to all the experience I have reading UOA that Terry used to post on this sight with Redline 5W30 in Toyota V6's.The first time you run Redline expect to use some oil. For some reason all highly esterfied oils tend to use some oil when you make the switch to them the first OCI!Most figure it is due to ring pack cleaning.I think though that your 3.3 liter V6 would do well to try Rotella-T 5W40 it always produces nice low wear number's and good insolubles and it is cheap and localy available at Walmart! It is a tough oil since it is designed for diesel's that have much higher shearing forces then anything that burns gasoline!

Oh if you decide to give Amsoil a try I think their HD 5W30 would do a good job in that engine as well!

 

[pbm]

I remember reading (a few years ago) that Mobil 1 worked very well in Toyota engines. Does anybody know if this is still true?


I now own a Toyota and I have several qts. of Mobil 1 so I'm curious...

JohnBrowning:
You mention some interesting insights regarding Toyota OCI's ( good #'s no matter what oil is used as long as the OCI doesn't go over 6 months...) very interesting

 

[bdcardinal]

S60R loved GC and BMW 5w30, M1 0w30, not so much.

Ford 4.6L did great on castrol gtx bulk 5w30, M1 5w30 and 10w30, GC, MC 5w20 and 5w30 full syn, and MC 5w30 syn blend bulk.

 

[HTSS_TR]

My '94 LS400 doesn't care which brand and weight of oil I gave it. It had M1, Shell, Chevron, Havoline, Valvoline, Pennzoil, PP in 5W30, 10W30 and 5W20, also Delo 15W40. The only thing I observed is it got the best gas mileage with 5W20 and worst gas mileage with 15W40.

My 2004 S2000 has several different brands in 10W30, mostly dino oil and I could not feel any different, currently it has M1 10W30 and I could not tell any difference in noise, performance and gas mileage.

My 2000 E430 in the other hand like PP 5W20 much better than M1 0W40 which is recommended by MB. The engine is so quiet with PP 5W20 and gas mileage improved by up to 5%.

My conclusion is some engines work well with certain oil while the other engines work well with any oil.

 

[tig1]

For 31 years M1 oils have performed great for me in many diferent engines. All the way from a Chevy V-8, mid seventies, to Ford 4 cyl diesels in the 80s, to modern Ford engines of today.
Frankly I don't buy your Infiniti spiting lead thing. My daughters Infiniti SUV is on M1 and does just fine.

 

[ThirdeYe]

So far I haven't noticed any differences between brands in my Integra. Amsoil ASL, Valvoline, Havoline DS, Pennzoil, Castrol GTX, Pennzoil Platinum, they've all felt exactly the same, sounded the same, etc. I've ran only 5W-30, however I plan on trying 10W-30 next spring.

 

[Mustang2008Z]

In my Nissan 2.4L motor, I have used a variety of oils, conventional, synthetic blend, and now full synthetic. It runs, and has the best fuel economy using Mobil and PureOne Oil Filter, and the motor runs the quietest. As soon as I finish up the Quaker State Oil, I will return to Mobil 1.

As far as my Mustang goes, since it is still under warranty, I use Motorcraft Synthetic Blend Oil/Filter. I stopped going to the Ford dealer that sold the car to me, they use Valvoline Conventional Oil, and state it is a synthetic blend, (yeah, right) I looked up the part number it is Valvoline Conventional Oil, and I now use a Lincoln-Mercury dealer, who puts only Ford Motorcraft Oil/Filter into my Mustang.

As soon as my Mustang is out of warranty, Mobil 1 and PureOne will be put into my Mustang all the time.

 

[aquariuscsm]

In my 3000GT,Syntec was the worst junk imaginable. Startups sounded like there was no oil in the engine. In my Z,everything I`ve tried makes her run like a dream......my oil of choice kinda depends on my mood. My gf`s Delta 88 loves Valvoline wb,and her old Probe hated Pennzoil yb and loved Mobil 1 ep.

Different engines sometimes seem to be finnicky on what you put in them,when some run perfect on anything.

 

[Loobed]

wouldn't it be easier to say which oils don't work. All the new oils should work very well in all but the most brutal racing engines.

 

[BuickGN]

Originally Posted By: JohnBrowning
i do not dislike Schaffer's for the record I just do not think their oil is worth paying to ship to my doorstep when I service a fleet of Toyota's(4) and one (1)Buick. That 3.3 kicks the snot out a lot of oils....In fact I would not even worry about shearing because it will shear just about everything you put in it. The important thing in Toyota's is to keep the insolubles down. The best performing oil in any Toyota I have consistently seen is with Redline 5W30 but you have to run it at least 3 oil change intervals before you sample for a UOA because it kicks up all the old wear metals trapped in what ever the other oils have left behind and it removes the oxidized layer on the bearings. It normally takes three OCI's before it settles down. I think the best UOA ever on the history of this sight was wwith some of Terry's old customers back when he was pushing Redline for use in the Sludge Beast's that Toyota had a problem with. Some of his long term Redline user's where getting wear number too low to be detected by the equipment and all of the longterm user's had low single digit wear metals!

Now all of the modern Engines Toyota has come out from I4's to V8's will produce single digit wear numbers pretty consistently with any OCI that is 6 months or less and any mileage from 1000-10,000 miles as long as it is in a 6 month time frame. For some reason when people push them to 9 months or longer the wear metals jump up drastically even on that great 4.7 V8 of their's!

I have used Redline 5W30 and 5W40 and loved them. I think I have a 5W40 UOA on here from years ago when Redline first released it.The Redline 5W30 would be my pick though for the 3.3 not the 5W40 due to all the experience I have reading UOA that Terry used to post on this sight with Redline 5W30 in Toyota V6's.The first time you run Redline expect to use some oil. For some reason all highly esterfied oils tend to use some oil when you make the switch to them the first OCI!Most figure it is due to ring pack cleaning.I think though that your 3.3 liter V6 would do well to try Rotella-T 5W40 it always produces nice low wear number's and good insolubles and it is cheap and localy available at Walmart! It is a tough oil since it is designed for diesel's that have much higher shearing forces then anything that burns gasoline!

Oh if you decide to give Amsoil a try I think their HD 5W30 would do a good job in that engine as well!


It's interesting you mention this. I slightly overfilled mine as I usually do. Switching to Redline is the first time this car has had a different brand in nearly 70,000 miles. The next time I checked it, it was right at the full line. I checked it again 2 weeks later and it was still at the full line. I chalked it up to the car possibly being unlevel the first time I checked it. The car has never burned any measureable amount of oil but this is the first time it's had anything else.

 

[TAP]

My 2006 Pontiac G6 GTP absolutely hates anyhing Mobil 1. Eats through a full quart every 2000 miles. PYB works much better. Only eats about a half quart every 2-3k.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: TAP
My 2006 Pontiac G6 GTP absolutely hates anyhing Mobil 1. Eats through a full quart every 2000 miles. PYB works much better. Only eats about a half quart every 2-3k.


I couldn't handle that much consumption in anything! The half or the full quart. That is surprising.

 

[panthermike]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: TAP
My 2006 Pontiac G6 GTP absolutely hates anyhing Mobil 1. Eats through a full quart every 2000 miles. PYB works much better. Only eats about a half quart every 2-3k.


I couldn't handle that much consumption in anything! The half or the full quart. That is surprising.


My Corolla would drive you crazy then, burns a quart every 13-1500 miles

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: panthermike
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: TAP
My 2006 Pontiac G6 GTP absolutely hates anyhing Mobil 1. Eats through a full quart every 2000 miles. PYB works much better. Only eats about a half quart every 2-3k.


I couldn't handle that much consumption in anything! The half or the full quart. That is surprising.


My Corolla would drive you crazy then, burns a quart every 13-1500 miles


Dear God!!

 

[panthermike]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: panthermike
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: TAP
My 2006 Pontiac G6 GTP absolutely hates anyhing Mobil 1. Eats through a full quart every 2000 miles. PYB works much better. Only eats about a half quart every 2-3k.


I couldn't handle that much consumption in anything! The half or the full quart. That is surprising.


My Corolla would drive you crazy then, burns a quart every 13-1500 miles


Dear God!!


Ha, I knew that would get you.

 

[Jaymus]

Castrol GTX 10W-30 done great in everything I used to run it in. My wife's eclipse completely silenced when I switched it to GC 0W-30, and when I changed my mom's LS1 Trans Am WS.6 from M1 5W-30 to GC 0W-30, it also lost the top end ticking sound.

Now the Eclipse is on RTS 5W-40, along with my 5.0 EFI 86 F150 and 2000 Buick Park Avenue 3.8 V6. They all have no start up noise and are very quiet. They do not feel sluggish at all, and actually run better with 5W-40 RTS than 10W-30 GTX. I was afraid I'd feel some 'sluggishness', but they all move through the higher RPM much easier now. My mom's LS1 is next on the list for RTS 5W-40. I'd run it in anything unless it called for 5W-20.