Originally Posted By: Oil Changer
Garak, Still trying to figure out yours and Shannow's problem. I never once said the OP can't or shouldn't use T6 only that T6 is NOT the best choice in his application. Period. How many times have I said that already.
You did say that he shouldn't use it - mentioning that it would jeopardize his warranty, and reading way too much into Shell's email.
Originally Posted By: Oil Changer
I did a cut/paste of an e-mail from SOPUS from another thread the last time this was brought up to provide a counter-point to the conversation. Period. If you or Shannow have a problem with the content, take it up with SOPUS. You're preaching to the choir with me.
That is my problem - the email - not you. I don't have to take it up with SOPUS. The people in Shell who are involved in formulating an oil and ensuring it meets specifications and in obtaining formal approvals know perfectly well that it's completely acceptable to use the product in a gasoline engine calling for an SN rated 5w-40. I fire off an email to this customer service person, they'll get flummoxed, and if they make it to an engineer, they'll get laughed at and it won't accomplish anything. I already went through the painful experience of trying to show them some issues in their Formula Shell data sheets, and the CSR was completely flummoxed, and didn't even understand the problem until walked through it line by line.
There's a reason I pay attention to the requirements behind specifications and approvals and to the actual specifications and approvals granted an oil. The people answering the phone or the emails at SOPUS, XOM, and so forth are likely to know very little, and if I must contact them about something, it's to get a very specific piece of technical data that they can either provide or claim proprietary.
Nonetheless, from a warranty standpoint, the email is irrelevant, regardless of lawyers seeing it or not. As I mentioned if someone with this vehicle calling for SM 5w-40 had a problem, he's using a completely approved lubricant. It is formally API SM. That is verified by testing. Certification can also be withdrawn, after a process, subsequent to failures. Certification cannot be withdrawn by a customer service representative writing an email to a member of the public.
If someone had a problem, as indicated above, and could prove to Hyundai's satisfaction they were using an SM rated 5w-40 (which Rotella most certainly is) as per manual directions, they would be in the clear. If something were actually wrong with the oil, as I mentioned before such as being out of spec, the customer wouldn't even be in that loop. If Hyundai were satisfied and convinced that Mr. Customer changed his oil from sealed jugs of Rotella 5w-40 SM, they'd be happy. If Shell had a bottling problem and it were filled with gear lube or transmission fluid or the oil was totally out of spec, Hyundai would come down on Shell and the customer likely would never even know about it.
When Shell puts that SM on that bottle of 5w-40, they are guaranteeing that it's perfectly acceptable to use in any vehicle calling for SM 5w-40. That's what the certification is for in the first place. SM is a gasoline engine specification, notably for vehicles with catalytic converters. It's not as stringent in that regard as GF-4 or GF-5, but the 40 grades are not so rated, and the manual allows 5w-40 SM.
What is this person's next email going to be - warning GM vehicles owners not to use Quaker State Ultimate Durability dexos1 5w30?
With respect to the appropriateness in general of this oil, we don't really know. Perhaps due to GDI, Hyundai decided to hang onto the 5w-40 SM option, if only to see what fares better over the long term, be it a 5w-40 SM, an SN/GF-5 oil, or an A5/B5 type oil. Or, someone forgot to change something when revising the manual.
Everyone's situation is also different with respect to cost. If it were me and I really wanted a synthetic, I could go the A5/B5 route (i.e. Mobil 1, Quaker State Ultimate Durability, or Syntec all in the neighborhood of $40 to over $50 per jug here, or over $70 for PU) or the Delvac 1 ESP 5w-40 route (at about $25 a jug). I'm sure SOPUS could get me a very nice deal on Rotella at their distributor. So, you can see why it's nice to have a little bit of choice depending upon where one lives.
