What Oil Type To Protect Catalytic Converter?

[Silverado12]

I would say if your car burns less oil w/high mileage oil to use that. Also, if it does burn some oil, maybe use a higher viscosity oil to slow down any consumption? Dexos1, Gen3 is the latest and greatest GM spec, so I would probably look for that. It's the actual oil getting into the cat that wrecks it, so slow that down as much as possible.

 

[Chris142]

How much oil are you burning? If you’re not burning a lot or very little then it doesn’t matter. The oil has to get there first to be a problem

This. If you are not consuming oil then oil brand or type won't matter.

 

[JunkdrawerDog]

I didn't realize so many states require smog checks...

In Nevada, it's only Clark and Washoe counties.

 

[Japanese]

... hype, but if you don’t want to run Mobil 1 ESP...

Why is that?

 

[Japanese]

Clearly, the CAT was wasted on that thing. Then I started to wonder...

The CAT might've been wasted or removed at all. Or the car might've been just started and still running rich/choke-on.
You should not wonder if it isn't your vehicle.

 

[cheesepuffs2]

Why is that?

Why is what? Why would anybody want to run EP instead of ESP, is that the question?

 

[Japanese]

Why would anybody want to run EP instead of ESP, is that the question?

Yes, that.

 

[burbguy82]

View attachment 323853

I would trust the bottle label over the website PDFs

 

[cheesepuffs2]

Yes, that.

Perhaps one would be interested in running a High Mileage variant, which ESP isn’t offered in while EP is.

 

[Japanese]

Perhaps one would be interested in running a High Mileage variant, which ESP isn’t offered in while EP is.

It's interesting that the practice (not mine) shows that ESP (as a Euro oil) is much better for long OCI than EP.

 

[facility1]

yup here we go again, another ESP promotion.

 

[cheesepuffs2]

yup here we go again, another ESP promotion.

Mobil 1 ESP, Valvoline Restore and Protect, or HPL. The Three Kings of BITOG. Choose wisely.

 

[facility1]

or Havoline Pro-ds, Schaeffers and AMSOIL Signature Series. and but only Torco. many great choices,not to get bogged down on one brand (ESP).

 

[cheesepuffs2]

or Havoline Pro-ds, Schaeffers and AMSOIL Signature Series. and but only Torco. many great choices,not to get bogged down on one brand (ESP).

Torco is wildly under-represented here and I’m not quite sure why. Maybe they’re too “powersports/racing” positioned for the average BITOG crowd so there’s just less exposure.

 

[Hohn]

I think the single best thing you can do to keep the catalysts healthy is prevent your engine from becoming an oil burner.

So maybe Valvoline Restore and Protect (see, mods, I typed it all out) is the best choice overall to keep the catalysts healthy?


There's no SAPS level low enough to let the engine shrug off huge oil consumption. Nor is there a SAPS level high enough to worry about if the oil consumption is nil.

SAPS and catalyst health only became a thing when we moved to oils that can't keep engines from becoming oil guzzlers.

Industrial diesels are running CK-4 oils with a full 1% SAPS and SCR systems that, if compromised, could lead to not only replacing $50k worth of catalysts, but hundreds of thousands of dollars or more in fines from the unelected emperors at the EPA and CARB.

If 1% SAPS was a major risk to SCR systems, there's no way these two would coexist.

Which is why SAPS is primarily a DPF/GPF risk, and not a catalyst risk. And the "risk" there is just shorter service intervals where they need to be cleaned and have the ash removed.

All the mid-SAPS Euro oils (C30/504.00) are 1% or less, just like CK-4 is. Heck, even a 502.00 oil is still under 1.5%. But of course, you still won't see SAPS levels that high for any current API spec unless it's 40 grade. That's why Castrol Edge Euro 5w-30 is only API SL (full SAPS 502.00) but the 40 grade (also 502.00) is API SP. SP allows higher SAPS in 40 grade.


There's just no reason to worry about SAPS levels. This is purely the concern of out of touch bureaucrats taking in Powerpoint presentations from activist groups pointing out how OMG the planet is dying because global COs levels are 10ppm higher and we must absolutely protect our precious catalysts at all (socialized) costs!


Run whatever oil you want, there's almost no current spec that allows oil formulations that can do any damage to your catalysts over a decade or more of service unless the oil consumption goes ballistic. So run a good oil regardless of its SAPS levels and you won't have any catalyst issues.

 

[kschachn]

yup here we go again, another ESP promotion.

There’s good reason for that. It has proven performance through the approvals it actually has (unlike some of the brands you mentioned), it’s ubiquitously available at nearly every Walmart, and it’s $27 for five quarts. I know of no other oil that has that value structure.

 

[kschachn]

Torco is wildly under-represented here and I’m not quite sure why. Maybe they’re too “powersports/racing” positioned for the average BITOG crowd so there’s just less exposure.

What makes it special that it should be more represented?

 

[Arc]

How does one do that?
I've heard of trickling oil into the air intake.
I've also heard of using the brake booster's vacuum hose to let the engine suck it up like an elephant's trunk; which seems risky to me due to hydrolock.

Also, is there a preferred type of ATF to use (conv. vs. synthetic?)

Also, does this procedure require the whole quart?

I use 1/2 quart and any vacuum line going into the intake will work. Just regular old cheap atf is fine. I actually tested this method after reading it in an old BMW manual about hot soaking pistons and valves this way. We used 1/2 quart on an old oil burning air cooled Wisconsin engine in a ditchwitch trencher and it peeled every single piece of carbon off of the pistons. I use this method at least once a year on my vehicles and even dump some in the fuel from time to time. Last year I replaced the transmission in my old Jeep with 280k miles and when I looked in the original cats with a camera they were clean and you could see light all the way through. Be ready for all the smoke, it will also smoke bad for a few miles of driving, that's why I always fire it up early in the mornings before the neighbors get up. It lookes a lot like using the seafoam treatment if you have ever used that. Just make sure the cats are hot when you start sucking it into the intake. It's never harmed any O2 sensors on mine either. The jeep is still using the original sensors even with all those miles.

 

[kschachn]

I use 1/2 quart and any vacuum line going into the intake will work. Just regular old cheap atf is fine. I actually tested this method after reading it in an old BMW manual about hot soaking pistons and valves this way. We used 1/2 quart on an old oil burning air cooled Wisconsin engine in a ditchwitch trencher and it peeled every single piece of carbon off of the pistons. I use this method at least once a year on my vehicles and even dump some in the fuel from time to time. Last year I replaced the transmission in my old Jeep with 280k miles and when I looked in the original cats with a camera they were clean and you could see light all the way through. Be ready for all the smoke, it will also smoke bad for a few miles of driving, that's why I always fire it up early in the mornings before the neighbors get up. It lookes a lot like using the seafoam treatment if you have ever used that. Just make sure the cats are hot when you start sucking it into the intake. It's never harmed any O2 sensors on mine either. The jeep is still using the original sensors even with all those miles.

So this will fix the OP's problem?

What is the problem exactly?

 

[Nessism1]

So this will fix the OP's problem?

What is the problem exactly?

The "problem" is conflicting information.

API puts limits on things like phosphorus to protect CATS. Euro oils sometimes contain too much phosphorus to qualify for API certification. So either Euro oils don't protect as well, or API's limit is needlessly low. Which is it? All theoritical, not trying to solve a problem on my specific vehicle.